John Pavlovitz: An Italian Catholic, he became a megachurch leader before learning the error of his ways and becoming a New Testament Christian
John Pavlovitz
… his firing led to his blog and to national recognition
Social media can make heroes out of villains, and while John Pavlovitz was just an assistant pastor at a megachurch and not actually a villain, he was in the eyes of the prosperity gospel crowd.
At the point where the pastor was told that he was not the right fit for a megachurch in North Carolina, much of his doubts about his faith and what he had built in his 20 years as a faith leader.
And once he was fired from his gig peddling the idea that wealthy people were the most important people in religion, he was released from his doubts.
Now, he is a leader of what has been called the religious left or evangelical left, but I prefer to call New Testament Christian. He writes a blog called “Stuff that needs to be said,” and his frankness is leading to millions of adherents who were upset at the state of religion in America.
Growth of his popularity
As a young father and husband, he had to search for a new way of life away from the greasy, sleazy mega-church life. It did not take long for him to make his move, as this feature from three years ago indicates,
Pavlovitz, forty-eight, is a Wake Forest resident, minister at North Raleigh Community Church, and father of two young kids. He's also the writer behind Stuff that Needs to be Said, a blog that calls out hypocrisy in plain language, with the president and his ardent followers within the religious right earning particular scorn.
His style—compassion paired with a no-bullshit, emperor-wears-no-clothes attitude, all informed by an inclusive brand of Christianity—has endeared him to millions of readers. This year alone, twenty-three million people have viewed his blog, and he has over sixty thousand Twitter followers. His words have been featured in Slate, Cosmopolitan, and Quartz.
But as his recently released book, A Bigger Table, explains, finding that voice was the result of a years-long process of soul searching. A former megachurch pastor, Pavlovitz didn't fully arrive at his new, progressive mind-set until a few years ago.
"It was a gradual deconstruction of my faith," he says. "You look at one isolated area of the Bible, for example, then realize, Well, if that doesn't mean what I was taught it meant, what other areas of my spiritual journey was I taking for granted? So you start digging into it, and you find yourself exploring all areas of your belief system."
Born in Syracuse to a middle-class Italian family, Pavlovitz grew up Catholic. By his own description, his was a mainstream suburban childhood, and he was raised with a sense of "in groups" and "out groups"—those who were blessed by the Almighty, and those who were not.
People of color, gay people, poor people, addicts, atheists—"All were to be avoided or feared, or at least approached with great skepticism," he remembers.
Amanda Abrams, “How Raleigh’s John Pavlovitz Went from Fired Megachurch Pastor to Rising Star of the Religious Left,” Indy Week-Raleigh, November 22, 2017
His brother declared that he was gay, and the pastor had to assess the views and hatred of evangelical Christians for other people, something antithetical to the views of Jesus Christ.
“The American Myth of Pro-Life Christianity”
Pavlovitz takes on the right-wing Christians who used to be those whom he had to cater to in conventional conservative circles. These include Donald Trump, but his hard-hitting blog contains topics like this, hitting at the core of right wing Christianity, whether protestant or Catholic,
The American Myth of Pro-Life Christianity
I’m almost positive pro-life Republicans aren’t pro-life, in any way that actually—you know, protects actual life.
I’m pretty sure they’re not for humanity in any meaningful way.
I’ve come to this conclusion because I have eyes and I’m paying attention—and in case you don’t or in case you’re not:
We are currently losing several thousand people here every single day and likely will for the coming months.
In less than a single year, more than 300,000 Americans will have died.
That’s 75,000 “Benghazis” for which these same people flagellated themselves and clutched their pearls and engaged in wild public histrionics, because American lives were supposedly important to them.
That’s 100 “9/11 attacks,” for which eleven years later, they still proudly brandish their #NeverForget bumper stickers and annual social media eulogies and America First bravado—because unnecessary death moves them, apparently.
And yet, in this moment of perpetual grieving and unfathomable loss, in a month where at least five of the deadliest single days in our nation’s history have occurred—they are not only silent, they are antagonistic and defiant. They are not simply choosing not to act, they are intentionally both insulting and injuring.
John Pavlovitz, “The American Myth of Pro-Life Christianity,” Stuff that needs to be said, December 11, 2020
Does not call himself a New Testament advocate
While he does not refer directly to Matthew or even Mark or Luke or John, this pastor’s beliefs are very much New Testament. His condemnation of people on the right who claim to be pro-life is an example of this as he concludes,
I’m not a theological scholar, but I think my twenty-five years, my seminary education, and my half century as a Christian have at least given me the basic gist of Jesus’ teachings. I’m fairly certain I know what he’d have his followers doing right now.
I think they’d be grieving deeply at the loss of life, mourning with those who mourn, and trying to prevent future memorial services.
I think they’d be rushing to heal the wounds of those at the threshold of death.
I think they’d be spending every available resource to move people out of harm’s way.
I think they’d be leaning into the expertise of people who know how to protect us.
I think they’d be wearing a damn mask.
And the fact that Republican professed Christians are doing none of these things right now, and instead gorge themselves in a craven, brazen last-chance power grab, callously indifferent to the loss of life left in their wake—shows me that they are either trying to fool us or themselves.
They are no more concerned for humanity than this virus is.
They are not pro-life.
It’s time we ended that myth for good.
John Pavlovitz, Stuff that needs to be said, December 11, 2020
Ouch. He nails them with a subtle, cyber right hook, a figurative take down like Jesus did with the Scribes and Pharisees.
Palatable to the center
While he is an unabashed liberal philosophically, he still serves as a pastor who wants to appeal to all levels of people who are diverse and searching for spirituality,
Pavlovitz isn't a radical. The topics he emphasizes, like gay rights and women's rights, were resolved by liberal Christians years ago. And unlike Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove, he doesn't frequently talk about the tougher, more structural issues of poverty and racism that could require a radical reordering of society to remedy.
But that's probably part of why Pavlovitz is so popular. His is a manageable liberalism, one that makes logical sense but isn't too taxing. And yet, at a time when America seems to have taken a giant step backward in how it views minorities and other vulnerable populations, he might be exactly what the country—and the church—needs.
Amanda Abrams, Indy Week, November 12, 2017
Conclusion
Right-wing evangelism is dying according to the numbers compiled by Pew Research. Religion overall is being overwhelmingly rejected by young people today, and that does not bode well for any organized religion.
The hope of those on the evangelical left is that a religion that preaches, hope, not despair, one that preaches love not hate, and one that preaches inclusiveness not rejection is the hope for the future.
Right now, he is traveling and writing books that are very popular.
He may not call himself a Matthew lover, but his philosophy does, and that is a joy for me.
Link: Stuff that needs to be said
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