Stripped

I'm reading a book called Stripped: Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas by the pastor of Central Christian Church in here in Las Vegas, Jud Wilhite. It's a close look at how God's grace can radically transform people's lives, even in here in Sin City. The first chapter is about a married couple who both are committed Christians, baptized by immersion, and give 10% to their church. Sounds pretty normal so far...until you learn that both of them are dancers in provocative, well-known topless shows here in Vegas. The first chapter describes their journey to becoming followers of Christ, and then ends by mentioning that though they are still dancing in the shows, they can see how the very nature of the shows is in direct contradiction to the teaching of Scripture, and that they can both see that their careers as dancing in the adult entertainment industry must come to an end soon.

I finished this chapter in the morning and thought about it all day. WHAT!? They are still dancing in the shows?!? This was my initial response. It would seem to me that their pastor should have immediately, with gentleness yet firmness explain that what they are doing is causing others to sin and that they should obey God and trust Him to sustain them as they look for new jobs. Note: this was my initial response, though without a lot of confidence since I've never personally dealt with a situation like this. This leads to this thought: discipleship can be a messy process. Of course, we aren't supposed to clean our lives up before we are believers, and surely not immediately afterward, but there seems to be an unwritten rule in the Christian culture that I grew up in that says that you need to get rid of all major, up front sins within 6 months, or else. I thought that this was the end to this story since chapter two went on to another subject, but fortunately for me, Jud struggled with the same questions and moved back to this story in chapter 3.

Here's some of what he had to say.

After talking with the couple: "Had their faith made a tangible difference in their lives? Absolutely, they said. It inspired them to be baptized, to commit to one another in marriage, and it challenged them to serve and help others. But don't they see a conflict between what they believe and what they do for a living? Yes. They acknowledge a very real spiritual conflict, one they didn't feel good about, but one they admitted not being able to resolve. At least not yet." (pg. 60)

Jud goes on to talk about how Jesus really did hang with the riffraff of society, and ate with them, which he said, "Eating together is a picture of acceptance, loyalty, and trust...Jesus did not simply hang out with people on the fringes of society; He took great pleasure in being around them." (pg. 62)

I really love this quote: "Too often we mistake grace for weakness, forgiveness for giving in. We see strength only in pointing out sin and stomping on it until it's dead. But in Jesus we find someone who has no patience for those more concerned with enforcing the rules than helping others. Though He was perfect and, therefore, in a position to judge and punish all of us, Jesus showed us a different kind of strength, a strength found in grace, compassion, and forgiveness." (pg 63)

This question that I'm posing to myself of "What would I do if I was the pastor?" is a very old question. Churches since the first century have been trying to strike the correct pose between purity and holiness on one hand and grace and forgiveness on the other. I know that if you force the first, than it becomes an artificial holiness where people start following rules because they feel they have to instead of loving God because Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey my commands." Of this Jesus said in Luke 11:47, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." You can, however, encourage people to live holy lives out of the right motivation. On the other hand, can you offer too much grace and forgiveness? I think the answer is obvious: no.

So I guess I've tentatively come to this answer. For that situation, I would extend grace and support for them to continue to make the right decision with gentleness and love. But with blatant, outright sin in someone's life (even if they do seem to be making progress, if only in their mind at the moment), it would seem that you would want to limit to what extent they represent the church. You do have to be very careful who you allow to be put into places of authority, leadership, or any role where people might emulate an individual's actions or attitudes. Paul said in Philemon 4:9, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice." Whether or not the leaders in the church say this or not explicitly, they will be imitated.

Whew! This is a tough situation that requires God's love and wisdom. Pray for the pastors and churches in Vegas!