I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I was talking to a friend the other day and he mentioned that there was this guy on YouTube sayin disparaging things about him and the seminary where he worked. Of course, this peeked my interest and I went home and watched the video. Sure enough there was this guy who had gone to a lot of work and was laying out a case, much like a T.V. lawyer would, or maybe he fancied himself as another Lee Strobel (A lawyer who came to Christ and wrote a book about it called, A case for Christ). He was going to a lot of gyrations to prove his point. 

In every class that I teach, or when I am mentoring a manager I tell them, "If we are having a normal conversation, or informal talk, your opinion is as good as mine. But, if we are having an academic discussion, debate, or business meeting discussion. You better be able to cite your sources; otherwise, it is just opinion and nothing more. We do not make decisions, or make truth statements based on opinion.

In a land far, far away, and long, long ago, I graduated from the seminary in question. But, as I said it was a long time ago and I have not been back. I have no information as to whether it has backslid, or degraded to the point that this young pastor stated that he experienced. 

I will make this observation from his Matlock impersonation. His expert witnesses that he sourced, well not witnesses but advisors, were his own elder board. 

A little church administration stuff for you, just in case you didn't know. We have two distinctions of church, I will just give you the high points:

• High church
• Low church

High church simply means there is oversight and a formal organization that the pastor works for. He/she is hired by the organization and placed in a church and follows the organizations rules. Examples of a High church:

• Lutheran
• Presbyterian
• Methodist
• Episcopalian
• Catholic

Low church is more independent and while there may be an overarching organization that watches the church, it is more loosely held and less interfering, some don't have any oversight at all. The congregation hires the pastor or the pastor births his own church. Examples of a low church:

• Non-denominational
• Quaker
• Baptist
• Pentecostal

Matlock (I will use this for his name, not his real name but the story goes better with a name) was obviously in the low church model. How do I know you ask? Well he was already a lead/senior pastor when he entered seminary and only the high church model requires the senior/lead pastor to hold a Master of Divinity Degree prior to becoming a senior/lead pastor. 

So Matlock cited his expert advisors from his own elders board. People that had not been part of the rigor of his seminary experience, only told by Matlock what he experienced. Not academically appropriate, nor does it pass legal muster.  

Another point that Matlock made was the fact that other worldviews were taught and talked about, and how inappropriate, causing students to change their worldview, and unprofessional it was. That giving students access to other ways of thinking was too liberal for what was supposed to be a conservative seminary. A couple of points I would like to bring forward:

1. The seminary in question was never a bastion of conservativism, it was evangelical.
2. No matter how conservative, or liberal your theology is, there is always someone more conservative or liberal than you.
3. The seminary in question is in the business of educating, not indoctrinating their students. Part of being educated is looking at worldviews, philosophers and philosophies that are more divergent than your own. I had some fellow students that went to seminary just to affirm what they already knew, they didn't make it, just like Matlock didn't make it. 

I am reminded of something Kurt Vonnegut once said, "I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center."

A true seminary experience allows one to stand on the edge, so students can look at all the things that they would never see from the safety of the middle. 

A great teaching pastor will do the same thing for his congregation. 

Matlock is not comfortable on the edge, he is comfortable standing square in the middle with plenty of buffer between him and those that are heretics, sinners, and the like. The sad part is Matlock can't see himself in the midst. The truly sad part is he is an unwitting ragamuffin generator. I am sure he is a good person with a good heart and it is ok that he is uncomfortable being on the edge, but others are not so uncomfortable. 

Why do I say all this? 

I say this so we remember that we all have jobs to do in the kingdom, but no one job is more important than another. And, if you are going to make a truth statement, cite your source and don't use sources that are close to you, it shows laziness and inability to research. If you are making theological truth statements use extra biblical material to support the bible. We all know the bible can be used to heal and to hurt. Just look at the Calvin/Armenian debate. 

We have lots of uplifting and inspirational signs in our "Y" One that I really like is, "Promote what you love, don't bash what you hate."

Matlock has every right to his opinion. And, if someone solicited his opinion he has every right to express it. But, he posted a video so the world could see. It became an unsolicited opinion of a person and an organization. This is not constructive criticism, it is just criticism and kind of mean.  

I say all this so I can remind myself not to be a Matlock. 

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger