The Children Are Fighting Again

www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/sfl-coral-ridge-081009,0,1598115.story

The late D. James Kennedy left quite a legacy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale. A Seminary, radio-TV ministry, and a once-very influential conservative political group.

He also left behind a very opinionated daughter.

Kennedy's replacement (who happens to be a grandson of Billy Graham!) has made lots of changes at the mega-church. Of course, some people don't like changes. Kennedy's daughter is one of them. Now the new pastor has told the daughter and five other members that they and their opinions are no longer welcome. In fact, if they step foot on the property, they will be arrested for trespassing!

Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy is active in her dad's ministry and posts regularly on her dad's ministry website (www.coralridge.org) She just can't attend his old church.

As with any dysfunctional church relationship, there is much we do not know. There's always another side to the story, even when you've already heard both sides. There are always more facts to be told, even when you think you know it all. Truth gets buried underneath emotion. Opinions shout louder than common sense. Compromise and understanding is viewed as defeat. Everyone declares war. The Kingdom loses.

In the classic passage on dealing with disputes (Matthew 18.15-17) the context of the whole chapter is humility. To become like the child, one must humble himself. The owner of one hundred sheep had to swallow pride ("I'll never lose a sheep") and go off looking for one. Perhaps he had to leave the 99 under the care of someone else ("Uh, would you mind looking after my sheep? I messed up and let one get away and now I gotta go look for it."). Then Peter asks how many times we need to forgive someone. The answer is either 77 or 490 times (depends on how you translate). Either number is a lot of forgiveness. To consistently forgive someone requires humility.

If either of the descendants of two of America's greatest evangelical leaders happens to stumble upon this blog, I have one word of advice: Humility.