Ed Stetzer

Answer by Eric Stoltz, Roman Catholic deacon and author of the book Ascend: The Catholic Faith for a New Generation:

A few things Pope Francis has done differently than previous popes in his first few months:

He refused to wear ermine-lined capes other popes wore.

Rather than blessing the people in St. Peter's Square on his election, he asked the people to bless him.

He refuses to ride in a bulletproof Mercedes limousine. He rode on a bus with other cardinals right after his election. He uses a Ford Focus around Rome and drives himself around the Vatican in a 1984 Renault.

He refers to himself as "bishop of Rome" rather than as "supreme pontiff."

He is the first pope to use the word gay rather than homosexual or "those suffering from same-sex attraction."

He has stated he intends to transform the Synod of Bishops to a decision-making body rather than a ceremonial rubber stamp.

He refused to live in the Apostolic Palace, instead living in a guest home and dining in the cafeteria.

He has consistently used a more familiar, direct, and casual way of speaking, versus the highly formal and circumlocutory tone used by previous popes.

He has spoken against clericalism, versus other popes who promoted clericalism—e.g., Pope Benedict's "Year of the Priest."

For the last couple of years, I've shared a few things I'd like to see change in the Christian blogosphere each year (here's a look at the 2012 and 2013 editions). Looking back over these past dreams has been fascinating for me. What we've seen in the last year, and in particular the last several months, has been a greater confirmation that we don't handle controversy well, and our public personalities struggle to understand what it means to take personal responsibility. So one thing we can be sure of is I am no prophet.

This—the controversy and shameful public behavior, not the not being a prophet—has been an ongoing frustration for me. Why? Because the whole thing casts a dark shadow on our witness. And that's got to stop. We need to be less about whatever bonehead move Celebrity Pastor X made this week and more about the gospel. Here are three ways I'd suggest we do that:

1. Bloggers practicing Titus 3:10. "As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him," wrote Paul to Titus. A while back I wrote on this in a more in-depth fashion (specifically onwhat makes a person divisive), but we should remember the seriousness of Paul's words: If a person is being divisive—whether it's a church member stirring the pot through gossip and slander, or Christian celebrities who crash conferences and seem to lack any sort of real accountability1—then you should have nothing to do with them.

Don't read their books. Unsubscribe from their blogs. Stop following them on Twitter. Stop paying attention and those problems will, in time, go away on their own.

Ed Stetzer is President of Lifeway Research and a contributing editor at Christianity Today. He is also a local pastor and wears many other hats in the Evangelical church world. You can read all the details of Ed's "professional" life here. However, I wanted to talk with him on FIRST PERSON about how God reached his heart in the first place, preparing him for what he does serving churches. For instance, did you know he once thought he might become a missionary doctor?

In addition to everything else, Ed also hosts a weekly webcast called The Exchange in which HE is the interviewer. You'll find it online here. Finally, you can join the more than 110,000 followers he currently has on Twitter at @EdStetzer.

Speaking of Twitter you can follow what we do on FIRST PERSON and more @WayneShepherd. Or at Facebook.com/FirstPersonInterview.