Jump and Holler Heresies

In recent conversations regarding some best-selling Christian books, I have heard the word "heresy" repeated several times. My ears perk up when this subject arises for at least two reasons: 1) It has been a long time since the Spanish Inquisition has been fully operational; and 2) I have been accused of heresies during my ministry career. Yes, it must be hard to believe, but several people have found my teaching unpalatable over the years.

For the record, my daughters and wife have occasionally felt my preaching was unpalatable, but still very orthodox. Unfortunately, when you are a little girl and forced listen to the same sermon several times it can be hard. When you are forced to feign interest, it can become impossible. When you are told by people in the church where your father is speaking that it must be a privilege to listen to that type of teaching on a regular basis it can be “angrifying.”

Within three or four months of becoming a Christian, a group of young believers that would later evolve into a cult invited me to become a leader in their "church." I may have been dumber-than-dirt as a new disciple, but I knew enough to know I was not prepared or qualified to be a leader in any Christian fellowship. When the group finally understood that my "no" meant "no," their leaders accused me of "holding hands with the devil" and shirking my God-given duty. They also informed me I was guilty of heresy and needed to be “disciplined.”

I had to look up what the word “heresy” meant. I decided that I didn’t want to investigate their meaning of “disciplined.” I think God used that experience to help me think independently as a believer in Christ. It is hard to lose your reputation once you have been branded a heretic.

Early in my Christian walk, I had the great privilege of using my rudimentary knowledge of music (primarily confined to six-chord rock 'n roll) to share my new-found faith. For two years I played with my good friend, Gary Hanson, in churches, coffee houses, and city parks. A special memory was playing a concert in the middle of a cow pasture late on an October night for about eighty high-school and college-age students. Words cannot describe how cold human fingers can become, playing guitar under those circumstances!

Once we were invited to play for a youth activity at a church that – in the interest of protecting the guilty – will go unnamed. After setting up our amplifiers and doing everything necessary to play an hour-long set, we started in with two opening songs. Suddenly, the pastor of the church went to the back of the stage and literally pulled the plug on us. He then came out and began to explain to the audience that anyone who played guitars in church was an agent of Satan.

This was rapidly becoming a recurring theme in my Christian life.

Since those inauspicious beginnings, I have had people criticize my ministry and teaching on several occasions.

I was once accused of not preaching the Gospel because I didn't "yell enough in my sermons." Admittedly this was in the deep South where, years ago, a type of "jump and holler" homiletic was considered the norm. I confess I still fail to understand the relationship between vocal volume and physical gymnastics with the communication of the Good News.

I now like to warn those listening to my preaching or teaching that I might be presenting a heresy to them. It just seems to be a common courtesy. I once did so with a group of men in Costa Rica. In trying to work through the early chronology of Paul's life, I suggested that he probably left Damascus, went to Arabia for three years, and returned to Damascus before he had to be let down in the basket to escape the city and his persecutors. Funny how a small twist like that can unsettle people.

One of my long-standing "heresies" is that I am a pastor who doesn't believe in the "Great Commission." As I look at Matthew 28:19 and 20, I do not see a command to "go into the world" as much as I see an emphasis on "making disciples as-we-go." In the Greek, the strong verb in the passage is "mathēteuō" which literally means "to disciple." The modifying verb translated as "go" in our English Bibles is probably better understood to mean "going" or “as you go.” Taken at face value, the verses are more about our normal, everyday activities as opposed to foreign missions.

Of course, the implication of my "Everyday Commission" heresy is that we are all responsible to live as disciples of Jesus Christ and make disciples as we go through our normal lives. The hope for next-generation Christianity is not special missionaries who go to foreign lands. Instead, it would seem the plan has always been that each one of us would actually be serious disciples of Jesus and, as we go through the lives we are called to live, we would make disciples among those around us.

I must admit I wish Christians could start talking about heresies like this one a bit more and discussing some of the NY Times best-seller books a bit less. More than that, I wish we could do less talking altogether and have a lot more "being and making." However, those are the kind of sentiments that will probably get me burned at the stake someday.

By the way, if that happens, I hereby promise to make up for all my previous shortcomings in the "jump and holler" department. Trust me, I will.