Fairview Baptist Church in Greer, SC, is dealing with angry parishioners following a stunt by their student pastor. In January, the church posted the following on its Instagram account:
We’re excited to welcome Cory Wall as our new Student Pastor! He’s a graduate from Chapman High School, a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from North Greenville University, and a Master’s Degree from Southeastern Theological Seminary. Cory has spent the last 14 years serving local churches in North and South Carolina in the areas of students and college. Today is Cory’s first day with us and we can’t wait to see what God is going to do! #Fairview
According to The Roys Report, Wall is accused of handing out stickers to his charges that read: “I [heart] hot youth pastors.” One recipient of a sticker was reportedly 14 years old. Wall is 35. The girl told her sister about the sticker, and a post with a photo of appeared on a local mom’s Facebook page with the comment:
Since when is it ever ok as a YOUTH PASTOR (whose 35 years old mind you) to hand these out to your students? This is absolutely unacceptable. Make it make sense, oh wait…you absolutely cannot! His replied email and the church’s reply about the subject is in the comment section below! And since they removed my initial tag of their church establishment I’ve also posted that in the comments.
The outrage continued on Twitter and included calls for an investigation by law enforcement. The children’s pastor, Scott Shipes, said that the church understands the parents’ concern and is taking the matter seriously, but declined to provide details because the issue is a personnel matter. Shipes said the incident was a mistake and was in poor taste. Wall also had to explain to church leaders why he shared an incident of a past sin with his students without talking with parents first.
Wall apparently sent an email to the woman whose sister was given the sticker stating that he had pure intentions and never wanted to make anyone feel uncomfortable. He apologized and said it was meant to “poke fun at the ‘I Love Hot Mom’ culture.” Wall has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
Maybe all of this is true, and this pastor simply had a serious lapse in judgment. But how serious does that lapse have to be to hand these stickers out to his students, including a 14- year-old girl? Maybe, maybe, he could have gotten away with giving one to his wife, girlfriend, or intended. But to give them to his students?
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On a quasi-regular basis, Barna or some other research group comes up with a report on why church membership is declining. Usually, it has something to do with politics or the gay agenda. Then religion writers compose obligatory articles about the issue and postulate what can and should be done. And shortly thereafter, another spate of books appears telling pastors how to do church differently or highlighting some other buzzword or catchphrase. And this episode highlights another contributing factor.
Even if the sticker incident was nothing more than just a dumb idea and there was no intent to groom children, it shows that at least in some quarters, we have religious leaders who do not take their faith seriously. Churches have become mega-malls with coffee shops and bookstores, and loud house bands with killer visual effects. The Gospel has been replaced with phrases like “doing life together” and “it’s all about authentic relationships.” Pastors are celebrities or desperately want to be. Preaching has given way to real estate acquisitions, butts in the seats, and creating financial empires. Sin and repentance are not preached, and everyone walks away feeling good about themselves and slowly coming down off a massive endorphin hit. The faith has become a Christian Barbie Dream House, or “High School Musical 4 – Bible College.” Or churches become clearing houses for social justice warriors too old to go to college.
Except, of course, the Bible never mentions any of those things. In fact, Jesus and Paul go to great lengths to discuss the struggles that come with faith, and Christians in persecuting nations would prefer that U.S. churches not send any more missionaries. There are enough Instagram and FB photos of healthy white people with capped-teeth smiles posing with poor kids in third-world countries. Some churches have beclowned themselves to the point that many nations to which the U.S. and European used to send missionaries are now trying to send missionaries to the United States.
The fact that Wall didn’t take his faith or his calling seriously and decided to pass out the stickers to his students is very informative. Even if the intent was not sexual, it was thoughtless and self-serving. It was an attempt to ingratiate himself with the culture. It was a joke at the expense of the Bride of Christ. Faith does not accommodate popular culture. And people, even kids, can spot insincerity a mile off. So why subject themselves to getting up early on a Sunday to get something they can easily acquire from social media, a video game, or a quick trip to Starbucks?
In the quest to become authentic, too many churches have become anything but.
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