Josh Benner

Tag: millennial

  • Forgiveness and John Crist: Comedian cancels tour over sexual misconduct allegations

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    John Crist was the satirical comedic voice of the Christian millennial, making fun of the popular megachurch culture, contemporary Christian music, and consumerism within the church.

    On Facebook, he has over 2 milloin followers. Over a million on Instagram. 500,000 on YouTube. Christianity is not known for producing great comedians, but Crist struck a cord. He was set to have a Netflix comedy special debuting on Thanksgiving.

    He had the fashion since of a youth pastor. The homeschooled son of a pastor.

    This week, Charisma News broke a story of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct engaged in by Crist.

    Charisma News is certainly not known for being a source of investigative journalism, and while I’m not saying that all of the allegations are necessarily true, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Crist has cancelled his upcoming tour and has issued an apology. It’s not that he’s saying everything reported is true, he did say:

    While I am not guilty of everything I’ve been accused of, I confess to being guilty of this—I have treated relationships with women far too casually, in some cases even recklessly. My behavior has been destructive and sinful.

    Crist’s statement also talked of receiving treatment for “sexual sin and addiction struggles.”

    I’ve seen a number of Christians defending this man. That is completely disheartening and unacceptable. Reading through comments on his Facebook and Instagram, some people talk of being disappointed in his actions (rightfully), and those are met with comments such as “I guess you must be perfect,” “I guess you’ve never sinned,” “God is gracious.”

    This type of response completely ignores the victims and mitigates the severity of what Crist did. Yes, God is gracious. And the good news of the gospel is that a person can be forgiven of their sins no matter what they’ve done. But that does not mean that there are never earthly consequences for our sins. This type of attitude enables continued sin because it accepts “he said he’s sorry” without also looking to see if there’s real repentance and change. Real discipleship and contrition.

    It’s good to apologize for the wrongs you’ve done. It’s also easy. It’s easy to say you’re sorry when you’re caught.

    But a changed life is what produces the fruit of a true belief.

    This story further troubles me because in seeing people defend Crist, it’s a window into how sexual abuse can happen within churches. In a lot of ways, Crist is like the megachurch pastor or popular televangelist who has a fall from grace due to sin. He’s popular, has a following, portrays himself as living up to Christian ideals.

    People are sticking up for John Crist because they like him. And so they’ll overlook his actions. Instead of seeing the wrong he’s done, they look to the “wrong” of anyone who would make a moral judgment on him.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the pastor of Christian Bible Church in Cissna Park, Illinois. He has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He has an awesome wife named Kari.

  • EFCA removes premillennialism from Statement of Faith

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    The Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) had an historical event yesterday at their bi-annual EFCA One Conference. The churches voted to alter the Statement of Faith. The change comes to article nine, which previously stated:

    We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

    -EFCA Statement of Faith, Article 9

    The change is just one word. Instead of saying “we believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ” the Statement of Faith will now say “we believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (more…)

  • Teachable moment missed: New Jersey high school allows everyone to make team, regardless of ability

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    There’s a high school in East Hanover, New Jersey. They had cheerleader tryouts. Some girls didn’t make the team. Parents of one girl complained. The school district revised their policy and decides to allow every girl to be on the squad.

    It’s disappointing to want something and not get it. From many personal experiences, I can relate. Jobs I didn’t get. Goals I failed to achieve. I still have a letter from a graduate school that didn’t accept me (I still think they were wrong!)

    In college, I ran for vice president of the organization that oversaw the fraternities. I had the goal of becoming president my senior year. When I ran for vice president, I lost. It was a disappointing setback.

    When you don’t accomplish a goal, you can complain, make excuses, or feel sorry for yourself. Or you can refocus, work harder, and try again.

    High school is old enough to learn start learning that lesson. And it’s an important life lesson. We learn so much more from disappointment and challenge than we do from winning and ease.

    Show me a person who always succeeds, and I’ll show you a person who needs to be striving for some more challenging accomplishments.

    Many are criticizing the school as another example of “snowflakes” and of our participation trophy culture. In this situation, I think those criticisms are warranted.

    Some of the cheerleaders went before the school board and a young woman said that this new policy threw her hard work “out the window.” We make a mistake when we let the unqualified participate in the name of fairness. And it also undermines those who worked hard. It cheapens their effort.

    So instead of girls who didn’t making the team learning a valuable lesson about disappointment, the girls who rightfully made the team are learning a different life lesson: “life isn’t always fair and you have to deal with a lot of ridiculousness.”

    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.