| A response to the assertion that the leaders at Focus on the Family actually confess their failures to their followers. |
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By
Brian
Elroy
McKinley
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In response to the article, "
Why Focus on the Family is of the
Devil," there
have been a lot of comments about whether or not the leaders of Focus on the
Family admit their failures on the radio or in their publications. In the article,
I made the assertion that we don't hear them confess their failures on the air.
Many people took exception to that claim, saying they have heard James
Dobson and guest speakers claim they are imperfect and that they fail. Many
readers told me that the Focus leadership claims they struggle with problems
just like the rest of us.
I have listened to and read what Dobson and Focus have said over the years, and I must admit, I agree. They do, indeed, state that they "fail" and that they "struggle." But I was not talking about just saying that they "struggle." Rather, I was talking about real confession of actual sins and failures. It's easy to say that we fail. It's easy to say that we struggle. It's easy to say we have sins and that we ask God to forgive us. It's easy, and it lets us off the hook without truly admitting our dark weaknesses. It is not easy, however, to admit sins that might make others lower their opinion of us. Unless James Dobson is super human, we can assume he has lusted for a woman other than his wife (something at least President Carter admitted). But he does not write or speak of these thoughts. We can assume that James, like any other human, has lots of things in his heart that cause him to ask for forgiveness. But the specifics of those sins are kept hidden away. Instead we get the impression that James and the people at Focus struggle with things less controversial, like anger at an out-of-control teen or perhaps not understanding why God permits pain. These are things that are easy to confess. They do not make us think badly of the one confessing. They do not violate our Culture of Christianity and are, therefore, safe struggles to confess. Oh what a ministry there could be if someone in Dobson's position actually confessed his or her deepest sins and struggles, sins that for now stay hidden from view. How wonderful it would be for Christians and non-Christians alike to see how the faith works in the real, down and dirty world of the human heart. But that doesn't happen. Instead we only see the superficial confession of superficial problems. Now there are some who claim that our deepest sins should remain between us and God only. But if that where true, it should only apply to those who do not put themselves up in front of millions of people and proclaim that they have information on how to be closer to God. By putting himself in this position, James Dobson, by default, is setting himself up as a role model. We may want to claim that Christ is our only role model, and that Dobson is only pointing to Christ -- but how Dobson does the pointing is a major part of his ministry and is, therefore, a model. And when Dobson does not confess his deepest sins publicly he gives a false model of what it means to point our lives to Christ -- every part of our lives, including those dark parts we want to stay hidden. When Dobson put himself in the role of a leader in front of millions of believers and hundreds of thousands of pastors, he put himself in the position where he must model how Christ deals with even the worst in us. But not only should Dobson confess his darkness because he's a role model, he should confess because God did indeed tell us to confess our sins "one to another." We all should be confessing our darkest sins to each other. But we don't. And Dobson doesn't. And this is the real problem. We don't confess our darkest sins, like sleeping with someone we should not have, or having homosexual urges (I would argue that this is not universally considered a sin), or cheating on our taxes or being jealous of what others have. We don't confess them to each other, and, therefore, we suffer inside ourselves, feeling that we are the only ones who struggle with those darker sins.
We feel alone because others are not confessing that they, too, need Christ to
help them with those kind of struggles. And when Dobson and the people at
Focus on the Family set themselves up as authorities by broadcasting
themselves as a source of spiritual guidance to millions of people, they
multiply this problem a million fold. If those as "spiritual" as the leaders of
Focus on the Family don't openly ask Christ to deal with the real darkness
that we know to be in our hearts, what message does that give to young
believers? The Focus folks are the ones who have this huge ministry to
millions of people. They are the ones claiming to be authorities on Christian
values. They are the ones who truly should know how to point their lives to
Christ. But their superficial claims of struggle and confession merely presents
a superficial view of true faith and true forgiveness, and this is what leads
believers into the quiet spiritual death described in the article, "Why Focus on
the Family is of the Devil."
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| About the Author |
Go Back to
Why Focus on the Family is of the Devil
Go Back to
James Dobson: Focusing on Himself
Go Back to
Angry Like Christ
Email: el@elroy.com