Backbiting or Backslapping
I love Willowcreek.
I owe Bill Hybels and Willow a debt of gratitude. It was during a conference while I was in Seminary that I saw a glimpse of a church that was actually reaching unchurched people. I feel like Willowcreek gave me permission to do church biblically yet differently. I'm forever grateful. I know hundreds of thousands of other churches feel the same way. So grateful for the example they've set.
Last year they released a study called Reveal. I thought it took tremendous humility and courage to reveal some of the challenges they face in discipling people. I think every church faces the same challenge. They just had to guts to come clean.
That study had been grossly misinterpreted and some misinformation has been circulating about Willowcreek. Honestly? This kind of stuff drives me crazy. Way too much sideways energy in the kingdom! I really empathize with Bill Hybels because it's so tough to know whether to respond or not. On one level, you don't want to waste your time and energy responding to something that isn't true. But you also don't want to let it spread by remaining silent.
Here is Bill Hybels response.
Now let me get on my blog box.
I think there are basically two kinds of people. People who are doing things and people who aren't doing things but they need something to do so they take potshots at people who are doing things.
There. I said it.
Come on, folks. Let's be about the Father's business.
In the words of Michelangelo: criticize by creating!
Can I be brutally honest?
The psychological tendency to try to feel better about ourselves by pointing out what's wrong with someone else is immaturity at its worst. And no where is it more prevalent than the church.
Am I saying Willowcreek is perfect? No. Neither am I. And neither are you. But instead of backbiting maybe we should try backslapping.
I know this is one of those posts with inherent risks. And it'll probably get mischaracterized somehow by someone. But I'm fiercely loyal to those who have made an investment in my life. So when Willow is taking some shots on the chin, I want to be the guy on the other side saying thanks!
Alright, I'm getting off my blog box now.
I owe Bill Hybels and Willow a debt of gratitude. It was during a conference while I was in Seminary that I saw a glimpse of a church that was actually reaching unchurched people. I feel like Willowcreek gave me permission to do church biblically yet differently. I'm forever grateful. I know hundreds of thousands of other churches feel the same way. So grateful for the example they've set.
Last year they released a study called Reveal. I thought it took tremendous humility and courage to reveal some of the challenges they face in discipling people. I think every church faces the same challenge. They just had to guts to come clean.
That study had been grossly misinterpreted and some misinformation has been circulating about Willowcreek. Honestly? This kind of stuff drives me crazy. Way too much sideways energy in the kingdom! I really empathize with Bill Hybels because it's so tough to know whether to respond or not. On one level, you don't want to waste your time and energy responding to something that isn't true. But you also don't want to let it spread by remaining silent.
Here is Bill Hybels response.
Now let me get on my blog box.
I think there are basically two kinds of people. People who are doing things and people who aren't doing things but they need something to do so they take potshots at people who are doing things.
There. I said it.
Come on, folks. Let's be about the Father's business.
In the words of Michelangelo: criticize by creating!
Can I be brutally honest?
The psychological tendency to try to feel better about ourselves by pointing out what's wrong with someone else is immaturity at its worst. And no where is it more prevalent than the church.
Am I saying Willowcreek is perfect? No. Neither am I. And neither are you. But instead of backbiting maybe we should try backslapping.
I know this is one of those posts with inherent risks. And it'll probably get mischaracterized somehow by someone. But I'm fiercely loyal to those who have made an investment in my life. So when Willow is taking some shots on the chin, I want to be the guy on the other side saying thanks!
Alright, I'm getting off my blog box now.
18 Comments:
Yes! I share your exasperation. There are websites describing the "danger" of every author from whom I've received encouragement and inspiration. I so admire how these folks remain above the chatter and keep on keepin' on.
I haven't found the websites attacking you yet, but I'm sure I'll run across one some day.
From what I can tell here is what happened:
Greg Hawkins, one of Willow's pastors, did a study without Hybels knowledge, that has been roundly criticized for its flawed methodology.
See sociology professor Bradley Wright's review:
A review of "Reveal: Where are You?" by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson
Then later Hawkins informed Hybels about it. Hybels reports that he received "the wake-up call of his adult life." Then Hawkins wrote the book Reveal. Then at the leadership summit in August 2007, Hybels announced it as a radical change and a video was posted on the internet explaining the transformation that the Reveal study was having on the philosophy of ministry at Willow. Then people from all over the place who already disagree with the seeker approach crowed that finally Willow was seeing the light. Willow tried to respond by Greg Hawkins being interviewed at Out of Ur but this did little to stem the flood of criticism because it really did not explain the study and did not admit that the study results were themselves deeply flawed. I don't think Hybels's short interview, which again does not clarify the study, will help.
I see that they are trying to clarify the aims of the study at the Reveal blog but they still do not address the basic problems.
What Does REVEAL reveal?
On one hand Willow is trying to share what it is finding out. On the other hand, they are not coherently communicating their message. I think because of this, they have opened the door to lots of criticism.
all the best,
andy
Andy Rowell
Doctor of Theology Student
Duke Divinity School
Durham, North Carolina
Blog: Church Leadership Conversations
Cathy,
They are out there :) But don't try too hard to find them, please!
Mark
Andy,
I appreciate the backstory. Helps fill in the blanks, although I really tried not to name names of who's stirring up controversy. I never go there.
While I think the spirit of your post is totally positive. And I try really hard to perceive that. I don't think the criticism against Willow is warranted or productive.
I guess what I'm trying to accomplish by entering this conversation is: Praise God, for Willowcreek. And praise God for First Baptist on Elm Street and First Assembly and The Holy Dove of the Ark of the Covenant Episcopal. With one caveat. Are they preaching the gospel and living the gospel? If they are then I need to give some biblical latitude. We need different kinds of churches because there are different kinds of people!
Mark
Mark,
I love the spirit of your blog -- week after week after week. That's why I come back.
Thanks for the reminder about backslapping vs. backbiting.
Press on.
Brian Jones
Mark,
thank you for sharing these thoughts and the link to the interview. It's giving me some added benefit as I go to our Core Community this evening where we are discussing our reveal results.
WillowCreek rocks!
You rock!
I have family closely knit in the WillowCreek fellowship and that has Willow very close to my heart. Like you, I've thought "Of course they aren't perfect! But they are our brothers and sisters!" Let's keep loving one another... Christ will take care of our differences one day. :)
The thing that is ironic is people like Hybels like the Apostle Paul have every reason in the book to boast about their success. But they don't do that. It seems like every time I here Hybels speak he and his team have just reevaluated what they are doing and all they have been doing for years is introducing huge numbers of people to Christ and training up leaders. They do it with passion and humility and yet they get accused of taking the easy way just to get numbers. If it was so easy to get numbers then my church would be huge by now. So now they decide to do a gut check and be brutally honest about their weaknesses as well as their strengths and yet again they can't seem to win. For what it's worth, they did this study for themselves and they decided to be generous and share it with people and even attempt to include other churches in the survey and somehow they get critisized? WOW!! This may be too strong, but it seems that the ones who havn't accomplished much but to make themselves known by their sour grape kingdom mentality have successfully taken on the boastful attitude while the ones who have every reason to boast only search within themselves for ways to improve what many would say is perfect already. How ironic! Unfortunately Satan has decieved many into thinking that their struggle is against flesh and blood and not the rulers and authorities of this dark world. Many in the army have no idea who the real enemy is and will kill with freindly fire.
Let me just say this and I will be quiet.
Just say these people were right and Willow is actually a ministry who has led thousands of people down the wrong path while the whole time being sincere in their mission. Why does it seem that their detractors are always full of so much satisfaction in announcing how dumb people like Hybels and others suposively are. They should be full of grief and a sincere desire to be a part of the solution. AREN'T WE ON THE SAME TEAM? For the record, I think Willow is awesome and don't for one second believe they have gotten it wrong. Perfect? No. Used of God? Yes.
You struck my sore spot on this post.
A friend of mine blogged about this recently over here:
http://brenttrf.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/bill-hybels-responds/
His post and the thread is similar to here. Hopefully the leaders at Willow are getting all of this encouragement amidst this negative hype.
Luke 9: 49-50
If we are spreading the truth of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are allies.
When distracted by infighting, we miss Christ. Our job is to lead people toward salvation and then equip them to do the work of the Kingdom.
Thank you for the post.
Can I get an Amen? Great post Mark. Ephesians 4
Mark
Well, it seems like not only the secular world enjoys spreading dirt! It has frustrated me since the day that the Reveal studies were released how Christian organizations wanted to try and twist what Willow Creek was boldly doing as an "apology" for being revolutionary in church approach and leading the way for a new generation of leaders like yourself. Let's face it, traditional church leaders and members (including many in our own denomination) have always been uncomfortable with Willow's approach because it's not "full gospel" and doesn't follow the patterns set before them. What I've learned in my short time in ministry is to celebrate everyone's uniqueness and appreciate what they are doing to reach out to people I might not be able to reach. It doesn't matter if your AG, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Non-Denom, whatever, as long as you are doing what God leads you to do and you are reaching the lost.
I have two cousins who work at Willow and have been there many times to see the behind-the-scenes operations, and I know their heart. I guess if you aren't criticized, you aren't doing anything great!
Thanks for blogging about this important issue.
The video was not meant to be an apologetic for Reveal. It was simply meant to address the negative and wrong articles that were written about Willow's services and the false assertion that Willow was going to be abandoning ministry to seekers. People are upset because Bill didn't get into specifics about Reveal. But if you look at Tony Morgan's blog, you'll see that he says that Willow is going to release more videos like this in short order, and I believe a lot of the confusion will be cleared up. One other thing, to address a couple of the comments above (and I hope we'll all remember this fact): Reveal is NOT about Willow. It's not! Reveal is a study that started with 30 churches OF WHICH WILLOW WAS JUST ONE! Then, the study opened up to 500 churches, OF WHICH WILLOW WAS JUST ONE! When we all understand this simple fact, it will become easier for us to stop taking shots at Willow. There's a follow-up to the REVEAL book called "Follow Me" which will be out in August. It will have the survey results and methodology to the larger group. Can't wait!
The video was not meant to be an apologetic for Reveal. It was simply meant to address the negative and wrong articles that were written about Willow's services and the false assertion that Willow was going to be abandoning ministry to seekers. People are upset because Bill didn't get into specifics about Reveal. But if you look at Tony Morgan's blog, you'll see that he says that Willow is going to release more videos like this in short order, and I believe a lot of the confusion will be cleared up. One other thing, to address a couple of the comments above (and I hope we'll all remember this fact): Reveal is NOT about Willow. It's not! Reveal is a study that started with 30 churches OF WHICH WILLOW WAS JUST ONE! Then, the study opened up to 500 churches, OF WHICH WILLOW WAS JUST ONE! When we all understand this simple fact, it will become easier for us to stop taking shots at Willow. There's a follow-up to the REVEAL book called "Follow Me" which will be out in August. It will have the survey results and methodology to the larger group. Can't wait!
Just wanted to re-enter the comment stream. I was praying this morning and God gave me such a prayer burden for Bill Hybels. Hard to explain. But I just started interceeding for the guys in ministry I really admire. I was praying for Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, Ed Young. And then I started praying for lots of my friends like Perry, Steven, Lee, Darrin, Buddy, Bil, Nelson, etc.
I am praying Hebrews 13:17 for these guys. May their ministry bring them great joy!
Mark
Thanks for this post Mark. You're right on.
I am greatly concerned with our tendency as Christians to hide behind our computers and criticize others!
I have had to deal with my fair share of this recently and I know how destructive it can be.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Great post, Mark. Carrie and I were just talking yesterday about how much we appreciate your ability to speak hard truth and call people out without seeming like you're talking down to or belittling them. Even in your sermons you do a great job of calling us all out in areas that we're falling short without letting us leave feeling alone or judged.
We'll miss the NCC community as we travel this summer, but we're looking forward to being back in July and August.
Grace & Peace,
Jayson
Well said.
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