Landmines and Broken Trees

I have not written in this blog since May of 2020. When I wrote those articles, my hope and prayer were that the information would help shed light on the errors of the church so that they would correct them. Then, after many failed attempts, on my own, with my wife, and with church pastors, I thought this blog would lay in memoriam as a history lesson. However, I am compelled to write again after watching a video of a clip from the May 26 Core Meeting at Willow Creek’s South Barrington campus. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it here.

There are many comments on YouTube, most decrying the callousness, irreverence, and thoughtlessness of the pastors’ comments, especially regarding how it affects the abuse victims of Bill Hybels and the church. Also, Laura Barringer wrote a beneficial article posted on the Jesus Creed blog (here is the link). I agree with the responses mentioned above. Once again, I was sad and angry after watching this video, and I believe I have another perspective in line with my previous observations. I hope and pray this is helpful to solve the problem, I want to be respectful, but I won’t couch words.

First, Shawn Williams comments about landmines saying, “I don’t even know they’re there, and I find them out when I step on them,” are unconscionable coming from a pastor and leader who entered a broken and hurting church. As a pastor coming into Willow Creek, he knew or should have known that the church was reeling from years of sin and decades of mismanagement (see the IAG report, particularly the Conclusions section). The church and world wrote much about the crises, so there is no excuse to be surprised by their effects.

Furthering pastor Williams’ analogy of landmines, his priority should have been to sweep the area and defuse or remove them. Enemies in the field of battle use landmines to impede progress by damaging, killing, or maiming the opposing force. Sadly, the landmines Pastor Williams encountered were left by the church itself in its refusal to resolve the problems. The church never reconciled with the victims of the church’s abuse, failed to complete the recommendations of the IAG and Governance reviews, nor looked into the spiritual issues underpinning the crises (see the rest of the My Story of Willow blog). I was watching a pastor, called by God to lead and shepherd, using the “new guy card” to excuse his lack of due diligence. When the church needs pastors to heal and provide grace, he is asking for grace to cover his self-imposed ignorance.

Second, another telling sign of the continuing problems at Willow Creek was pastor Williams’ use of the quote from Rick Warren, “in the garden of God’s grace broken trees bear a lot of fruit.” That pastor Williams used a pithy saying from another person, from a different context, to simplify the complex effects of Bill Hybels’ behavior reveals part of the spiritual problem. Perhaps a pastor should use the word of God in a situation like this. Maybe this statement of Jesus is applicable:

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45, NRSV)

Pastor Williams seemed to equate fruit with some of Bill Hybels’ and Willow Creek’s ministry outcomes. Notice, however, in God’s word, the fruit of the Spirit is the character qualities of those led by the Spirit:

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. (Galatians 5:19-25)

Notice also that the Rick Warren quote doesn’t specify what kind of fruit is produced, only that there is a lot of it. Yes, the fruit of the Spirit will lead to fruit in the form of good works, but it is also true that not all good is the result of those known by Jesus:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

In the book of Jeremiah, God uses King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as His servant to accomplish His will and then goes on to punish the king for his wrongdoing (see Jeremiah 25). I am not equating Bill Hybels or anyone else at Willow Creek with the king of Babylon, and I am not saying they are not known by Jesus. My point is that if you focus on outcomes, it is easy to think that the servant of God’s work is good instead of realizing that good is due to God, not always due to the servant’s character.

Pastor Williams’ response was telling regarding his flawed perspective. Still, the reaction of pastor Dummitt and those of the congregation also indicated the state of Willow Creek. Pastor Dummitt confessed his attitude when he said his thoughts were, “Hey, you know what? Open wounds got to scar over at some point. We gotta move, let’s go, let’s take the hill. You know, let’s go on.” The church showed its ignorance by clapping and laughing during the inappropriate response to such a serious issue. Regrettably, the open wounds to which pastor Dummitt refers, caused by the church’s own landmines, are too severe to close on their own. They need the healing balm of God’s truth administered by His shepherds. This healing is something the pastors of Willow Creek have failed to do.

I have been gone from Willow Creek for over a year now. I was a member of the church for over 39 years. I still know people who attend and some who have tried to help the church do the right thing. It was painful for me to hear the revelations of Bill Hybels’ sin, but it was just as painful to observe the church’s response and complicity in perpetuating the problems. I supported pastors Marcus Bieschke and Dave Smith in their efforts to bring change and healing. Sadly, the church has refused to do the good work of reconciliation and spiritual renewal, and has driven away many that have tried to do it. The “new leaders” of Willow Creek continue in the same pattern of mismanagement exposed in the aftermath of the crises.

The fruit of Bill Hybels’ leadership is also apparent in one of the first statements pastor Williams made. He said he is “somebody who is newer to the organization.” He didn’t say he was newer to the church. This observation may seem to focus narrowly on a particular word, but words matter, as we see in the quote from Jesus in Luke 6 above. Also, Pastor Dummitt’s desire to “take the hill” shows that some idea of mission or good works supersedes the passion of Jesus for His church:

The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me. (John 17:22-23)

If Willow Creek Community Church desires to help the world know the love of Jesus, they must first exhibit unity and love within the church. My prayer for the pastors of Willow Creek is that they will keep the promises made by the elders to reconcile with the victims of the church’s abuse and address all the underlying problems that contributed to it. It’s not too late.