Quote Originally Posted by Midtowner View Post
Seems to me you have a cult of personality. If LC wouldn't be LC without Mr. Groeschel, is LC more about their leader or more about their message? Messages don't depend on the deliveryman to ring true or not.
I think you're stretching my statement too far here. The Methodist church would agree with you, that the pastor should only be a messenger and your faith should not rely on that person. HOWEVER, for me, the pastor is as much about the church as the congregation. The pastor decides what director the sermons (and the church) take. The pastor is the flock leader. They are human and make bad choices as well, so no i'm not going to follow a pastor blindly over a cliff. One of the main points my pastor (and is true to the nature of Disciples of Christ) is to question and educate yourself. That being said, if the pastor comes into a church and that pastor sucks...that chuch is either going to fall or fire the pastor. So yes, i do feel like the pastor is linked to the success of the church.

If you knew me at all, calling me "a cult personality" would be laughable. I'm a moderate in basically all aspects of my life, but following blindly has never been something that's part of me....lol.

The same is true of any movement you know. How the message is presented is as important as what the message is. Politics is a good example. Those with the good ideas are often behind the scenes while the more (at least theoretically) eloquent folks present it. We all experience this. If you see two people standing on the side of the road holding a "hungry" sign, one dressed in a suit and the other dressed in rags, which are you more likely to believe honestly needs the help? 5 minutes earlier, someone might have given the one man a suit while the other might be ripping people off as he climbs into his BMW.