Pat Robertson and The Benefit of Pondering

Last week Pat Robertson said some really dumb things.  (I responded.  But if you only read one article in response to Robertson, read Dr. Moore’s).  Robertson has sense (as I predicted) clarified his position and  let us know what he really mean to say. 

Aaron Armstrong has also made an excellent point in response to Robertson’s clarification.  As he notes, “Robertson should never have had to clarify his position in the first place”.  Had he heeded the numerous biblical warnings about the tongue then he would have not “given an off-the-cuff response to anything”. 

As I was reading through Proverbs this morning and thinking about how it relates to blogging I began thinking about Aaron’s article and the whole Robertson fiasco.  This Proverb especially struck me:

    The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
        but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
(Proverbs 15:28 ESV)

Think with me for a second about the “Ask Pat” segment of the 700 Club.  According to his retraction he, “on live television” simply “misstated” and “misspoke”.  What he was trying to say was that “adoption is not for everyone”.  Fair enough.  But here is the problem.  Those questions don’t just come in on the fly.  (And even if they did that would only prove my point more).  He has a chance to look over those questions before broadcast.  He either did and thoughtfully butchered his intentions or he decided that there was virtue in saying things off-the-cuff. 

I would put my money on the latter option.  It is common for those in the more charismatic and prosperity gospel leaning circles to put a great amount of stock in “on the fly” type of answers.  Apparently it’s better evidence that the Spirit is working and that the flesh isn’t present.  Something about preparation and thought always interferes with the Holy Spirit. 

Problem is that’s not what Scripture says.  According to numerous Proverbs we ought to give thought before we respond.  Fools and wicked people just let things fly off-the-cuff.  The wise and the righteous ponder how to answer questions. 

Lessons for Bloggers

In the world of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and comments it can be very easy to type out quick responses to either sincere questions or asinine comments and articles.  The wise blogger refuses to respond too quickly. 

It would be far better to tell an inquisitor that you want to think on his/her question for a few days than to just simply respond off-the-cuff.  Of course there are times when we can respond quickly.  You ask me a question about Royals baseball and I probably don’t need to think on it for days.  But I want to be careful not to be so prideful as to think that I’m wise enough to host my own "Ask Pastor Mike” session where I don’t have time to give thought to my responses. 

Slow down in your responses.  I’d rather “ponder how to answer” than be the wicked fool that just pours out error. 

Pat Robertson vs. The Gospel

I wanted to title this article, “Remind Me Again Why People Still Listen to Pat Robertson”.  But as I thought about it I realized that this fits in rather nicely with the theology of a good number of American Christians. 

Yes, you heard him correctly.  Be careful when adopting children because they might have brain damage and “grow up weird”.  Guys ditching this lady aren’t dogs they are just smart men that don’t want to parent the United Nations.  You never know what has happened to the child.  You don’t have to take on somebody else’s problems.  We help orphans but we aren’t going to have them into our homes. 

In the next few days you will see Robertson issue some sort of apology and say that he misspoke.  What he was really trying to say is that you do not have to accept responsibility that God has not given to you.  You aren’t a dog if you realize that you cannot handle the suffering of someone else.  You’re just human.  It’s great and wonderful for people that feel called by God to take in these orphans but you shouldn’t feel guilty if you aren’t comfortable or called to do it yourself.  I apologize for the way my words sounded but all I was really trying to say is be cautious when considering adoption. 

And all of Pat’s happy followers will wipe the sweat off their brow and say, “whew that was a close one, we were afraid for a moment there that Pat was a little off his rocker". 

Still a problem, though.

Problem is, even if (when) he offers some sort of similar clarification it will still expose his underlying…dare I say it…heresy.  Robertson only gets a hearing in a world/church that has bought into some form of the prosperity gospel.  Foundational to such teaching as Robertson’s is that suffering cannot fit in with the good purpose of God.  It’s just “weird”.  Suffering is my failure to utilize the divinely designed means of blessing. 

In a 700 Club world you don’t take up a cross and devote your life to caring for children with Down Syndrome without seeing any visible reward in this life.  You might see a story about a lady that cared for children with Down’s and somehow God healed the child, or somehow God blessed them financially, or emotionally, or spiritually.  (And all of those may be well and true).  But what you won’t see featured is raw in your face suffering that will only find redemption on the other side of glory.  As I’ve noted before, there’s no room for that in 700 Club theology.

Robertson’s advice is fundamentally “you’re not a monster if you choose not to suffer”.  Okay, I’ll give you that.  You aren’t a monster.  But you aren’t a disciple following the footsteps of a suffering Jesus either.  I can’t say it any better than Russell Moore:

I say to my non-Christian friends and neighbors, if you want to see the gospel of Christ, the gospel that has energized this church for two thousand years, turn off the television. The grinning cartoon characters who claim to speak for Christ don’t speak for him. Find the followers who do what Jesus did. Find the people who risk their lives to carry a beaten stranger to safety. Find the houses opened to unwed mothers and their babies in crisis. Find the men who are man enough to be a father to troubled children of multiple ethnicity and backgrounds.

And find a Sunday School class filled with children with Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy and fetal alcohol syndrome. Find a place where no one considers them “weird” or “defective,” but where they joyfully sing, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.”

That might not have the polish of television talk-show theme music, but that’s the sound of bloody cross gospel.

So even though this guy makes our ears tickle can we please stop listening to him and instead follow the Man that didn’t have a place to lay his head some nights. 

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 01/03

It was announced yesterday that Dr. Mohler (President of Southern Seminary) would be nominated as the next SBC President. (HT: JT) So, guess what Mohler's blog post is about this morning? That's right, you guessed it...Life in the Cellular Age.

Erik Raymond, the Irish Calvinist, has an excellent article on Expository Preaching. His contention is that while we are heralding a call to return to expository preaching few of us are actually doing it. Here is his conclusion: "Men need to preach the word, not about the word but the word (2 Tim. 4.2). If we are going to keep having conferences that are supposed to center on expository preaching and speak about the need for expository preaching then the men need to preach expositionally or give some type of disclaimer so that folks don’t get confused and the term doesn’t get redefined and lost in our excitement about our “movement” and our contemporary Calvinist super-heroes."

Old Truth has re-posted an article on "Accepting Christ as Personal Savior". The author says some pretty strong things; it will certainly be offensive to proponents of easy-believism. Here are two of his most striking statements: "to [tell] sinners that they can come to Christ whenever they agree to accept Christ as their personal Savior is to deceive and bolster them up in a false "way of salvation". And quoting A.W. Pink, "Man, with his invariable perversity, has reversed God's order. Modern evangelism urges giddy worldlings, with no sense of their lost condition, to 'Accept Christ as their personal Savior'".

Thabiti Anyabwile is dedicating this year to reading and studying evangelism. First on his list is Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism. It's a great book. I read it last year along with Murray's Forgotten Spurgeon. Today he includes a great quote about Evangelism, Conversion, Revival and Prayer. I pray that this dear brother might be blessed in his study this year.

I never knew he did this. I do not follow very closely the ministry of Pat Robertson but apparently he gives his Nostradamus predictions at the beginning of the year. If Robertson were a baseball player, and his predictions were his average, he'd barely be above the Mendoza line. In 2007, he said the U.S. would be hit by a “major terrorist attack… The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.” Robertson said God told him during a recent prayer retreat that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September. In 2006, Robertson said the coasts of America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, will be lashed by storms. 2006 was unusual, say scientists, in that no major hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. In general, it was a very slow year for storms. In 2005, Roberts said:”What I heard is that Bush is now positioned to have victory after victory and that his second term is going to be one of triumph, which is pretty strong stuff.” Bush’s approval ratings hover at less than 30 percent; I haven’t seen any great triumphs yet. You? (HT: Tim Ellsworth) Pat should be glad he is not living in Ancient Israel...he would have been stoned.

Also yesterday Josh Harris posted his final message on Affluenza.