Jesus Made Me Puke

Rolling Stone Magazine goes undercover at a John Hagee ministry retreat. You can imagine what their reporting will look like. Read the article here. In light of what we already knows goes on in dark corners of Christianity, it actually is not all that surprising. Sad, but true.

Jared Wilson comments on the article here. He concludes with this:

I wish Taibbi had picked a more "normal" congregation to go undercover in, but an experience in your average non-charismatic megachurch probably would not make for as good a story. The problem with this stuff is twofold: a) it makes us all look like idiots, and b) it will not do to pretend this isn't widespread.

At the same time, there is a fine line to be run by these sorts of exposes. I feel sort of the same way I do about the recent book Unchristian -- it is helpful to know, and better, to understand the culture's perception of Christians and the Church, but we err when we make our response about marketing. We do not exist to please an unbelieving world. We exist to please God. The confusion, disgust, ridicule, or animosity of those who do not have ears to hear or eyes to see should not be our deepest concerns. Scripture promises we will be despised and ridiculed; it promises that the cross will be an offense. Our chief end is not to be well regarded among all men. It would be nice, sure. But there's a fine line between cultivating a reputation for peace and love and pandering for the approval of those who are uncomfortable with our being "weird."