The Church Gets An F AF

Part 1 – Disclaimers and Context to Understand Where I am Coming From

Editor’s Note (I’ve always wanted to say that):

This post was started way before the most recent SBC scandal/pedophile/POS report came out (a few months ago). Also before Uvalde. Before the Roe v Wade decision. And on the lighter side before KC was selected as a World Cup host city!!! I digress…I say all that to mention that this post/series is not a knee-jerk reaction to the above instances – it has been a long time coming. Due to my perfectionism with writing it took me awhile to feel like it was ready to be public. I am sure I will receive a good amount of pushback; vocalized to me directly or not. 

Let’s wade in to this slowly. Consider this next quote a primer for the meat of this post.

Tim Smith – former pastor at Mars Hill:

“If Jesus came today in America, we would do to him the same thing the jewish leaders did back in his day because we have a counterfeit version of the faith based on other values than what jesus has, and if jesus showed up he wouldn’t keep us in power the way we want to be…and we would kill him. So I don’t know that we need to break up with jesus as much as we need to break up and acknowledge the sense in which the american evangelical version of the church of his name has just become so distorted and deceived, and has adopted so many values that are contrary to him. We need to follow jesus is what we need to do. And it feels like to me the scene in john chapter 6, where jesus says some hard things, and it says many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him, and he turns to the 12 and he says, “Do you want to leave too?” And Peter’s answer is my answer, like, I don’t know what to do, but where else am I gonna go? There’s nobody like Jesus.”

– quote by Tim Smith at 9:55 remaining in the episode, “Aftermath”, of “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill”

The quote above is how I feel about the church today; and in short it also sums up this entire post-series. We are going to have some fun in this post-series, and we are also going to talk about some serious, disgusting failures of the church. And of course as always with me we will talk about “the reason behind the reason” – the “So What” factor of it all. 

There might be 4 or maybe 5 parts of this series, I don’t know for sure. I’ll be honest, the posts are not quick, short reads, and I understand this is not the world we live in. We want headlines, 20 second reels, and short blurbs that we can scroll past and feel like we understand, but this series is important to me and could not be summed up into a one page post. I will probably/maybe release 1 part per week, maybe 2 – we will see how it all plays out with my schedule/life. 

Part 1 – Disclaimers and Context to Understand Where I am Coming From

Part 2 – The Wow…Wait-What-Factor

Part 3 – Jesus Not So Undercover

Part 4 – So What? The Reason behind the Reason. 

Part 5 (maybe) – Epilogue for a not so tidy ending

This post is bound to upset a few people, probably some of my family. Before people start chasing me with a pitchfork and calling me a heretic, church leaders and the people attending church should take a long look in the mirror. I am disgusted, fed up and done with church in its current trajectory. 

Let’s wade in a little deeper…

It seems like I am always starting my posts with disclaimers so as not to piss people off. While that is true I do so to provide context for the reader (you) to understand my worldview, my perspective, and where I am coming from on these topics. Our individual lives, experiences and histories shape our worldview/lenses in one way or another: for good or for bad, for clarity or obscurity. No matter what we all have lenses. These lenses shape and form how we interpret what we see and try to understand in life. The views I hold of the church are from what I have seen occur in and because of the church. I have seen how the sausage is made and it is not pretty. Like I mentioned, this post more than likely will not be well received because it pushes back against an institution that is deeply entrenched and engrained in our culture and history. 

The central term that I wish to explore and open up in this book is idolatry. More specifically, I want to show how the idea of God today preached within much of the church is nothing more than an impotent Idol. Simply stated, this boils down to the claim that God is treated as nothing more than a product, a product that promises certainty and satisfaction while delivering nothing but deception and dissatisfaction. – Peter Rollins, “The Idolatry of God” 

{Derek here, you need to understand I am not saying this is what god is, but I agree with Peter that this is something god turns into because of our expectations and individual desires for certainty and comfiness.}

Basically I argue that the modern church engages in a host of material practices designed to act as a security blanket for life. It does this by offering preaching, prayers and songs that solidify our tribal identities and promise fulfillment. In so doing the church becomes a type of crack house selling feel-good drugs to those who enter its doors. – Peter Rollins, “The Idolatry of God”

So…here are my disclaimers for this series.

(the disclaimers are not numbered because they are not in any order of importance or hierarchy. they are just disclaimers that popped into my head that I believe provide context for where I am coming from.)

• I am a christian…wait, check that, I am not a fan of labels because labels can be misunderstood and misconstrued depending on the (mis)understanding or (mis)interpretation of said label. What “democrat” means to one person can mean something wildly different to another person. So in starting with a disclaimer to a disclaimer (haha) I might feel more comfortable saying: I believe in God and Jesus, as presented to me in the bible and then reinterpreted by me. I will not delve into peripheral unrelated topics such as atonement theories, the inerrancy of the bible, original sin, or other theological topics that do not pertain to this post. My belief in god and jesus is not solely because of the bible. I do not ascribe or adhere to any man-made religion or denomination. My theology primarily revolves around Matthew 25: 35-45 and “every knee shall bow…gladly”. (click link for background on that commonly omitted word.)
• The issues mentioned in this post (along with additional issues not mentioned) have caused me to weigh the risk/reward of why I might or might not attend church and at the end of the day (not literal day as presented in Genesis 😉 I have decided to not attend the corporate gathering of the church in its current form and trajectory. I can not and will not go (attend) church in its current state. I stay heavily involved with my faith and my own interpretation of theology and I further my enjoyment and wonderment of god with reading voraciously, writing, listening to podcasts, and just sitting with my own thoughts of how god plays out in today’s world. Additionally, getting out in nature (gravel riding, hiking, backpacking…especially in/near the mountains) speaks to me and lets me know there is something bigger than me. If you are friends with me on Facebook you have probably seen some of these posts recently. 
• “The Church” defined: when I say “The C/church” in this post, I am primarily talking about the current protestant evangelical church. I am meaning, baptist, southern baptist (what a shit show of disgusting a-holes the SBC group of leaders are), first baptist, seventh day adventists, mennonites, Wesleyan, Methodist, Lutheran, non-denominational, etc. (I will say that the Methodists and Lutheran’s have less exclusivism (us vs them) driving their denomination train which is a good thing.) There are times in this post I am also including the Catholic church b/c they are a major voice in today’s world…and also, god knows they are constantly embroiled in scandals and abuses. Most of the struggles within religion seemingly boils down to power and control the church (protestant or catholic) desires to have over its members. One podcast host said all of this comes down to genitalia – evangenitalia. (I started cracking up when I heard this term.)
• I do not hold much hope for “The Church” being a redemptive source for people. Personally, I believe The Church has gone way off the rails; it is a crutch and has little to no hope of coming back to something of true worth. Until that changes, which I personally believe would take scrapping it all and starting over from scratch, I will not be attending church. I am out.  
• The reasons I’m leaving the church (some of these things did and did not happen personally to me, but I have been a first-hand witness to many of these):
  • spiritual abuse by the church, emotional manipulation by pastors, physical abuses by the church, selling bullshit theology that leave people permanently fucked up, and then these churches and pastors purport themselves as the answer to these people’s problems or because of the made-up theology of original sin), misuse of funds (HUGE ass churches), misuse of power, members of churches threatening music worship leaders choice of songs (saw this first-hand and it was all I could do to not go off on this grade-A asshole), bad theology, misogny, racism and of course there are many, many other issues. 
• This post is not meant to implicate or point the finger at anyone specifically…other than those who are mentioned specifically. The ones mentioned in this post are a higher level POS, and need to be mentioned so they are seen for what they are: disgusting and despicable; and some are most definitely worthy of being locked up in jail.
• This post is rated R, NSFW, meaning that it has some colorful words – as you have already noticed. 
• I am not a mad or grumpy person…unless you talk to me before i have consumed a sufficient level of coffee. In all of life I’m hopeful and am actually an optimistic person, I like to dream big and see the big picture of what can be what could be possible. I’m also a realist and can take a step back to look at things from multiple perspectives – call me Mr. Keating from “Dead Poets”. Don’t ask the goldfish what the water is like…more on that later. 
• I am not asking you to agree with me or change your mind; I am asking that you understand what I am saying and trying to explain/articulate. I am sure there are some people who will say, “well, he is deceived and the truth is not in him”. (such a classic line, and a cop out to deal with real issues.) So be it. I can not control what anyone will think. I could lose a few “friends” from this series of posts. Again, so be it. This needs to be said. 
• Now, the super important part. I have several friends who work in vocational ministry, and by several I mean ALOT…I am talking hundreds. These friends work in both church and para-church settings. This post is not to disparage their work. 99% of them are good people, and most of them are doing good work that I can stand behind and support. So this post is not meant to demean their work, but it will take a peak behind the curtain.
• The fact that church and religion are an industry in and of themselves is disconcerting and deplorable. It is a telltale sign that the teachings and emphasis of jesus have gone by the wayside and people have created god in their own image…$$$$. Religion is not only an industry, but a multi Billion dollar industry. Billion with a “B” – building projects, jobs, schools, books, music, bands, speakers/teachers, conferences, etc, etc etc. Jesus did not come to earth to start an industry…but there are a lot of things that Jesus did not do or say that we claim he did. 
• I think the only “positive” from religion turning into an industry might be that this industry stimulates the economy and provides jobs for people. The overall problem is that it continually proliferates a belief-system/framework that is corrupt and oftentimes far from god; it becomes an out of control locomotive barreling down the tracks. The church is not in a good state, it is coming unhinged and out of control. More of this will be discussed in the “Reason behind the Reason” section.
• Also, not every church is “bad”, or 100% similar to what is depicted in the humorous, fictional story below. There are some good churches doing good work, but again, but there are also MANY bad churches. Here are some problems:
  • the good churches have been silent in standing up to those who have bastardized and hijacked the church – in the recent Roe v Wade decision I only saw 2 churches make a statement – everyone else was silent. This is one reason the church has become irrelevant, it is no longer a formative influencing institution. 
• The vast majority of the pictures in this post are from “nakedpastor” @nakedpastor.com – please follow him on FB/instagram/etc. I have been enjoying his art for several years. I sent him an email to ask his permission for the use of his pictures. I also plan on purchasing and displaying several of his illustrations. They are brilliant and challenging. The other ones not from “naked pastor” are found in, “the bible”…you know theological Facebook posts. 
• The last thing I want to mention is that i am fiercely/intensely loyal to groups I join/belong to. Sports teams, clubs, high school, college teams, music groups I played in, bands, and yes even in the past, the church. When I join something I am “all in” and jump in with two feet with involvement. I still follow my high school soccer team and my college soccer team. I use the term “we” when talking about my sports teams (my brother in law makes fun of me for that haha). I care about the church, I truly do – that is why I am writing this piece. Church is something I have been involved with since basically the day I was born. I grew up in the church, some of my best friends still today are from my early days of church. I believe the church can be an institution used for good; but it has massively gone awry with its power, desire to control, and misguided theology in worshiping Jesus but not his teachings. So this post is my “reason and reason behind the reason” for why the church is misguided and why I am leaving the church. The “Reason behind the Reason” is something I look for in anything that has a cause and an effect. With all that’s gone on (wrong) with the Church, and with me being duped/used as a cog in the machination of the church, and seeing the church for the way I see it now, has made me feel jilted and used. This has caused me to open my eyes and I am stunned about what I was taught. Because of my fierce loyalty I will let holy hell rain down via this post with uncensored feelings to…well…dozens, of my followers haha; on how I am feeling now towards the church and its role in society. 
• I 100% wholeheartedly believe…

…the Church is fucked up.

Ok, so now that we have all of that out of the way…let’s take a couple deep, cleansing breaths. Please let all of my disclaimers and context provided sink as you read the upcoming piece so you can try to understand what I am saying, and why.

Up next, Part 2: The Wow…Wait-What-Factor