Allegations, Accusations

I had written something totally different a few days ago when this Eddie Long thing was just an allegation...before he went before his congregation (ON TV) to defend himself.

I am not weighing in on whether Long is guilty because it really does not matter since his image is forever tarnished by the mere suggestion that he abused his position as pastor.  My take on his position as the self-appointed Bishop is actually where this piece is headed--how do-it-yourself theology is going to ruin more lives if it isn't exposed for what is really is.

A few years ago, I helped a very good friend of mine start his own church.  We had both left our home church where symptoms of malaise had begun to set in.  Our former pastor had some health issues that many in the congregation had noticed but few were willing to confront as problematic.  For me, it was an issue of future survival--institutions are supposed to be built to withstand almost anything, even the loss of a great leader.  Our pastor had been a great leader, but instead of recognizing his limitations, he was allowed to trudge on and in the process, we were bleeding members.  I left because going felt more like an obligation to him than it did to my own soul.

So when my friend asked me to assist him with the set up of his church, I was estatic.  And for a year, I was a faithful member...until he affiliated with a self-appointed Bishop whose views about the role of church leadership conflicted with mine.  Not that I needed to agree with the Bishop, but I felt that his influence meant that he would counsel my friend to pursue a path that would tie the rise and fall of our little church to him...and not to God.

Thus, as I watch the Bishop Long saga prepare to engulf his church, I cannot help but to think that this is exactly what happens when the men (or women) in the pulpit replace God as the center of our joys.  There is no immunity, even in the church, from the saying 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'.   Or from that other saying 'there is a sucker born every minute'.

The cult of personality is a real problem in the church.  If institutions are supposed to be built strong enough to outlast or to withstand anything, then churches should not be built as monuments to charismatic preachers.  Plenty of companies bear the names of long-dead founders; our country was built on principles that transcended the lives of the Founding Fathers; and clearly, Christianity was built to last far beyond the natural life of Jesus.

My hope is that no matter what happens to Eddie Long, New Birth survives.  Apparently, this is a church that has done a lot of good and even if its founder is a man beset by personal demons, and it ought to be strong enough to endure.  Should this scandal bring the Bishop back down to earth, it should not cause New Birth to implode as well.  Just like the Catholic Church had to make changes in the wake of the priest sex abuse cases, so will New Birth have to address some of its excesses.

So help them God.