Truth or Consequences

Tonight, and most Wednesday nights, I meet with a group of 20+ high school freshman and try to teach them about life, and relationships, and God.  The church of 2500 that I teach at can't find a single man to work with these boys because they are the "bad" boys, the "un-churched".  These boys don't meet to "fellowship".  They don't even know what that word is.  Their prayers don't sound like "church" prayers.  But I like it that way.  They are real.  And most of them want to learn.  And so I started wondering, if I were to get a group of famous preachers and leading evangelists together for a pastor's conference and asked them ask them to write a book about God and the church to present to my freshman boys, what would the book look like?  What would it contain? What would be the message?

These leaders probably wouldn't write about the story of Jim Bakker having a sexual affair with Jessica Hahn, Jimmy Swaggart telling people on TV about how poor he was while leading a life of opulence, or Ted Haggard talking macho and homophobic and then secretly sleeping with men and using drugs. I doubt they would talk about powerful religious figures getting drunk and sleeping with the nanny. After all, it wouldn't be wise to talk about such things to such impressionable young men.  They might get the wrong idea.  And they might not understand why the story is being told.  But last week, I asked those boys to read stories similar to situations I just mentioned.  I asked them to take notes so that we could talk the next week.  You see, I asked them to read the Bible.

I believe that at the end of the pastor's conference, I might get a book full of rules and mission statements and theological "truths". The book may contain song lyrics, and stories of brave missionairies that lost their lives oversees.  And then, at the end of the book, I think I would find plans and programs designed to help my students lead a happy, productive, financially stable life.  In other words, I would get the Book of Mormon.

But the Bible is not like that.  What I love about the Bible is it’s honesty. This is not a book in which authors tried to hide anything. If somebody got drunk and slept with their daughter, it’s in there. If the king of Israel had a man killed and slept with his wife, it’s in there. If somebody doubted God’s love, it’s right there in the book.  And it's necessary so that "un-churched" people like my group boys (and me), know that there is hope.  It's necessary so they know that they don't have to be perfect.

So why don’t Christian books read anything like the Bible? Can we handle the truth?

Part of the problem is that we want to look good.  We want to impress others with "Christianese".  When the authors of scripture sat down to write, they weren’t writing for critics, and they didn’t care whether or not people approved, they were attempting to capture truth. And they believed telling the truth was more important than hiding details or looking good.

So do we believe in telling the truth? What if the church shrunk in attendance because pastors started telling the truth in Sunday morning sermons? (in maturity and objectivity) Would people stop reading my blog if I was honest? And at what point do we call a white-washed style of writing or teaching or preaching.......... lies?

I lived with a pastor when I was in college and, at times, it wasn't pretty.  So, what if you knew the thoughts of your small group leader? Or your pastor? If others knew about my darkest sins and thoughts, would they stay away from me, or not let me teach the boys on Wednesday night? Just how did a book filled with such brutal honesty create such a "vanilla" cover-up, culture?

What could happen if just one man in this community of 2500 would take an interest in the freshman boys and show them truth?

What do you think would happen if we all stopped “spinning” the gospel, and started telling the truth?

Honestly, I dont know.