Month: August 2022

Some Sources of Spiritual Erosion

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Earlier this Summer news outlets around the world reported two beach houses from the same village on the Outer Banks of coastal North Carolina crashed into the sea – within hours of each other. (WAVY) Fortunately no one was injured in either instance. But the cause in both cases? The constant pounding of the Atlantic upon the beach had, over time, eroded the sand within which the foundations of these houses had been embedded.

In Matthew 7.24-27, Jesus warns us that what happened to these houses can also happen to any of us:

24 “Everyone  then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Spiritual erosion can – and does – take place. And it can be as devastating to our emotional health as the pounding of the ocean is to a stately coastal home.

I am not sure, exactly, where I first saw the equation below. They seem to have bounced around the internet, in some form or another. But common attribution seems to go to Scott Sauls (though I have not yet found it in any of his writings that I have read). But the basic premise is that spiritual erosion is a real danger, and we ought to be as diligent about checking and refortifying our foundations as an owner of a seaside villa should be about checking the foundations of his/her home. If we do not keep up, our emotional health can come crashing down and sucked out to sea.

Life itself causes weathering. But particular attention must be given to our attitudes, values, and desires. When love for [A] is greater than (>) love for [B}, spiritual erosion can develop over time:

  • self > serving
  • leisure > church
  • consuming > giving
  • autonomy > commitment
  • clique > community
  • sin > truth
  • feelings > Scripture
  • winning > listening
  • being right > being kind

NOTE TO SELF: Keep watch of your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4.23)

Pastors and Their Friends

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

At the risk of being self-serving, I want to commend an article recently posted by ByFaith magazine, written by Walter Henegar, titled Your Pastor Needs Pastor Friends. I recommend it not only for those who are part of the congregation I serve, but also to all who regularly read this blog, as well as to those who have just stumbled upon it. Most if not all of you are part of some church; and if part of a church you most likely have a pastor. What this article does is offer a peek behind the curtain into the life of your pastor.

Getting a glimpse into someone’s life can be somewhat like looking into the closets and junk drawers of any family home – it does not usually offer the prettiest picture. It may not be shocking, it may not be scandalous, but it contains some things that might be preferred not to be put out for public display. This is certainly true if you have the relatively rare opportunity to look behind the scenes into the “real” lives of most church pastors.

In recent months I have participated in a number of gatherings with fellow ministers. What I have heard and seen is evidence of what has been widely reported, especially in the wake of the havoc COVID has wreaked in many churches: Pastors are tired. Pastors are burning out. Pastors are breaking. Many pastors have already walked away; many others are seriously considering throwing in the towel. I am not one of them. Not today, anyway. But I understand. I have been there. I have had such seasons – and likely I will again. It’s just not where I am today. Some of those who are on the brink, or who have already walked away, are far wiser, gentler, and godlier than I am. So it breaks my heart to see them so deeply wounded. And I know it breaks the hearts of many in the pews when it is their pastor who breaks. “If only we knew…”

I do not know Walter Henegar (though I do know his Dad). But I appreciate Walter’s transparency in this article because it offers an opportunity for many godly people to know how to care for and pray for those whom God has raised up to be shepherds for their souls. (Hebrews 13.17)

READ: Your Pastor Needs Pastor Friends

Racial Justice & The Church: Navigating the Minefield

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Trying to hold an ongoing conversation about race and justice feels like trying to navigate a rhetorical minefield. Watch out. You never know if that next step is going to explode. But it is a conversation that needs to continue. I believe it is a conversation that especially needs to continue in the Church. The question is: “How”?

Here are four principles that recently came to me via an email:

First, you clarify what the Scriptures teach about justice and how God intends for people of different ethnic backgrounds to treat one another. 

Second, you highlight the aspects of your theological tradition that illuminate what the Scriptures teach about “race” and justice. 

Third, you examine the unvarnished history of how your religious tradition has contributed to or resisted racial injustice in the part of the world you live in. 

Finally, you sit with the sociological impact of your religious tradition’s actions to pursue or deny racial injustice.

Shaped Through Suffering

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

“The suffering that comes to us is not random. It is not just the flow of chance events that careen along without a plan. It is not crazy coincidence. It is not haphazard and undirected. It is easy for us to see suffering as blind chance, or bad luck, or what others are doing to us. It is not karma, bad thing are not coming to us, because we have been bad to others. God makes it clear that all suffering comes according to God’s purposes in our lives. God is at work even when we cannot see him at work.”

~ Tedd Tripp

4 Questions Worth Exploring

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

In this short video (8 minutes), Tim Keller offers four questions he would like to see his denomination (which is also my denomination) – the Presbyterian Church in America – explore in the coming years.

The four questions are:

  1. How do we create a culture in which pastors pray like they should?
  2. How do we deal with controversy in a social media age?
  3. How do we form our kids – and disciples in general – in a digital age?
  4. How do we get Christians to engage in evangelism?

These questions are worthwhile, not only for a denomination to explore, but also for any local congregation to think about and discuss.