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Aight, I got some beef here: not w/ @NatePyle79, but with the stunning number of comments/replies that are functionally gaslighting or blame-shifting from his point that pastors are earnestly putting everything on the line in sacrificial love, & in a time of multiple crises... 1/ https://twitter.com/NatePyle79/status/1293186197569671175">https://twitter.com/NatePyle7...
I see two huge assumptions in those reactions:
1) There& #39;s something about vocational ministry &/or pastors that makes spiritual abuse inevitable/probable. This is CLASSIC generalization from being discipled by social media, and literally proving @NatePyle79& #39;s point. 2/
1) There& #39;s something about vocational ministry &/or pastors that makes spiritual abuse inevitable/probable. This is CLASSIC generalization from being discipled by social media, and literally proving @NatePyle79& #39;s point. 2/
2) The prob is methodology: we need to ditch big flashy services to recover home discipleship. While I& #39;m no fan of megachurches, this replaces one toxic consumerism w/another & misses the point. Also: house churches will never work in an individualistic culture w/o persecution.3/
The common denominator between BOTH bad assumptions is a reduction of relationships to POWER dynamics. Pastors are ministers of GRACE, and when the relationship between them and their parishioners is reductionistically filtered through a lens of POWER... 4/
... you preclude GRACE & TRUST as a vehicle for community. Politically speaking, these are the exact same dynamics that have led to the polarization of our politics & a slide toward Nationalism (right) vs Populism (left)... THE CHURCH IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXCEPTION. 5/
This is LITERAL syncretism, the very problem that (I think) @NatePyle79 is describing the symptoms of, and perpetuating exactly the societal exhaustion and frustration we all experience trying to keep up w/the news. There& #39;s no methodological/vocational way out of this mess! 6/
The ONLY way out is repentance of our individualism and idolatry of our politics. Fellow Christians: hear me on this. The exodus described in the OP will be in parallel with a winnowing of cultural Christianity. Barna already reported 1/3 of church-goers have STOPPED GOING. 7/
We& #39;re not out of this yet, & if u think ur pastor will be able to provide the spiritual goods & services u& #39;re used to when the 2nd (3rd?) wave hits over flu season, u need to honestly ask whether u are growing in Christ-like love for His& #39; most beloved: His Bride (the Church). 8/
