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As I glanced at the paper in my hand, my anticipation dampened.
I had entered the building on Sunday morning expecting to hear one particular pastor preach, the one who easily engaged hundreds of people for more than 30 minutes. But the bulletin in my hand announced that it would the other pastor, the one who primarily had responsibilities in the church besides preaching, the one who didn’t get asked to speak all over the country, who would address a passage from the Bible that morning.
Yes, I have learned, I tend to prize the gifted message bearer, putting him on a pedestal higher than the message itself.
And so I was disappointed when I heard David Platt was leaving the Church at Brook Hills to become the president of the Southern Baptist Church’s International Mission Board (IMB).
I don’t attend Brook Hills regularly, but Platt has kept me up past my bedtime teaching for his six-hour Secret Church series, where he speaks practically in the backyard of the house where I grew up. There’s no doubt his teaching gift has drawn in people from all over Birmingham and all over the world. With his new position, I selfishly wondered if I would ever again engage with scripture in the same way Platt had led me to before.
In a post-Platt world, would I be less likely to want to be a part of The Church at Brook Hills and its mission?
The answer is yes, even though I don’t want it to be. But why do I think that?
Is church about its pastor? Is church primarily about listening to teaching on the Bible?
Or is church a body of people who share a common faith? Is it a fellowship, a gathering to share in teaching, breaking bread, praying and praising God?
Am I, and are you, a member of the church of a pastor, a Church at Brook Platt subject to if a leader leaves or stays? Or are we a part of the church of people who are seeking to follow a set of beliefs we share?
I want to believe the latter. In fact, I find that the more my life becomes entwined seeking to comprehend, question and live out what we hear taught, the less I care about whose name is in the bulletin.
