{"id":2069,"date":"2021-03-06T22:17:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T06:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2021-03-07T09:18:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T17:18:04","slug":"discipleship-by-proxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/","title":{"rendered":"Discipleship by Proxy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders.<\/p>\n

The first is in complete agreement with a large percentage of their flock when it comes to the last four years and the events of January 6th<\/sup> in our nation\u2019s capital. They agree the former president was wonderful, his election \u201cstolen,\u201d the insurrection either justified or a \u201cfalse flag,\u201d and are sympathetic toward conspiracy theories like Qanon<\/a>. We might call them the, \u201ctrue believers.\u201d This post\/essay is not for them. In my opinion, they are a disgrace to their calling.<\/p>\n

The second type of pastor isn\u2019t really sure what\u2019s going on. They\u2019ve never been that interested in the political, don\u2019t follow it at all, rarely watch or read the news, and mostly focus on religious, spiritual, or theological matters. Of course, that\u2019s only when they\u2019ve taken their fill of sports, Netflix, movies, music, and other entertainment.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re perplexed during the potluck meal when they hear one of their members froth at the mouth about, \u201cdemon-crats,\u201d the government coming for everyone\u2019s guns, and how the Republicans are fighting a war against the evil Democrats. This pastor remains silent and just tries to change the subject. This post\/essay is not for them either. They\u2019re immature and in over their heads.<\/p>\n

These two types of pastor are practicing discipleship by proxy. They imagine they are discipling their members, but they fool themselves. The first type, of course, has not only fooled themselves but is being discipled by the same teachers (Fox News, et al) as their members. This pastor might as well sit out with his<\/em> (the masculine is used on purpose as most these types of churches only call male pastors) members and stare at an empty pulpit\u2014or just put a television or screen in its place and turn it to Fox.<\/p>\n

The members of the churches led by these types of pastors are really being discipled by Fox News<\/a>, Newsmax<\/a>, OAN<\/a>, Epoch Times<\/a>, Breitbart<\/a>, and other far-right, radical, white nationalist media. To such we could add Parler<\/a> and other social media platforms where racists, gun nuts, and misogynists can gather without shame.<\/p>\n

Pity these poor, poor pastors. Their members show up on Sunday morning already discipled. They hear their pastor, their leaders, through the right-wing political sifter or grid placed in their heads by the media sources noted. This sifter\/grid removes anything that would disturb the worldview they\u2019ve imbibed and, in fact, makes what they hear in church correspond with and even support it. It becomes reinforcing.<\/p>\n

The first type of pastor, like their members, is also a product of the view provided by these sources. Whatever this pastor learned in college and seminary has been trumped or set aside by the new view they\u2019ve now allowed to permeate their life. These media sources are a well of which they\u2019ve now drank deeply. They both, pastor and flock, practice discipleship by proxy. These pastors no longer disciples themselves or anyone else\u2014it\u2019s all done for them by someone else. It\u2019s a nice gig if you can get it.<\/p>\n

The second type of pastor also practices discipleship by proxy but they\u2019re entirely unaware. They just sort of sense they\u2019re losing their people to forces they know nothing about. Thus, they plod along hoping people don\u2019t begin to realize, one, not only do they have no idea what\u2019s happening in the political\/cultural world, but, two, they have no idea the impact it\u2019s having on their people\u2014and it\u2019s happening right under their noses. They\u2019re oblivious.<\/p>\n

I write for a third type of evangelical pastor\/leader.<\/em> This type was appalled and horrified at the last four years. They never understood how 81% of their people could have voted for that guy. They\u2019ve watched as the media sources I\u2019ve noted brainwashed, divided, and transformed many of their people into angry, fact-challenged, conspiracy minded zealots. This post\/essay is for them.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>, stand firm. You represent the very best of your tradition as to theology and political\/cultural engagement. Both your history and theology are on your side. And I note such, while at the same time, disagreeing with much of it. However, that isn\u2019t the point or important at the moment.<\/p>\n

My point is that the current white nationalism, emperor worship (Trump), conspiracy-minded, right-wing, mind-set\u2014that seems open or sympathetic to racism, sexism (they call this not being \u201cpolitically correct\u2019 as cover), and even violence if necessary, is not the best your tradition or theology offers. You are in the right to stand against it and you represent the, \u201corthodoxy\u201d of your tradition. These others pastor types do not.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>, double down on your efforts to disciple your people out of this ignorance, this haze perpetuated by these media sources. Develop sermon and small group studies that focus on passages like 1Peter 2:9<\/a> and Hebrews 12: 25-29<\/a> wherein is stressed the idea we belong to a nation that is global and a Kingdom not of this world. It is to each we owe any final allegiance\u2014not a political party, ethnicity, or geographical boundary. Beyond that, our allegiance is to our neighbor, especially the least of these.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>, do a series of sermons or small group studies built around the insights given here by Phil Vischer<\/a> on the subject of abortion. Until white evangelicals understand the complexities of this area and how they are being played on this subject by Republicans, they will continue to be single-issue voters, which ultimately isn\u2019t healthy or wise and a big reason we are in this mess.<\/p>\n

Finally<\/strong>, challenge your people to take a three-month break from the media sources I mentioned, or any like them. Ask them to get their news only from the newspaper of the largest city closest to them. Read this news either online or the physical paper. They don\u2019t need to even read the op-ed parts or opinions. Just read the reporting so they know what\u2019s going on. Reconvene after the three months and discuss.<\/p>\n

I certainly understand such a course of action may get this type of pastor in trouble. Their members may not like going down this road. Some may leave. Some may stay and lead a revolt. In our current climate, many of these types of pastors may lose their jobs. I get that. I don\u2019t want anyone to lose their job, but I\u2019m tempted to think this may be the best thing to happen.<\/p>\n

Some of these types of pastors may realize they need to leave their traditions, their denominations, and move into something else\u2014traditions or movements that foresaw and understood the political problems of the last four years. Some though, may need to stay and fight. I commend either.<\/p>\n

I do know this: This last type of pastor, unlike the first two, will, at the end of the day, be able to hold their head high knowing they did the right thing, come what may. They will have a clear conscience; they will be able to tell their children and grandchildren where they stood in those days. They will sleep well at night. We will see them as the ones who held their principles, orthodoxy, and integrity intact. And that, I would say to this pastor, is no small thing.<\/p>\n

I have a Patreon<\/a> Page\u2014please consider supporting my writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders. The first is in complete agreement with a large percentage of their flock when it comes to the last four years and the events of January 6th in our nation\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3524,"featured_media":2075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[101,143,263,344,655,485],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-discipleship","tag-evangelicalism","tag-media","tag-political","tag-social-media","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nDiscipleship by Proxy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Discipleship by Proxy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divergence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-07T06:17:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-07T17:18:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1004\/2021\/03\/tv-1015426_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@darrelllackey1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/\",\"name\":\"Discipleship by Proxy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-07T06:17:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-07T17:18:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813\"},\"description\":\"In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Discipleship by Proxy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\",\"name\":\"Divergence\",\"description\":\"Commentary Regarding Fundamentalism - Evangelicalism\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813\",\"name\":\"Darrell Lackey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/333bbffd8a9f931197abc00b19242031?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/333bbffd8a9f931197abc00b19242031?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Darrell Lackey\"},\"description\":\"Darrell Lackey has served as a lead pastor and currently works in the private sector. He is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (Now Gateway). He and his wife reside in Northern California.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/darrelllackey1\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/author\/dlackey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Discipleship by Proxy","description":"In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Discipleship by Proxy","og_description":"In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/","og_site_name":"Divergence","article_published_time":"2021-03-07T06:17:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-07T17:18:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1004\/2021\/03\/tv-1015426_640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darrell Lackey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@darrelllackey1","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darrell Lackey","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/","name":"Discipleship by Proxy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-07T06:17:19+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-07T17:18:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813"},"description":"In regard to our present moment, when it comes to white evangelicalism and the political, in my view there are three types of evangelical pastors\/leaders.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2021\/03\/06\/discipleship-by-proxy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Discipleship by Proxy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/","name":"Divergence","description":"Commentary Regarding Fundamentalism - Evangelicalism","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813","name":"Darrell Lackey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/333bbffd8a9f931197abc00b19242031?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/333bbffd8a9f931197abc00b19242031?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Darrell Lackey"},"description":"Darrell Lackey has served as a lead pastor and currently works in the private sector. He is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (Now Gateway). He and his wife reside in Northern California.","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/darrelllackey1"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/author\/dlackey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3524"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2069"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2083,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions\/2083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}