Restoring the Fallen
Posted by Steve - April 2, 2009
In the last episode (Christian Celebrity), Ray and Steve talked about the danger of putting leaders on a pedestal. The higher they are, the harder they fall, to paraphrase a saying.
In a recent phone conversation between Jeff Roney and Steve, Jeff asked the question, “What do we do when leaders fall?” It’s a great question, and one that Ray and Steve decided to share their thoughts on.
And for those who are curious after listening to the first few minutes, the Bobcats did win. 
Beyond the Box is the podcast of Raborn Johnson and Steve Sensenig. We have been encouraging each other in the journey outside the bounds of institutional religion for several years now and share many of our candid thoughts and questions in our podcast.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:24 pm
That was one *bleep* of an episode, guys!
What’s interesting about all those statics that Raborn was quoting is that if you ask the proponents of institutional church why that occurs, you’ll most likely hear the some variation on the response of “Satan is trying hard to take out the leaders”. While I don’t necessarily doubt that may be true, it’s just the same old blame game that we like to perpetuate without looking at the system for possible reasons.
I love that you guys talked about how we are to treat “tax-collectors and sinners” – with LOVE. I had this exact conversation with my 9 year old daughter just a couple of months ago. I’m not sure where we got the idea that we are to shun those who don’t believe. That thinking just continues to isolate Christians from the culture they are trying to reach. And then they wonder why their evangelism isn’t effective – it’s because they have no clue what people are really feeling or thinking.
I mentioned this to Steve on Facebook the other night. But when I hear of a Christian leader falling, I almost always think of the Phil Keaggy song “It Could’ve Been Me”.
“I heard the news today
That another soldier tumbled,
A fragile warrior slipped and fell from grace.
The vultures swooped to tear his heart
And pin him to the ground,
And from the shadows someone took his place.
Today we talk amongst ourselves,
We never bought his words.
We say we’ve seen the madness in his eyes.
Tomorrow he’s forgotten as
We’ve scrubbed him from our hearts,
And as he bleeds we slowly turn our eyes.
But it could’ve been me,
I could’ve been the one to lose my grip and fall.
It could’ve been me,
The one who’s always standing tall.
For unless you hold me tightly, Lord,
And I can hold on too,
Then tomorrow in the news
It could be me, it could be me.”
Amen
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:33 pm
That was supposed to be “statistics” not “statics”.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:43 pm
it’s just the same old blame game that we like to perpetuate without looking at the system for possible reasons
Well said, Rodney.
This is one of my problems with calling our own brand of theology “the truth” or “biblical”. The moment that we shut the door on further revelation is the moment we become trapped inside our box. What we often don’t realize is that this box is actually more like a prison cell.
When something isn’t working, the first place we should be willing to look is at our own ideas and methods. It’s hard to do this though when our ideas and methodology are the very things that we derive our identity from. Our security has to be rooted in Christ alone, or else we won’t be able or willing to examine our ideas and methods for fear that we (not just our ideas/methods) might be wrong…and if wrong then subject to judgement. I love this Scripture:
We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us. So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first.
1 John 4:18-19 The Living Bible
When we become convinced Father’s great value and love for us, it becomes easier for us to question our actions and ideas without a fear of impending doom. After all, “all truth is God’s truth”, or as Jesus told us, there is no reason to fear the light.