What will YOU say?

What Will YOU Say?



I just finished listening to “The Briefing” by Al Mohler.  I would encourage all of you to make listening to this podcast an every day habit.  He speaks today of an Australian Rules Football team that hired an executive to run the team and then 24 hours later fired him for his involvement with an evangelical church.  Someone had gone on the website of the church and found past sermons which contained biblically taught opposition to homosexual marriages and abortion. Citing diversity, the team fired the new executive.  Dr. Mohler warns of how this type of background checking is all ready here in America. A fire chief was fired because of material he produced for a Sunday School class he was teaching.  If the trend continues to unfold as it has been, then companies will include investigations into which church you attend in their background checks and it will result in your not being hired.  Apparently, with some companies, this is all ready happening.  You may, or may not, know the real reason for your rejection.
This executive, when finding out why the team was firing him (they made a public statement declaring their reason), put out his own statement. He declared that he was unaware of the church’s position on these matters and he is committed to a safe work environments and the inclusion of all people.  He did all he could to distance himself from his church’s teaching.  It may sound reasonable that he was unaware of the church position, but he was the chairman of their board.  This is sad on two levels.
The first reason this is sad is because it appears that this man sold his soul for a job.  Please understand, this public statement almost makes him unhirable for any other company.  His career as a top executive is over.  He will struggle to find a job in the areas of expertise that he has worked hard to gain over the years.  His life, in one day, has been turned completely upside down.  But his choice to distance himself from the clear teaching of the Word of God is also a life changing decision.  When confronted about his relationship to the Word of God, he backed down.  What would you do? Our desire to fly under the radar as believers is soon coming to an end.  Which choice will you make when you are forced to stand up for biblical principles?  We are soon coming to the place where these kinds of questions are not simply exercises in a church class but a reality of life.
The second reason I find this man’s reaction sad is the appearance that a church can become so large (this is a multi sight, fast growing, newer church) that it begins to sacrifice spiritual maturity for talent.   To be fair, this can happen in any size church.  I realize that there is a need for every church to properly handle the administrative side of what they do, but we must not neglect the holy aspect of all that we do.  Recognizing someone’s ability to manage or administer is not the same as recognizing someone’s spiritual maturity to use that talent or gift for the good of the bride of Christ.  Just because someone is a supporter and member of our church does not mean they have the spiritual maturity to help lead that church.  Administrative decisions are just as holy as decisions about the order of our service.  If godly, convicted men are not the head of both, then the church will eventually drift towards cultural pressures and away from the truth found in the Word of God.  Think about the impact this man would have had on his board if the church was attacked for it’s stand on biblical issues.  If the bottom line on finances was beginning to fail because of the stand the church was taking, how would he have lead the board then?
Right now, for many of us as believers, we can hold on to our values and beliefs in a very private way.  We do not have engage in conversations at work, we can keep our opinions to ourselves, and we cling to the hope that we can live quiet and peaceable lives.  This can be a very wise way to handle issues.  But what happens if our jobs begin to look more closely into the institutions that we support?  What happens if your church is called out for the stand it takes on hot topic issues?  What will you do?  Will you sell your soul as this ex executive did?  Or will you stand for the inerrant Word of God and trust in the one who died for you?

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