In November, Americans fired Moderate Republicans and Moderate Democrats in one sweep, but they won’t stop there. Moderate pastors and ministers in the American Christian Church will be next. The twist will be that Moderate Christian leadership will react the same way as the Established Moderate Republican leadership. They’ll treat it as a “style” problem and announce a quest for “better communicators” to “convince people” that their mediocrity is beneficial—unaware that the clarification is only necessary because their actions shout the contrary.
Professionals who depend on popular public opinion aren’t all that different from each other, politicians and ministers alike. The good ones are exceptionally honest and the bad ones lie at altitudes in the pathological stratosphere—especially to themselves. They tell their donor base that the angry masses want them to “move even more to the center” when, in their minds, we don’t like them because we listened to the wrong guy on the radio.
Do we vote like the guy on the radio or do we listen to the radio guy who agrees with how we vote? Most people want a good explanation to articulate their per-existing and ever-developing opinions. Moderates don’t explain the core philosophy behind their ideas. An effective pastor will tell you that obeying God’s Word starts with meditation and leads to a more effective purpose in life. Mediocre pastors can only preach in sophisticated and simple “to-dos” and “not to-dos” because the functional aspect of wisdom is not a part of their dysfunctional lives. Moderates are phonies who think serious, “on-purpose” people have inflammatory opinions that must be contained. Their teaching reflects their character: their ideas are mere mantra rather than useful insight. Moderate politicians say what will gain votes rather than educating constituents as to the worth of Constitutional values. Moderate pastors preach what will retain core members. They prostitute themselves to demands that may be ungodly rather than evangelizing their opposition. Moderates give invitations with no convincing persuasion. No wonder non-Christians don’t like the content of many supposed Christian messages—those messages lack strength.
The educational nature of the Tea Party movement increased the American Conservative voter base. It drew people in because their ideas were understandably beneficial. Speakers explain from their own character, not a set of indoctrinated theories. Likewise, the shift toward fast-growing evangelism will encompass teaching that explains it’s value for daily scruples.
Substance makes sense. People don’t want counterfeit money because it doesn’t buy food or Christmas presents no matter how pretty it looks. People want the “real” thing and it’s hard to be real. We know the Bible says to put God’s Kingdom ahead of food and shelter, but we often fail to recognize the routine situations that call for that choice. The subtle moments when we should take a stand zip past our radar because we’re expecting a catastrophic invitation. We mistake the ostensible “virtue in compromise” for “immersion-evangelism”. The masses are eager for us to demonstrate our beliefs. We can only persuade others once we persuade ourselves.