An Ugly Side of Christianity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was speaking to a friend awhile ago. He was telling me that many Christian conference hosts, who also happen to be speakers, intentionally don't invite\" \/>\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\/frankviola\/uglyside\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Ugly Side of Christianity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was speaking to a friend awhile ago. He was telling me that many Christian conference hosts, who also happen to be speakers, intentionally don't invite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/uglyside\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deeper Journey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-29T09:35:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-28T13:37:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/files\/2018\/06\/1200x627-2-1024x535.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frank Viola\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Frank Viola\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/uglyside\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/uglyside\/\",\"name\":\"An Ugly Side of Christianity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-29T09:35:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-28T13:37:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/#\/schema\/person\/dfb7fb7b4fc0a1de4bb81bb58ea12645\"},\"description\":\"I was speaking to a friend awhile ago. 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{"id":7480,"date":"2019-11-29T05:35:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T09:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/?p=7480"},"modified":"2018-05-28T09:37:51","modified_gmt":"2018-05-28T13:37:51","slug":"uglyside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankviola\/uglyside\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ugly Side of Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

To put it in a sentence: They don\u2019t wish to be upstaged.<\/em><\/p>\n

He used an illustration involving the rock band U2. Suppose that U2 invited a certain band to open for them. But that band ended up being more gifted, more talented, and received a stronger reaction than U2 ever did.<\/p>\n

His question, \u201cWould U2 invite that band to open for them again?\u201d<\/p>\n

His answer: \u201cOf course not.\u201d<\/p>\n

When my friend shared this with me, I was taken back. But upon reflection, I\u2019m convinced he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

This explains why the most gifted speakers who have the most powerful ministries in our time aren\u2019t invited to the largest conferences in the Christian world.<\/p>\n

It has to do with the fear of being upstaged.<\/p>\n

Ugly, but true nonetheless. Perhaps this will change in the days to come.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"