The $#@%-ing Pastor Who Likes to ?$%& and &#!$ That

For some reason over the past handful of years I've heard more and more pastors and especially youth pastors dropping s***, b***s***, h-e-double hockey sticks, d***, and yes even the atomic f-bomb on unsuspecting church folks.  Part of me wonders if its because when I was a youth I only heard youthful talk in churches and such.  Profanity laced tirades were reserved for coaches and my parents... and by parents I mean my father.  But especially during the year 2013 I'm realizing its simply the new normal.  Apparently its cool to cuss now for pastor-types.  Its like the new spiky high-lighted hair.

Stop calling me a #$%-ing heretic!

I'm not a big foul language guy.  My wife can attest that if I tried to dig deep and drop a d*** or bulls*** its sounds like some kind of a nerd trying to intimidate some thugs with weapons.  It only serves to make me sound even more ridiculous than I normally would.  So I stick to using uninspiring language.  I'll even try to climb atop my moral perch and convince myself that I don't need to use those kinds of words because my arguments are so intellectually superior.  I like to back this up by not laughing at comedians who cuss a lot.  I then smugly tell everyone that the only thing that makes them funny is their use of the #&%@ (I'm talking to you South Park).  Its all just uneducated humor.

Its tough being an Evangelical and living in America.  Its pressed upon you early in training that if you have more people seated in your pews then God is blessing your ministry.  If its empty then God apparently hates you... or at least is teaching how to change.  More equals better.  A similar thing is true for us Americans as a whole.  We may be miserable 24 hours a day but if we make lots of money then we are a success story.  Again, more equals better.  Eventually you start thinking "by any means necessary."  Is this the kind of thinking that inspires us to use profanity to drive ideas home?

Some people will tell you that they are simply passionate and they are only using the language of the culture in which they serve.  What is profane to you may not be to someone else.  There's a sort of cultural relativism (those two words could be classified as profane in some theological circles) that gives you freedom to say, "Don't you see?  Sin is what causes all the s*** in our lives," or "You should go home and say to your wife, 'd*** you're hot!'"

Ladies and gentleman, the infamous "Cussing Pastor"  Apparently his wife is "d*** hot."

I suppose there are people who are being completely sincere in this.  And yes, I'll agree that there is a surprising amount (by surprising we mean more than once) of profanity in the Bible.  One of my personal favs comes from Samuel of the Old Testament throwing down the ancient version of a "yo momma joke."  But this must beg the question that if certain things we're acceptable for cultures during Biblical times (such as refusing shellfish, marrying your cousin, et al) and aren't acceptable in today's world then how far can we take Samuel's example?  You know, we've progressed as a people and stuff... right?  I guess that only counts when it fits our personality.  John MacArthur likes to play pulpit police and goes a step further than I would in describing "cussing pastors."

Maybe the potty-mouthed church worker is simply working with a deeper repertoire of rhetoric.  Maybe the f-bomb is the atomic bomb that may cause lots of collateral damage but will save you of having to teach the same lesson over and over and over again.  President Harry Truman thought destroying two cities full of people was less awful than potentially losing millions more in another invasion.  From my first hand experiences with pastors and youth pastors using profanity it did seem like a very deliberate decision.  As if they were thinking, "I'm not going to continue to rehash this subject.  We're going all %$#&-ing in right now and that's it."  What's done is done and we can start moving on to other matters of Heavenly work.

would be more fun if he was preaching

Surely there are lots of people out there who also use profanity freely in part because they feel liberated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Its just that its a curious thing that for 2000 years (and further back depending on your theology) millions of people have felt liberated by the grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and only over the past 10 - 20 of those 2000+ years have people been compelled to use a F***, B***S***, D***, or J***A** to describe it.  I'm not against it per se.  You just probably won't see me doing it anytime soon.

Alas, once again I've proven I'm probably not going to be the cool pastor type.  Will they still accept me?

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My Beef with Beth Moore

Well, not so much a beef as it is standing up for the rest of us.  Anytime I have something critical to say about someone else and/or their work I always feel the need to butter it up first.  Obviously since nobody's perfect then we can also say that nobody's totally imperfect either.  We have much to learn from everyone.  But for some justified reason I feel emboldened to point out what's always bothered me about Beth Moore.  Put yourself out in the public limelight, expect to have public shots taken.  And this is a particularly "public" issue.

Its not mud-slinging its more like pie in the face.

To tell you the truth I've always admired and appreciated Beth Moore's work.  Twenty books that I know firsthand get people excited to study their Bibles is nothing to sneeze at.  Its one of those things that generally puts me at odds with my mainline and progressive counterparts.  She writes them with a sense of humility and reverence every time.  The theology is predictably LifeWay and Southern Baptist whereas many things are cast into us vs. them analogies but really, what do we expect?  Is there space to survey various Biblically rooted ideas then have your take?  Not really.  You know where Beth is going but you're not really pressured to take her side.

So here's the thing that finally put me over the top:

Here's a woman in her 50s, perfectly platinum blonde hair, not a wrinkle to find and she's telling us (in particularly women) to say goodbye to insecurity?  Hello Beth?  You're not part of the solution here, you're part of the problem.

I came upon this book because of Youth Worker Journal's highlight of the teen version.  I was excited because we're building a little youth group here and we have a handful of girls all in the early stages of adolescence.  My prayers are already beginning to bend in the direction of their self-confidence and assurance as gossip and unnecessary comparisons begin to become the norm in their peer groups.  Knowing what I know about Beth's previous work I got a little excited knowing she'd probably have them searching through various empowering situations in Scripture that they can, in fact, say, "So long, Insecurity."

We have a pretty diverse group of youth and we're proud of that.  But we also realize that our multiple mixed race and diverse girls are still pressured by a society that still thinks of the classic Barbie doll as the goal for them.  Just as Beth says in the interview with YWJournal:

Fifty years ago, women had dramatically smaller communities of other women to which to compare themselves. Suddenly we were hit with an ever-increasing barrage of images from every conceivable direction. Of course, screens aren't the only places we're inundated. Magazine covers, billboards, album covers and storefronts make tremendous contributions. We can't escape all these sources, but we need to call out the impact these constant images and unreasonable ideals are having on us.

I'm just wondering if Beth happened to think about that fact when she put her face on the cover of the adult version of the book.  Now other 50 year old women can joyfully compare themselves with the author who sets the example we all follow.

Just to get a general idea of what I'm talking about here's another illustration:

 

This is the orginal and digitally enhanced photo of Sydney woman Deborah Luckie. Much like Beth Moore at the time her "So Long, Insecurity" book was published Deborah is 50 years old.  Actually, this little slideshow show's plenty of millionaire celebrities showing wrinkles.  Hek, Beth's got them all beat.

I haven't had to deal with anywhere near the PR process Beth Moore has.  From my first time preaching at the mere age of 18 I've been encouraged, had outlined, or right out demanded of me what to wear or how to do my hair.  Generally its so as not to draw attention to the wrong things and that's good.  That's in fact Biblical.

We were hoping to send our girls to a young ladies conference sometime next year.  The conference is affiliated with Women of Faith which isn't run by Beth Moore but its part of her cohort.  She may make an appearance.  To tell you the truth I'll probably still try to send our girls there mostly because of the absolute dearth of options available to us.  Its just going to be another stress knowing that when our girls sit to listen to women who have been given extraordinary gifts of God and have used them well our youth will have to wonder if given the same gifts and hard work they'll one day be one that stage... so long as they can look the part.

I digress...

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.                                                                                      (1 Peter 3:3-4)

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