Josh Benner

Author: the Josh Benner Blog

  • Sunday to Friday: “Save us!” to “Crucify!”

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    Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons – Ben Stassen

    Originally published March 20, 2016

    Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. It’s a festive scene. Passover week, one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish calendar. Jesus has been preaching throughout the region of Galilee. He has built up quite the following: teaching on the kingdom of heaven and performing miracles.

    And here he enters the holy city, the crowds shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). Palm branches had become a Jewish symbol of victory and the crowds bring these branches out as they chant. The processional they created was somewhat makeshift, but it had kingly overtones. They’re treating him like someone who was returning to Jerusalem after having conquered an enemy. Ironically, he was coming into Jerusalem to conquer sin. (more…)

  • Megachurch pastor accused of sexual misconduct

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    A long investigative story from the Chicago Tribune reports on several allegations of moral filings from Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of Willow Creek, a suburban Chicago church which is one of the largest churches in America.

    The article says:

    The alleged behavior included suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and invitations to hotel rooms. It also included an allegation of a prolonged consensual affair with a married woman who later said her claim about the affair was not true, the Tribune found.

    –Chicago Tribune

    I visited Willow a few times when I was in seminary. I like the church. I truly hope that these allegations are not true. But the most important thing is the truth. Unfortunately, it seems that these types of sins are often swept under the rug. Some of these allegations go as far back as the 90s. Willow Creek did an internal investigation through an outside party who cleared Hybels of any wrongdoing after conducting 29 interviews and reading through hundreds of emails.

    I hope it’s not true.

    But where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. The Tribune article includes on the record statements of several people who allegedly misconduct. The group also included former pastors and staffers at the church, notably former Willow Creek teaching pastor John Ortberg who’s now pastoring a church in the Bay Area.

    I’m sometimes skeptical of church internal investigations. In megachurches, a founding pastor, especially one as dynamic as Hybels, is crucial to the health of the organization. It can be crippling to the entire congregation’s longterm viability to lose the pastor, especially amid scandal.

    I guess I don’t understand why other respected leaders would say that there’s truth to these allegations if they didn’t think that. I don’t think there’s a massive conspiracy from within the Christian community against Bill Hybels or Willow Creek for no reason.

    In society, it’s become something of a punchline: well known Christian leaders having and/or pursuing affairs. It’s tragic. Just a couple days ago, a megachurch pastor in Tennessee (rightfully) stepped down/was pushed out after revealing a sexual assault perpetrated by him in 1998.

    Stories like these should be a reminder to all church leaders (and to all Christians) to continue to walk in integrity daily, to live out what we believe, and to fight temptation and compromise. The truth matters. Victims of assault deserve the truth to be brought to light.

    I pray for the people of Willow Creek, and for the victims.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

     

  • Are evangelicals making a mistake on abortion laws?

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    Statehouse of Ohio

    I’m pro-life. I believe life begins at conception. At the moment of conception, a fertilized ova is genetically distinct from both of the parents.

    My home state, Ohio, has a proposed bill that would totally ban abortion.

    The nation is roughly evenly split on being pro-life vs pro choice. There is also a lot of nuance within both of those positions. For instance, most people who are pro-choice are not proponents of late term abortions. And most people who are pro-life are not pro-life is an absolute where they think there’s never a circumstance in which an abortion is morally justified.

    It’s interesting as I’ve seen my camp (the conservative evangelical camp) approach this issue.

    With the question of constitutionality, if Ohio’s bill were passed and signed into law, I am seeing pro-life Christians arguing as to why it would be constitutional. Others are arguing that even if it were unconstitutional, who cares about the courts, and that the state should just ignore it for the sake of protecting life (not saying I disagree with that sentiment).

    I think this is the wrong starting place.

    It doesn’t matter if it would be constitutional or not. Because no state would pass a law where abortion were legally viewed as tantamount to murder. Even among pro-life people, that view is a minority.

    The idea that states can simply ban it, when there is no ban, when most people favor it in certain circumstances, as moral as the suggestion might be, what’s morally right is not always realistically passable.

    I think this “all or nothing approach” overlooks the real efforts that lawmakers are working on in states all over the country. 41 states have passed laws where there must be a licensed doctor providing the procedure. 42 states have passed laws that limit when an abortion can happen within a pregnancy.

    More work needs to be done. I’m not saying this is ideal. I’m not saying the current laws are good. I’m just saying that as much as Christians (myself included) might want more laws to protect the lives of the unborn, that we also need to be pragmatic in pursuing something that is an uphill battle and that millions of people disagree with. That millions of people see as a right. All victories for the pro-life movement are hard fought.

    Even if a total ban were proposed, it would likely be struck down (an Ohio law banning abortions on fetuses with downs syndrome was put on hold last week). And even if the state chose to ignore a court ruling, you would still need to find a jury of 12 people who would convict a doctor or a mother for having an abortion?

    We need to keep beating the drum, educating people that life truly does begin at conception. We need to make sure that the necessary programs have the sufficient funding to support a baby that goes up for adoption. We need to keep chipping away at the laws.

    To think an all out ban could pass is to be divorced from reality.

    Once again, I’m pro-life, I feel that a baby has a right to be born and to live. It’s a child created in the image of God. And it’s tragic.

    But it’s a sinful and fallen world, and we can’t always accomplish everything we want in one fell swoop.

    I feel like these attempts are trying to sprint a marathon.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • If you want to be a runner, run. If you want to be a Christian, run to God.

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    Let’s say you say you’re going to start running. And so you buy running shoes, you subscribe to runner’s magazines, you start wearing spandex, like all the time. And then six months goes by, and you still haven’t taken your shoes out of the box…
    You’re not a runner.
    Having all of the things a runner has doesn’t make you a runner. RUNNING makes you a runner!
    Just because you’re in church, or know all of the right Bible answers, or listen to Christian music doesn’t mean that you’re walking in faith.
    Just knowing a lot about the Bible and following all the rules doesn’t mean you have faith. In the Bible, Jesus constantly has run-ins with the Pharisees. They were experts in the Old Testament Law. The Pharisees knew the scriptures like the back of their hand but were ultimately clueless about God.
    They might have been good at following the rules, but the key to acceptance with God is faith. True faith, results in obedience. Faithless obedience is worthless because at the heart of the gospel is Jesus dying for those who have faith in him. Earning salvation through obedience makes Christ’s death meaningless.
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Tips for developing a daily Bible reading plan

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    I did a survey of people who say that they spend time reading in the Bible everyday. I asked “For people who read the Bible everyday, curious if it’s ever a challenge?”
    I gave two possible answers
    1. There are days where I definitely have to push myself.
    2. Nope, never ever a challenge, never fight being lazy about it. Always love it.
    Of the 134 people who responded, 133 chose option one.
    Spending time in the Bible everyday is hard.
    It’s a challenging book to read. It’s highly self-referential. We’re reading it in different cultures separated by thousands of years of history. We often don’t understand the significance of events and teachings. Some things can seem cryptic.
    It can be easy to get discouraged.
    It can be easy to put it off.
    But in the Christian life, it is so important to spend time in the Bible every single day.
    If this is something that you’ve tried and failed at doing, here are some tips on developing a daily devotional life.
    1. Figure out a reading plan
    There are lots of great Bible reading plans. If you need any suggestions, Bible Gateway has a list.
    What’s the best plan?
    It’s the one that has you in the Bible everyday.
    Different plans might work for different people. One popular plan has four readings a day from four different books. That’s not my personal favorite but it works well for many others.
    Some plans go through the Bible chronologically. Some plans go through the Bible in its canonical order.
    Find a ;lan that has you going through the whole Bible.
    1. Find a time of day that works best for you. 
    For  me, this has changed at different times of my life. It used to be in the evening. Lately, I like to do some reading in the Bible as soon as I wake up, before my feet even touch the ground.
    Fifteen minutes a day, and you can read through the whole Bible in a year.
    1. If you miss a day, don’t let that be a reason to derail the entire plan. 
    It happens.
    1. Some days will be easier than others. 
    Just like the result of my survey. Even for people who read from the Bible everyday, there are definitely times where you do it more because you feel like it’s what you should do than it being what you want to do on that day.
    If you’re holding out for a time when it’ll always be easy, and you’ll always be in the mood to read, that day will never come.
    Don’t make Bible reading about doing it only when you feel like it. I’m not knocking the Bible. As sinful people, we struggle.
    1. Some days are more enriching than others. 
    If you workout with any frequency, you know that not all workouts are equally good. Somedays, it’s an amazing workout.
    Other days, you went to the gym, you did your program, but it just didn’t feel as productive.
    But it’s still worth working out. You might not always see huge gains. But working out over time produces results.
    The Bible is unlike any other book. The book of Hebrews says: “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
    Matthew 24:35 says: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
    Somedays, you can read a passage in the Bible, and it almost seems like it was put there just for your situation and what you’re facing.
    There can be other times where you read, and think “I don’t understand what’s going on at all.”
    1. Get a good study Bible. 
    A study Bible can help to make some connections and point out some things about the background and history of a verse or passage that you wouldn’t have noticed.
    My favorites are the ESV Study Bible and the New Bible Commentary.
    1. Start today! 
    Don’t wait. Don’t put it off. It’s the word of God. It is the story of God’s work in a sinful world. It tells us God’s gospel. It points us to moral truths which God desires for us to live by.
    “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
    I’d love to hear other things you’ve found helpful. Feel free to leave a comment below.
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.