Ed Stetzer brought NBC Nightly New report (seen in part above) to my attention via his blog. When Tom Brokhaw misrepresents what the emerging church is on national television it is no wonder people keep getting it wrong. What bothered me further is how they took Jennifer Snipe’s response to a question about politics, then edited it in as though she was responding about homosexuality. I have had this done to me by a TV reporter before, so I know how it feels. For another segment of the interview not seen above, click here.

Emerging Church Missional Tom Brokhaw

The other day I enjoyed a great afternoon with my good friend Norm Voth (Director of Evangelism and Service Ministries for the Mennonite Church of Manitoba). While enjoying our Mongolian BBQ, Norm told about an interesting story he heard while visit Mayan country. While touring a local cathedral, the tour guide recounted how the missionaries arrived they immediately started undermining the local Mayan religion. They forced the locals to tear down their temples stone by stone. They were faced with a challenge then: How would they keep them from simply rebuilding their temples?

In what they assumed was a clever solution, they forced the Mayans to build the cathedral and surrounding compound using the stones of their destroyed places of worship. However, unbeknownst to the missionaries, the Mayans secretly hid their idols in the walls of the church, only to be discovered generations later. As they were forced to adhere to the external practices of Christian liturgy, in their hearts they worshipped the unseen gods smuggled into the heart of the church.

Norm & I both marvelled at the significance of this story to us today. All of us smuggle in our own idols, either hiding them in the secrecy of our own hearts or syncretizing them into our beliefs and practice with no one the wiser. This problem only becomes more pronounced as we attempt to force peoples compliance to practices and ideas of faith through external and/or verbal adherence.

Which idols have you hidden in the heart of your faith? Which idols is our culture most prone to let slide? What can be done about it?