After attending the same church for nearly 20 years, a change in pastoral leadership (a leader left & was replaced with a wimp), we moved on. Since then we have tried & left 3 other area churches (after about a year to a year & ½ in each). The reason we left was: creeping political correctness & an unwillingness to regularly discuss how the Bible relates to the issues of the day (religious liberty, rampant perversion, purposeful economic downturn, manufactured racism) – David Barton/WallBuilders style. One church actually set up a meeting with the lead pastor who told me he’d like to see me leave if I couldn’t tone down the rhetoric…and we did (leave)!
We’re now at a very large church: evangelical & bible based (as were the others, supposedly). The 2nd in command pastor has said things from the pulpit such as “Islam isn’t a religion, it’s a cult” – the lead pastor is concerned about things – and mostly mentions “racism” along with terrorism & the economy when he does address issues. I don’t need cultural issues raised every week…but they do need to be discussed. When, in a private conversation, I asked the pastor about “manufactured racism”, he dismissed it by saying that he doesn’t “buy in” to conspiracy theories.
The point is this: the church is 2,000 members strong: I have buy in @ several levels as to using leadership tools to enable & equip the congregants to “each one, reach one” @ a grass roots level…so I keep mining for soldiers (in the men’s group, other outreach ministries & with the director of all church ministry with whom I’ve been meeting regularly). Several appreciate my aggressive/assertive style…& several do not: to the point of shunning me…but in a sea of 2,000, I know the numbers are still somewhat on my side. I refer to those who are on my side as “men”, the others as merely “males” – which pisses several people off…but it also plays into a larger theme, particularly with men, of those who “wallow” in their sin & temptation without having the guts to confront their behavior (alcohol, porn, lust, etc). I tell them that not truly knowing Jesus Christ (particularly the Jesus of Revelation) as a real, flesh & blood savior, is critical to their relationship with Him (as opposed to a conceptual only savior).
[EDIT] - Men must clean up their personal lives & distractions before they can be used of the Lord to combat larger issues -because the distractions keep them off-balance and, well...distracted. That's why I speak at breakfasts & campuses; a push in the right direction is sometimes all that's needed. My biggest challenge is knowing how hard to push & when (competing with these distractions, professional sports, television shows, etc). I often jest "Pablo, I'd love to help in your cultural battle...but at the moment, I'm planning my SuperBowl party...or Ski Chalet event, or...or..." - many care more about the Giants (the local football favorite) season, than the direction we're heading, culturally (although lip-service is often given to the latter...and pass me another Sam Adams Winter Lager!)
So, at the moment, I’m still building resistance & recruiting other leaders (those bold enough to address issues with others). The “line” for me will be when I am approached in public, or at my home, by officials looking to stifle me. It will come down to the conditions/circumstances at that point to determine the aggressiveness of my response (including, at the extreme end, bloodshed).
