Christ and Culture

Well it appears that the Democrats and Liberals, not to be undone by Pat Robertson, now have their own voice of God in Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans. I have felt since Katrina hit that Nagin has done a rather poor job of staying cool, calm, and under control. Here is one more example of that. Nagin, during a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration made the following comments:

As we think about rebuilding New Orleans, surely God is mad at America. He's sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane. But surely he's upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves. We're not taking care of our women. And we're not taking care of our children.

So there you have it. Ray Nagin -- a new voice of God for the Democratic party. Now, there is no doubt that this will receive much less attention from the mainstream media and those who so quickly attack guys like Robertson, who sits on the other side of the fence from them politically.

The update on this story is that Nagin has apologized for these comments. According to the Associate Press, Tuesday Nagin stated that he "said some things that were totally inappropriate. ... It shouldn't have happened." So he followed up in correct God Squad protocol -- make a dumb statement about why God did something and then apologize afterward. I think the Dems have a winner. Now he just needs to make a bad bid for President followed by starting a news show about politics and religion from a liberal perspective and their ingenious plan will be complete.

I received an email today from The Church Report Magazine, which bills itself as "the online resource for Christian leaders, pastors and parachurch executives," in which the magazine promoted its newest edition highlighting "The 50 Most Influential Christians In America." I was extremely shocked and saddened to see that their No. 1 most influential Christian was Bishop T.D. Jakes, a man who has long been associated with a denial of the Trinity as a core doctrine of Christianity. But as a perused the list further, I was even more disturbed to see that No. 2 was Joel Osteen, a guy who embarrassed himself (as well as all Christians) on national television when he couldn't clearly communicate the Gospel to Larry King. Rounding out the top 10 in order were, Billy Graham; Rick Warren; Bill Hybels; Paul Crouch; Joyce Meyer; President George W. Bush; Dr. James Dobson; and Chuck Colson. To say the least, there are a few disturbing names there. The list goes on to mention several other problematic people including, No.19 Robert Schuller; No.29 Paul Crouch, Jr.; No.30 Benny Hinn; No.31 John Hagee; No.34 Marcus Lamb; No.36 Creflo Dollar; No.37 Paula White; No.38 Rod Parsley; No.44 Pope Benedict XVI; and No. 50 Dr. Phil McGraw. When has Dr. Phil ever expressed that he is a Christian?

And while this list would be sad enough if were compiled by The Church Report itself, the magazine makes it clear that these were names voted on by readers. I find this very disturbing that large numbers of Christians see men like T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen as the most influential among them in America. The only glimmer of hope I saw in this was No.24, John Piper. Suspiciously missing were men like Dr. John MacArthur, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Louie Giglio, and J.I. Packer. One could even wonder why Tim LaHaye was not on this list. In the end, this scares and saddens me. It scares me because it seems that the average Christian is still concerned less with the deep truths of Scripture and more with appearance and hype, and it saddens me because so few have been exposed to those men and women who do seek God in a deep and significant way, seeking to know God through Scripture and serve Him in Spirit and Truth. Let's pray that God gives influence in our communities to men and women who do just that.

It looks as if the SBC has reached another crossroads this week at the IMB trustee meeting in Richmond, VA. I am not going to rehash the controversy, but you can read all about it over at Marty Duren's blog, SBC Outpost and Wade Burleson's, current IMB trustee, site, Grace and Truth to You. Burleson, a trustee from Oklahoma, has been a voice of dissention among the trustees in regard to the current controversy over IMB employees. In a statement released today, it seems that the other IMB trustees have voted to call the convention in June to kick out Burleson from among them. Below are some sites with vital information on this situation.

Baptist Press -- should release the IMB trustees' statement today
Grace and Truth To You -- Burleson's site where he posts a statement regarding this action.
A Baptist Perspective -- Jason Sampler's commentary on this and a list of contact info for IMB trustees
SBC Outpost -- Marty Duren blogged the IMB trustees meeting
The Road We Travel -- Rick Thompson, IMB trustee, blogged the meeting as well
Missional Baptist Blog -- Steve McCoy's blog with more links

I think Southern Baptists need to keep up with this as the controversy begins and will no doubt expand, as more blogging takes place. I want to read the trustee's statement and some more on the controversy before I make a thorough reaction.