
Hello, my name is Zach, and I am a nobody. I am a pastor of a church of about 150 people. I have not written any books. I don’t have a podcast. You won’t hear me on the radio. I don’t preach at conferences. I am quite certain that if you are reading this blog and 1) are not a member of my family, 2) a member of my church, 3) a personal friend, nor 4) one of the other writers of this blog – you do not know me from Adam. A high-profile pastor or ministry leader, I am not. I observe the happenings of high-profile Christians and Christian ministries from afar; from the “cheap seats,” as they say. And in recent days, there has been quite the abundance of noteworthy happenings to observe, many of them rather troubling, at least from where I’m sitting.
I have no desire to dive into any of the particular happenings I’m referring to. You likely know what kinds of things I’m talking about. Sex scandals. Firings. Debates about the value of third-party reviews. Apologies for public statements. And things like these. I have no inside track perspective about any of these things, and I am woefully under-qualified to wade into public debate about who should’ve done what, and when, and why. But, watching a number of recent situations involving high-profile pastors and Christian leaders unfold, is leading me to a number of conclusions. And I thought there may be some value in sharing those thoughts here. So, here goes…
The spiritual dangers that attend wide visibility & influence are myriad.… Continue reading