When a Pastor No Longer Believes in God
My question, then, is how should we, as believing colleagues, respond to these kinds of things?
I’m a big proponent of openness about sin (I think James 5:16 has some bearing here, even outside the context of healing), so if I have a friend who is struggling with true unbelief, as no doubt we all have/do at times, what do I say to a person like that who opens up to me?
I’m a big proponent of openness about sin (I think James 5:16 has some bearing here, even outside the context of healing), so if I have a friend who is struggling with true unbelief, as no doubt we all have/do at times, what do I say to a person like that who opens up to me?
Dave, don’t be dismayed if this question goes unanswered here for a while. I wonder if SI members will be reticent to post because forum answers tend to be brief and rapid. This question requires deliberate and thoughtful.
I think that there was a note about a writing contest? I would suggest that this would be a great question for a writing contest.
The scenario could be like this: A friend/acquaintance from seminary friends you on facebook. You haven’t heard from him in 15 years. You and he are pastoring churches about 1000 miles apart. Soon, he writes and asks if he can ask some questions confidentially. He relates that he has come to doubt that God exists at all. He is seeking encouragement, but he is increasingly skeptical. What do you write to him?
I think that there was a note about a writing contest? I would suggest that this would be a great question for a writing contest.
The scenario could be like this: A friend/acquaintance from seminary friends you on facebook. You haven’t heard from him in 15 years. You and he are pastoring churches about 1000 miles apart. Soon, he writes and asks if he can ask some questions confidentially. He relates that he has come to doubt that God exists at all. He is seeking encouragement, but he is increasingly skeptical. What do you write to him?
After reading the study and Rod Dreher’s blog post, I don’t believe these ‘pastors’ are regenerate in the first place. None of them had a salvation experience, they merely ‘fell into’ religious life. They went into the ministry not believing in God, even the Southern Baptist minister:
This isn’t about having a crisis of faith, but about wolves in sheep’s clothing. Five years after becoming a minister he decides to “read through his Bible very carefully”???
However, the question of “What would you say to a brother who was doubting his faith” is still a good one, as well as “What would you do if you found a man like ‘Jack’ serving in a Southern Baptist church?”
Jack, age 50, has been a Southern Baptist minister for fifteen years, serving mainly as a worship leader in churches in various southern states. He has a bachelor’s degree in religion from a liberal Baptist Christian college and a master’s in church music from a Southern Baptist seminary. He’s been married for 25 years and has three teen-aged children.
He was raised nominally Christian, but his parents, who were abusive to each other and their children, did not attend church. As a child, he did not know the basic tenets of Christianity and did not think of Christmas as a Christian holiday. He first became involved in church activities in high school at the invitation of a classmate. He stayed involved, as he put it, because of the love:
“My attraction was the talk of love. So I said, ‘OK, I’m going to go toward this. I’m going to explore this. I want this. The greatest love of all.’ Who wouldn’t want that, as a human? Especially one who had been deprived of it, of some of the basic needs of love, you know, from your parents.”
About ten years ago, he decided to read through the Bible very carefully. He did this completely on his own, as a way to get closer to his faith. However, his study has had the opposite effect.
This isn’t about having a crisis of faith, but about wolves in sheep’s clothing. Five years after becoming a minister he decides to “read through his Bible very carefully”???
However, the question of “What would you say to a brother who was doubting his faith” is still a good one, as well as “What would you do if you found a man like ‘Jack’ serving in a Southern Baptist church?”
Discussion