This story only landed in my Inbox seven times this morning so I guess it’s BagOfNothing worthy.
Matt Chandler is a local pastor with a huge following (weekly church attendance of 11,000) and I know he has a bit of a national presence as well. I think I was forwarded this article because I attended five to seven classes with him in college. While I don’t consider him a friend, I think he’d recognize me today. Unlike many Evangelicals in the area, I don’t have a strong liking towards him, but I certainly respect him.
In this piece, Christian author and blogger Matthew Paul Turner details a current struggle within Chandler’s church, The Village Church. Here’s a short summary:
- Church sends married couple as missionaries last August to South Asia.
- Husband confessed to viewing child pornography, church sends them home, husband goes through a “path toward repentance”.
- Wife requests for the marriage to annulled.
- Church is upset the wife isn’t seeking reconciliation and starts the process of formal church discipline, even though she already resigned from the church.
- Christianity Today has written about the situation and the church has sent a letter to all of its members.
You can check out the full article, which seems well documented, here, and form your own thoughts.
That's a fascinating read and I would love to go back and read some of the other pieces linked within and in the comments. They obviously feel Biblically grounded in their actions and, as evidenced by the comments to that story, some observers feel the same way.
I guess what I don't understand is the church's bullheadedness about not only continuing to press the issue with the wife, but their willingness to do so to the point that it brings even more exposure to the issue.
I get that they have their members/leadership sign a "member covenant" and agree to abide by certain rules. But I have no clue how they think the "if you leave under bad terms, you'll leave after we've disciplined you and when WE say you can leave" clause is enforceable in real life. They're a church. They have no legal control over anyone's right to assembly. What's their worst level of punishment? "You can't come back here." Well, duh, that's what she's trying to do! And it's not like they can keep her out of heaven (at least I hope they don't think they have that power. If so, there's a bigger story to be told here.)
So now all that they've done is draw attention to the fact that they were supporting a child pornography enthusiast, that they seem to be strongly advocating on his behalf against his ex-wife, and they have such an inflated sense of self-worth that only they get to tell members when they can leave. None of this is good PR for their "brand," and none of it builds the kingdom for Christ. So why are they doing it, again?
Thanks for sharing. I have a few friends who have attended the Village Church. Curious to hear from them sometime regarding.