What We Can Learn From Recent Events At The Basement

This week many Christians in Birmingham have been curiously watching the events surrounding Matt Pitt’s second arrest in the last year. Matt is the founder of The Basement, a large youth ministry centered in the city of Birmingham. Some Christians have joined the world in mocking Matt, which is the last response a believer should have. Some have claimed that he is the victim of police persecution, which is not helpful either. You can read a good synopsis of who he is, the founding of the Basement, and his recent troubles here. We need to pray for Matt. He is obviously in a difficult place.

The overwhelming thought that I have had in the last few days concerns how we got here in the first place. Christians in Birmingham have got to realize that the church culture that we have created is responsible for the atmosphere that raised this young man to a prominent position that he was not ready to handle. We have fostered the idea that anything that can draw large numbers of teenagers has to be of God and has to be good. We have idolized reaching the next generation to the point that we have abandoned any discernment about what we are reaching them with. At the end of day, what I have to say in his post is not about Matt Pitt or The Basement per se, but about the church culture that led to it and what we need do rediscover as churches.

We have to rediscover the importance of the Bible and good theology. A simple perusal of The Basement’s website and videos reveal an atmosphere that is exciting, but is lacking greatly in any substantive understanding of God and his word. Phrases that sound kind of biblical are thrown around as justification for almost anything. For example, the mantra since Matt’s first arrest has been “not perfect, just forgiven.” We would agree all day long that Christians have sinned and are fully forgiven by God through faith in Jesus. The problem is that this is being used as justification for a man who is on probation after a guilty plea continuing to lead a large ministry to teenagers. The truth of God’s grace and our justification before him does not erase the standards of leadership. However, when there is fuzzy theology and a lack of understanding of God’s word, these types of mantras and catch phrases thrive.

We have to rediscover the importance of intergenerational ministry. The beauty of the local church is that it is meant to be multigenerational. I say this as a man who pastors a church where the majority of attenders are under 40. One of the greatest blessings that we have experienced recently is adding older saints to our number. Younger people need the wisdom of people who have been walking with Jesus for decades and who have the benefit of having seen the passing of many years. We need to hear from people who have worked for a lifetime and who have been married for a lifetime. Older generations need to be reinvigorated with the passion, energy, and enthusiasm of younger generations. They need to see the sense of awe and wonder that younger people have at making discoveries and hitting important milestones in life. Simply put, the church has to stop despising age and thinking that everything that reaches young people is infallible.

We have to rediscover a right understanding of Christian leadership. The fact that a man senses a “call” to the ministry does not mean that he gets to bypass the qualifications that are spelled out for us in 1 Timothy and Titus. Calling is only part of what it means to be a Gospel minister. A man’s character, reputation, theology, and home must also be considered. Paul also spells out that a man who would lead must not be a new convert. He stresses this because it is possible to become puffed up with conceit and fall. Paul instructs Timothy to not lay hands on a man to hastily for this very reason. In light of these qualifications set out in Scripture, we have to lose the “touch not the Lord’s anointed vibe” that fills several sectors of Christianity. God’s calling on a man’s life does not trump his character, theology, or God’s word. If “the Lord’s anointed” steps outside of the bounds of God’s word, he must hit the bench for the sake of the church and the reputation of the Gospel in world.

Finally, we have to recover the understanding that Christian parents are called to teach their children the Bible and how to follow Jesus. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 speaks of the obligation that parents have to teach their children in everyday life and conversations. We must teach our children walking, sitting down, when we lie down, and when we rise up. This also means leading family devotions, where special time is set aside to read Scripture and pray together. Parents bear the responsibility for this. The local church disciples parents and children as well. Do we need ministries to reach teenagers who are not from Christian families? Absolutely we do, but they must be led by people who meet biblical qualifications to lead ministries and that are connected to the local church.

We have been so desperate to see our teenagers follow Jesus that we have forgotten that it is important what we are winning them with and what we are winning them to. I think the words of Kevin DeYoung in Don’t Call it a Comeback are important here and we need to hear what he is saying.

“Reaching the next generation—whether they are outside the church or sitting there bored in your church—is easier and harder than you think. It’s easier because you don’t have to get a degree in postmodern literary theory or go to a bunch of stupid movies. You don’t have to say “sweet” or “bling” or know what LOL or IMHO means. You don’t have to listen to . . . well, whatever people listen to these days. You don’t have to be on Twitter, watch The Office, or imbibe fancy coffees. You just have to be like Jesus. That’s it. So the easy part is you don’t have to be with it. The hard part is you have to be with him. If you walk with God and walk with people, you’ll reach the next generation. Let me unpack that a bit. After thinking through the question for over a year, I’ve come up with five suggestions for pastors, youth workers, campus staff, and anyone else who wants to pass the faith on to the next generation: Grab them with passion. Win them with love. Hold them with holiness. Challenge them with truth. Amaze them with God.”

What We Can Learn from Recent Events at the Basement