The number one question Rachel and I have been asked since announcing our resignation at World Hope has been, "Why are you guys REALLY leaving?" In going into the new year, we thought long and hard about this and decided to air out why we're really stepping down as Associate Pastors. After all, we want to go into 2010 with clean consciences, and wouldn't want the last thing we did in 2009 to be lying.
What we TOLD everyone was that ... well, let me just quote a portion of the letter we read to the congregation on the 27th...
"When we originally came to World Hope, it was with the belief and assumption that we would be serving long term, alongside Pastor Dave and Katrina and the rest of the pastoral staff. Over the last month, however, we have sensed that a transition was coming and that we needed to prepare for that. Through prayerful consideration, we have come to the understanding that the Lord brought us to World Hope for a very specific assignment, namely to aid with the season of transition that the church has gone through in the last few months, and to help bring a more stable environment for the body to launch from into the new year. Even though we know that Pastor Dave's vision for World Hope in the coming year is one given by the Holy Spirit, we've sensed that we weren't going to be a part of it ...Please be reassured: we aren't leaving with any ill feelings or discord toward the staff or anyone in the church. We are leaving to give place for growth in our lives and in the life of this church."
Rachel and I have tried to be transparent and ethical in leaving World Hope, because we've seen it done differently and have tried our best to be obedient to what we feel the Lord is leading us to do in a way that builds up the people around us that we care about. What makes me laugh is the tendency in certain people to need more than just what is said. Where's the drama? Where's the dirt? Where's the scandal? Why did we REALLY leave World Hope? Exactly what we've said from the beginning, to everyone we've talked to in the process. We believe, based on our life with the Holy Spirit, that our time at World Hope was meant to be temporary. Certain aspects of our lives (financial, among others) can't support us being engaged in the level of ministry that we know that World Hope is called to in 2010. So we're resigning. That's it. Sorry to disappoint. No scandal. No paparazzi. No breaking news. To quote my father-in-law, "This is the Kingdom of God, not reality TV."
I blame this cultural anomaly on the excessive saturation of sitcoms, reality TV shows and soaps on TV. You can say whatever you want about TV not making people do things; from all I've seen it can and does influence the way we think. Are we so inundated with drama on the screen that we can't separate that out from real life?
I watch TV too. I love Friends. This actually reminds me of a particular episode of friends. It's the one where Joey and Chandler's TV accidentally locks in to a porn channel, and they're too afraid that if they change the channel it'll go away forever. Don't go getting all moral on me just yet, the lesson is ahead... In that episode, Joey and Chandler watch so much porn that they start expecting that life will imitate what they've been watching, and are then disappointed and disillusioned when girls don't just throw themselves at the guys. It's ridiculous, but they wouldn't mock it if it didn't have merit in real life. It's only laughable on screen because it's plausible in reality.
I know that even after posting this, some people might still say, "Well they're just saying that because they don't want anyone else to know the truth," or "They're just trying to cover up what REALLY happened." My invitation to you, the reader, is this: If you run into or talk to one of the people who maintain that perspective, do them (and yourself) a favor and cut them off, slap them with a fly swatter, and then ask them to change the subject." And if you happen to be the poor soul who gets slapped with a fly swatter, please kindly send me a picture to remember you by.
Addendum: I know that this post may come across as sarcastic and impatient, and that isn't my intention. I am, however, deliberately exposing something that I believe happens too much in the body of Christ and needs to be brought back in line. My heart is to challenge believers not to waste time on gossip, rumors, or speculations, but to grow up in the way we us our words, because too many people's souls depend on the quality and potency of our faith to be worried about such trivial things. Let's get back to being people who are more interested in truth and love than we are in rumors and idle talk.
