Matt Self on "Eddie Haskell Christians"

Matt Self has been on a roll lately at The Gad(d)about, and his post on Edie Haskell Christians is especially worthwhile. Matt talks about the Christian leader who, like Eddie Haskell in Leave it to Beaver, "wants to look good, but he doesn't actually want to put in the effort to be good." The result is often short-term success, but long-term hurt and damage to disciples:

Manipulation defines Haskellism. He interprets his own sincerity as proof of God's authority. He attributes the immediate results of good works as proof of his divinely inspired leadership, and the ultimate undoing of these people as their personal failures, not his.

I can't claim myself as an authority on ministry, but I know enough to know that God is the one that does the fixing. He might use me to facilitate a path, but my operational tools are the Word and a truckload of grace. It's my job to be patient with those whom God has called me to minister to, as He does the work. Lord knows he's been working on me for 36 years, and I'm still a work in progress.

Matt hits the nail on the head in describing "the scheming, heavy-handed ministers who have designs to spiritually fix everyone around them."

Update: Swap Blog has more on the topic here.