Watching the Evangelical Snake eat its own tail right now is strangely both validating & satisfying.

People are LOSING THEIR MINDS, & for good reason:

I CAN HEAR the questions forming: "If I can disagree w/Piper here, & not be sinning, what other areas can I disagree w/him on? If I can disagree w/him, can I disagree w/other spiritual authority, like my pastor or husband? If so, when? Why? What does that look like."

"And if there are areas where people can legitimately disagree & not be sinning, ESPECIALLY when it comes to things like, abortion & adultery & corruption, why am I spending so much time & energy defending this position? Or twisting & conforming my life & body to fit this mold?"

"Even worse, why am I willing to stand by and let people be HARMED, sometimes IRREPARABLY, over something that people can disagree on?"

Then, the other questions start falling all over each other:

"Exactly how much money & time have I spent learning abt, promoting, & following something that we can DISAGREE about, without ANY eternal consequences?"

"How many choices have I made, how many relationships have I destroyed, how many opportunities have I squandered, to do what I THOUGHT was following JESUS, but in reality, was following THAT GUY?"

Folks, if you didn't know by now, IT IS OKAY TO ASK YOURSELVES THESE QUESTIONS!!

It's okay to ask them of your family, your church, your leaders, and especially, to God in prayer.

What are you ALLOWED to disagree w/your leadership about?
Why?
WHO BENEFITS from holding certain theological positions? (Hint, if it's *rarely* you, & *mostly* them, that's a problem.)

This is the most important thing I want YOU to ask yourself:

If there are people who function as a "spiritual authority" in your life, do they have an EQUAL amount of accountability & responsibility to you?

Let me explain.

If someone has the authority to tell you how to spend your money, does he ALSO suffer the consequences if things go badly? Or is it just you? If someone had the authority to tell you how to educate your kids, does she ALSO have a responsibility to provide support for that?

I now refuse to submit to any authority who does not also have an equal & opposite responsibility TO me, & accountability FOR me.

(Which is why the Black Lives Matter movement is so deeply valid. No responsibility or accountability. They have every right to revolt.)

Anyone who has authority over you without also meeting an obligation TO you is likely exploiting you.

/end