I know the headline says, Part 7. But, don't believe it. This is really Part 54 or something like that. I actually wrote another article for release as Part 7, but it fell on "bad" times. It included an intriguing story of why, 12-13 years ago, two Evangelical ministers and myself left an independent Baptist congregation.
Without revealing the "bad times" of the debunked article, I can tell you this. The story was how our Baptist youth pastor led a bunch of teens from the Detroit area to Los Angeles on an inner-city mission project hosted by a faith community with Pentecostal tendencies. While in L.A., one of the Baptist teens, who had a history of psychological problems, fell into convulsions during a prayer meeting. The charismatic, gift-wielding, Pentecostals in attendance took charge and subsequently exorcised from the boy a demon. The next day something similar happened, with the same boy, but only with the Baptist youth minister and Baptist teens in attendance.
When the boy's father, a member of our Baptist fellowship and part time psycho-therapist, found out, he became angry with our senior pastor for not flying to Los Angeles and "rescuing" his son from the influence of the "crazy" Charismatics and an out-of-control youth pastor. When the youth group came home they were all "fired up" for Jesus. But when the senior pastor and the board of deacons tried to temper the group's enthusiasm (which was laced with an emphasis on the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit), the blame game began. Our particular Baptist tradition, you see, forbade teaching that the more visible charismatic gifts of the Spirit were authentic. Our body of believers subscribed to the theory, held among some Evangelicals, that certain gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased with the death of the Apostles.
Suddenly, the issue was not what happened in Los Angeles, nor was it about the charismatic gifts, but whether or not the youth pastor had properly fulfilled his fiduciary responsibilities in caring for the youth while in Los Angeles — I mean we all know L.A. is a strange place. The concern then became whether or not the youth pastor, with his newfound discoveries of the Holy Spirit, was willing to come fully under the teaching authority of the senior pastor and the board of deacons. He wasn't, and he decided to resign, leaving many of the youth angry at the senior pastor and deacons.
From my perspective, I saw a fallacy called rationalization taking place, where a more acceptable but fake reason was used to justify the youth pastor's dismissal (the youth minister's refusal to submit to authority), in place of the deeper, less acceptable, but true reason (the leadership's rejection of the charismatic gifts as authentic).
Yet, when I shared the story and my conclusions with the real-life senior pastor, he remembered the events differently and was not pleased with my conclusions. He wrote: "I believe both your statement of facts and conclusions are inaccurate and incorrect." After several e-mails and two phone calls to correct what I had written, I was disappointed, so I decided not to submit the former story in deference to his concerns. Perhaps, when he and I agree on the facts, I'll re-write the story for this space, and hopefully draw some useful lessons from the events at this particular church.
RRRRRRRING!
Excuse me, that's my Vatican Hot Line ringing.
Hello?! — ah, yes — uh-huh — okay. So if I use that word anymore…uh-huh… in that context…then it's 16 more years in Purgatory. Okay. Got it. Ah, yes — I promise. From now on, I'll stick with "community of believers" and not "church." Promise.
The Suspension of Judgment Principle
Writing the article, and having the pastor reject its findings had a positive outcome. What happened seems to be a good example of T. Edward Damer's 11th Principle of the "Code of Conduct for Effective Rational Discussion" — The Suspension of Judgment.
Like the other principles (there are 12 altogether), this one respects the dignity of the various parties involved in a disagreement. Simplified, The Suspension of Judgment should be invoked when both positions of the disagreement are presented with equal strength and no ready agreement toward a conclusion or course of action can be found. Holding off on a decision until both parties can agree not only results in a more accurate assessment, but, more importantly, preserves the friendship and collegiality of the persons involved and allows dialogue and evangelization to continue.
For instance, I became angry when our second daughter told us that she, a baptized Catholic, was getting married in an empty apartment with a justice of the peace, and that we were invited. I refused to go. Especially since it was a 10-hour drive to Iowa. The man she was marrying was a Christian, but neither of them were into authority or structure at the time. I could not image why I should go to what was obviously not a sacramental wedding. But, Pam, my wife, was adamant that I attend. I called a priest that I respected and asked, "What can I do, as a Catholic?" and "What should I do as a Christian?"
The priest told me to go to the "wedding," but not to participate. Participating as the father of the bride would acknowledge my acceptance that what was going on was a marriage ceremony, when, from my Catholic perspective, it was not. But go I should, in order to keep lines of communication open with my daughter and future son-in-law. For I could not evangelize them if there was no communication, and by not showing up, I would certainly close down channels of communication and thus evangelization. The Suspension of Judgment is like that. It favors some communication with disagreement, as opposed to no communication at all. I suppose, too, this is all a little like Woody Allen's famous line: "Eighty percent of success is showing up."
(Am I allowed to quote Woody Allen in a Catholic article? I suppose that's another 16 years in Purgatory — well, maybe they'll let me sit next to Fr. Benedict Groeschel, who says we'll find him there listening to his own tapes.)
The Suspension of Judgment, however, is not the same thing as the popular, but barrier building, "let's agree to disagree" adage. Far from it. The Suspension of Judgment does not mean the topic is off-limits, but rather that more evidence and clearer thinking toward a resolution should be pursued. In other words, both parties should work toward a resolution that seeks truth for the future, and reconciliation of the past. In the meantime, the relationship should be nurtured on grounds that progress is possible — like taking turns severely beating each other at fantasy baseball or ping-pong.
The genius behind Damer's Code of Conduct for Discussion is that it keeps constructive dialogue open and active. This is very important in all aspects of Christian evangelization and inter-faith dialogue. As Fr. John Riccardo says to Protestant Pastor Steve Andrews in the DVD project Common Ground, "There is plenty we can agree about, and we may go at it from time-to-time. But we'll do it as Brothers in Christ."
For me, in the situation I've just described, I'm glad to say that my former pastor is still a good friend, and by the time you read this he will have received a gift from me — a copy of my Catholic distribution company's best selling DVD, Common Ground: What Protestants and Catholics Can Learn From Each Other. Because I was willing to do a rewrite out of deference to his concerns, he and I have taken a step toward Christian unity without sacrificing truth.
Next time, I hope to take a look at the importance of trying to discern truth with two wings, and not just one. That is, reason and faith.
End note: I often write first or second drafts of my material in front of the Blessed Sacrament. (If you're not Catholic this means that I am writing in the literal, sacramental presence of Christ.) To me it's like painting an icon — as I work I need to be immersed in continuous prayer and worship. I did that with the article you're not reading. Usually, when I draft material before the Blessed Sacrament, my writing effort finds ready acceptance. I figure that hanging out with Jesus has it rewards, especially when trying to discover the "fountain of truth" (since discovering the "fountain of youth" has long eluded me and my receding hairline — Okay, so there's no hairline at all.) The majority of this revised article, however, was written in the customer waiting room of Uncle Fred's Oil Change. But, Jesus was on my mind.
