Ok. I am in no way attempting to turn this blog into a gossip column- not my speed. But, I think that recent media events forces me to acknowledge an incident that speaks to larger issues than just plain ole gossip. It was reported, unofficially, that Rev. Mase Betha, formerly Bad Boy rapper turned rapper pastor, was allegedly driving in a gay area in Atlanta (near Bulldogs on Peachtree) and was trying to pick up a tranny (transvestite) and accidentally ran into the back of a woman’s car. He was so embarrassed that he placed a towel over his head while the cop wrote out his ticket and even asked to be left in the car while it was being towed away. I hope that this is a nasty rumor that will be cleared up immediately. But if it isn’t, how should his church respond?
I thought about the old system in the Baptist church where a young minister is groomed before given leadership position. If he (normally not she because Baptists are a little behind on women’s liberation) proves commitment through serving first as a deacon then moves up to minister in training then he has his “trial sermon” and if approved by the leadership he is licensed by the church. With the influx of non-denominational churches anyone can have a church now and obviously anyway will follow them. I know there is usually an accountability system in place for many of these churches but usually there is no real repercussion behind behavior that is not conducive to a pastor. Just because one wants to preach or believes she is called to pastor --does that make her qualified to lead others-immediately? You will have to forgive me- my father was a stern Baptist pastor and being a member of the pulpit was very serious matter and not everyone was qualified to be on the “roster.”
Being a Christian does not make you exempt from making mistakes or doing things that hurt other people. But the difference between a mature and immature Christian is when you know that your life does not necessarily reflect what you stand for and you acknowledge it, ask for forgiveness and ask God to help you as you make steps to change it. In our church my dad would talk about “sitting people down” from leadership. It basically is a time for that person to take the necessary steps to deal with issues in their life that keeps them from true ministry. He would take a leave of absence from working in the church. I hear people saying Judge not our you will be judged – The same measure you judge will be judged back to you. I use integrity, honesty built on Christian principles as my judging stick. And therefore when things are not up to par in my life, I do not participate in ministry, I may not announce it but I am definitely taking time to work on me and I think that is fair to ask of anyone.
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