The video shown above is one of my favorites in cinematic history. In this famous scene from Jurassic Park, three scientists sit down with John Hammond and his lawyer to discuss the opportunities and pitfalls presented by the genetic creation of dinosaurs.
I have to admit, I am in more and more Christian leadership environments where I feel like Dr. Malcolm, played by the brilliant Jeff Goldblum. I sometimes feel like a complete outcast, a person from a different decade. But there are several lines from Dr. Malcolm Christian leaders need to ponder:
- “The lack of humility beyond nature that being displayed here staggers me.”
- “Don’t you see the danger inherit here. Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet has ever seen and you wield it like you just found your dad’s gun.”
- “The power of the scientific here… It didn’t take any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders on geniuses to accomplish something as fast as possible and before you even knew what you had…”
- “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
- “What’s so great about discovery? It’s a violent penetrative act that scars what it explores.”
- Ellie, played by Laura Dern, added, “How do you know anything about an extinct ecosystem and therefore, how do you think you could ever control it?”
Here is the question many Christian leaders are asking – What do I have the freedom to do? This includes things they choose to watch, places they choose to go, what they choose to wear, and things they choose to consume.
The reckless lifestyle many Christian leaders are living shows a staggering lack of humility. They have discovered grace, or their version of grace, and are now wielding it like they found their daddy’s gun.
Today’s Christian leaders are standing on on the shoulders of geniuses. Men like Dr. Adrian Rogers, Dr. David Jeremiah, Dr. E. V. Hill, Dr. Billy Graham, Dr. John Piper, Dr. Bob Russell, Billy Joe Daugherty, Kay Arthur and many, many more.
Many did not earn the knowledge for themselves. They read and heard what others have done and then added charisma, force of personality, persuasive communication, technology and best practices. Therefore, they take no responsibility for their lifestyle, its results, or the impact it has on the people watching them.
Here is the question many Christian leaders should be asking – “I have been so preoccupied with whether or not I could (fill in the blank), that I didn’t stop to think if I should.”
Here is the core issue:
Too many Christian leaders have prioritized the importance of personal freedoms over personal holiness.
1 Peter 1: 15-16 says, “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.”’
When is the last time you heard people called to personal holiness, to righteous living? When is the last time you heard a description of what holiness looks like and how it manifests itself in the lives of sold-out, redeemed, washed by the shed blood of the spotless Lamb believers?
The time has come to elevate personal holiness over personal freedoms.
Many Christian leaders have tried so hard to look like the world they no longer bear any resemblance to Christ. As a result, we wonder why our services and churches lack power.
Calling people to a higher level is what leaders do. So this should be easy for us. The problem is we cannot take people to a place we are not at ourselves. We must first go on the journey of personal holiness ourselves before we can take others.
We must ask ourselves the question Laura Dern’s did about the ecosystems the world offers and its affects on our lives. How do you think you could ever control it? The answer is you can’t.
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