Grace and Truth

Preaching is a delicate balance of grace and truth. Sometimes I miss that target. Sometimes what I say from the pulpit is just plain wrong. No preacher’s interpretation and proclamation of Scripture is flawless. Sometimes what I say is misunderstood. Sometimes truth gets tainted by my own bias. Sometimes my passion comes across as anger and/or judgment. I’ve said many times that the job of a preacher is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. By afflicting the comfortable I mean challenge to grow, to think deeper about God and faith and how we live that out. “Afflict the comfortable” also means preaching the gospel in a way that convicts people of sin, leading to confession, repentance, and spiritual renewal. It’s never my intent to heap guilt and shame on anyone just to make them feel very, very bad about themselves.

So I am disappointed, to say the least, that last Sunday’s (May 12) message came across to some as guilt-based, unfair, untimely, & offensive. Part of my preparation for the message that dealt with the tragedy of abortion included seeking out the counsel of two women I respect, my wife, who is a volunteer counselor at the Pflugerville Pregnancy Resource Center, and a woman that had told me she’d had an abortion many years ago. Obviously there is no way for me, a man, to know what it feels like to be a woman in the tragic situation of coping with an unwanted, untimely pregnancy. There is no way for me to comprehend what it’s like to feel trapped with the limited options available seeming equally catastrophic. So I took time to listen to a woman who’d been in that position and to a woman who counsels them.

I wanted to communicate my view that women who choose abortion are victims too. No woman wants to be in that situation. I want to be a church that welcomes all with love and grace and mercy, because we all need love and grace and mercy. I’m not sure why that failed to come through to some, but I deeply regret that it did not. PCC has supported pro-life in the most positive ways that we know how for the entire history of our church. That means providing financial support and volunteers to the Pflugerville Pregnancy Resource Center since its inception. This support has been open and uncompromising for 17+ years. On the other hand, we’re not into the politics of the issue. We do not campaign for pro-life candidates or any political candidates for any office period. I personally do NOT believe the answer is with Congress passing laws, courts striking down laws, or electing pro-life candidates. But we are for life; always have been, always will be. We will always be for the “least of these” and that includes both prenatal babies and their mothers.

Some may be right in saying that Mother’s Day was the wrong time for that message. I struggled with the timing. I even had a different message ready if I decided late in the week not to go forward with the original. In the end, I decided that it was part of the “Justice for All” series and that it fit. I felt like it was what the Spirit was leading me to do. That’s a subjective perspective. It was my decision and I won’t blame God for it, but I still feel that God was leading me. I’m not infallible; sometimes I miss God’s leading.

Christians differ on this issue. No one at PCC is required to sign anything supporting pro-life. No one will ever be asked to withdraw his or her membership from PCC over this issue. And for those offended by last Sunday’s message, I would like to have the opportunity to sit down face-to-face and talk. I feel certain that we agree on so much more than on what we disagree. It is not my goal or desire to change minds on the issue, but to make sure we understand our differences and what we stand united upon. So, if the message last Sunday challenged you, pushed you out of your comfort zone to think deeper and harder about your faith and how you live it out… good. I hope that happens every Sunday at PCC. If you were deeply offended and you’re angry with me about that message, whether it be the content or the timing I want to hear from you. I want to hear your story and better understand your perspective. I want to walk together in faith serving God together, even if we agree to disagree on some things. So call me. The church office phone is 512 251-0719.