A blog I will probably delete tomorrow

It's been a tough year for the "American Gospel Enterprise".  Richard Roberts and ORU have been rocked by scandal, Randy and Paula White have seen their marriage implode, Juanita Bynum and Thomas Weeks had a very public separation, Ted Haggard's private behavior was exposed, and most recently "healing evangelist" Todd Bentley has confessed to an improper relationship with a female staffer and excessive drinking (that's called alcoholism by the way), and Mike Guglielmucci lied about having cancer to promote his hit song, 'Healer'.  Even as I write this I know I'm leaving out dozens of recent scandals that have exposed serious inconsistencies within the church community and its leaders.

It forces me to ask, "What the hell is wrong with us?"  (Sorry for the language mom.)  I'm getting weary of carrying the shame of being associated with these "men and women of God" who couldn't pass the simplest character test.  We buy their books, support them monthly, watch them on TV, preach their messages, sing their songs, and follow them like Jr High schoolers crying out for Hannah Montana and the Jonas Bro's.  Somebody said, and they were right, "We'd rather follow a man of God, then follow God for ourselves."

The only thing worse than the plastic-personality ministry superhero and us for blindly following them, is the pompous preacher telling us to stop criticizing and critiquing these men and women of God.  We're accused of being Pharisees, faithless sinners, having divisive spirits, or "looking through the eyes of flesh", when after all the hoopla, parade, and charade we find out that maybe we should have been a little more critical.

So I think it's time for some extreme accountability in the church.  It's time for every pastor, church, and ministry to open their doors to outrageous examination and review.  Criticism should be seen as one of our greatest tools, not an evil stumbling block, and critique should be embraced as wisdom from people with greater clarity than ourselves.

Let's stop allowing brainwashing phonies to become stage-dancing celebrities and start  embracing and promoting ministries with solid biblical teaching and discipleship.  It won't be as flashy, it won't help the sales at your neighborhood Christian bookstore, and it won't help fill the airtime on the Christian TV station, but it won't blowup in our face, expose us as shallow and hypocritical, and disgrace the message of the cross.

So I bless you to give up following the mindless mantras of the media hungry Christian celebrities and to embrace following... Christ.  Appreciate the fact that God forgives and his mercy is available to all, but good hair and a charismatic personality do not equal quality leadership in the Kingdom of God.