All eyes around the world have been directed towards the selection and inauguration of a new Pope.  The media have all made their trips to the Vatican and are celebrating the returned equilibrium of cosmic forces after the transition.  There has been a great tome of writing regarding the misdirected hope placed in a sinful man we refer to as Pope.  As I have read bits and pieces of the commentary floating around the internet I’ve been struck by a slightly different observation.

As biblical Jesus-followers we should feel our discernment meter peaking as we notice the divine hope that has been misdirected away from the Savior and towards a sinful man.  I believe there has been much said about this and little I could add to words already available.  What I find fascinating is the tendency of protestant evangelicals to adamantly criticize the hope placed in a Pope while we are swimming in a culture of pastoral celebrity worship.

I’m afraid we have inaugurated our own popes and called them ‘senior pastors.’

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Sunday mornings are such a chaotic time in any home.  Most of the time Saturday night consists of something that has us up later than usual.  Unfortunately, as adults we slowly lose the ability to sleep any later than we do any other day of the week.  Then when children enter your life you have all new challenges.  Often times you are tired and your children are tired and the last thing they want to do is put on the clothes you want them to wear that morning.

My poor wife has to fight those battles alone every Sunday morning.  However, when I arrive back at the house mid-afternoon on Sundays I observe the aftermath.  It looks like the rapture happened while a school house full of children were waiting in my living room.

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Here is a new ‘church growth’ strategy I’m employing: I am a cold, stubborn, introvert of a man whose personality has little mercy or compassion, generally speaking.  See, now you just can’t wait to spend some time with me.  If I set my unceasing sarcasm aside for a moment, the reality is simply that I am not an overly touchy-feely person.  Before you start wondering how my parents treated me as a child, I will assure you they were very affectionate and still are today.

Not too long ago I taught on Romans 12:9-16 at Crossings Community.  We talked about the idea of ‘harmony’ within the church.  In that passage the Apostle Paul extends the big idea to those in the church to love genuinely.  Later in the passage he offers some words that I have found incredibly helpful and unfortunately are some we often neglect.  He says, ‘be constant in prayer.’

Are we leveraging the supernatural gift of prayer the way God desires?

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You know the routine… arrive at the doctor’s office and wait a while… only to be shuttled back to another room to wait awhile longer.  Finally the door opens and your hopefulness is met by the realization that it is only someone who wants to take your blood pressure.  There it is again… more waiting.  Finally, the double tap on the door and in walks the doctor – the purpose for all of your waiting.  You recap the symptoms you’ve already described to one of his assistants and then he makes a recommendation and writes you a prescription (for which you will wait and wait and wait for at the pharmacy).  The real goal of this interaction is to not merely treat a runny nose or cough, but that the underlying cause of the symptoms will be discovered and treated appropriately.

This is our normal routine at the doctor’s office, but we abandon all of that simple logic when we begin working through emotional, relational, and spiritual issues.  The person (man or woman) addicted to pornography is too often told that the solution solely resides in having a great accountability partner and internet filter.  The person struggling with anxiety and/or depression is too often told that the solution is merely in seeing the right doctor and taking the right medications.  The husband who struggles with anger in his marriage is too often told that he merely needs to learn how to better communicate with his wife.

Are you merely treating symptoms in your battle with sin?

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