"But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness, must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints" (Ephesians 5:3).

Sexual abuse is abhorrent to every genuine follower of Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is abhorrent even to the vast majority of non-Christians. (This is, by the way, what makes the current push of the LGBTQ agenda into the public elementary schools so disturbing. It is classic pedophile grooming to sexualize young, pre-pubescent children. But I digress.) Sexual lusts and sins of every kind, as defined by the Holy Scripture, are also abhorrent to Christians. The Church of Jesus Christ has always stood against such evils. To oppose abuse in any form takes no courage at all.

But, to oppose worldly solutions to sexual abuse does take courage, especially in today's environment. And to oppose secular ideologies informing or influencing our view of what abuse is, and how to investigate a claim of abuse, and when to actually label someone an abuser, takes courage. And to oppose cultural labels undergirded by a worldview of perpetual victimhood placarded upon professing Christians who either have been abused or who claim they have been abused, also takes courage.

And it seems the Southern Baptist Convention is lacking just such courage. Or, those within the SBC who do possess such courage, by the sanctifying grace and power of Holy Spirit God, are becoming fewer.

My friend and one of my all-time favorite preachers, Evangelist David Miller, encouraged messengers to the 2022 Convention to reject the Guidepost report and recommendations, and to reject the recommendations of the internal, SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF). Brother Miller did so not because he is pro-abuse, nor because he lacks compassion for anyone, not the least of which are those harmed by abuse. But, he rightly discerned that the whole process was flawed from the start, and threatens to so restructure the SBC that our historic Baptist bottom-up organization is turned on its head. If the "local church is Baptist headquarters," you surely wouldn't know it by reading the recommendations of either the Guidepost report or the SATF recommendations (which were overwhelmingly adopted).

The messengers from our local church were in the miniscule minority in Anaheim that voted to reject the SATF recommendations. And, our messengers in Nashville, last year (2021), voted to reject the proposal to hire a third party firm to conduct the sexual abuse investigation. We did so knowing we might likely be viewed or even called "uncompassionate" or "pro-abuse." But we did so out of biblical convictions. If the Scripture is all-sufficient, as Baptists have always maintained, then it seems the SBC leaders and messengers did something very unwise by hiring Guidepost (a pro-LGBTQ organization) to investigate and recommend ways we backwoods Bible believers can get with the times to prevent sexual abuse. I wonder how many millions of Cooperative Program Dollars we paid Guidepost have been put to use to endorse and support what God hates?

1 Corinthians 6:1-8 instructs Christians in local churches not to take their disagreements and offenses into the secular courts. To do so demonstrates an incompetence to rightly judge and discern right and wrong. And to do so is an embarrassment to the Church of Christ before unbelievers. Now, I realize that this is directed to local churches, but it seems to be wise to apply it also to a convention of voluntarily cooperating churches, too. Doesn't it?

Don't misunderstand me. I am not for a second saying any church or entity should not report suspected abuse or crimes to the proper governmental authorities. In fact, that's one of the biggest take-aways for me from the Guidepost report (which I read in its entirety), that local churches in the SBC are absurdly unhealthy and often fail to properly deal with both sin as well as crimes. More on this in a bit. But for now, I am simply arguing that it is a shame if we cannot ourselves as Southern Baptists somehow conduct an investigation into one of our denominational entities that is biblically just, fair and wise. Among 47,000 churches affiliated with the SBC, we just do not have the wisdom and expertise required to conduct such an inquiry? Hiring this out to a secular firm was lazy, unwise, shameful and unbiblical.

But, what's done is done, as they say.

The Guidepost report itself was actually fairly helpful. At first blush, it is shocking. And upon deeper reading and reflection, it was clearly written to shock. As I plowed through all 288 pages over several weeks, it began to occur to me that I was reading about the same claims and reported incidents over and over and over and over again. That's because only 22 "survivors" spoke to Guidepost. And, over the 21-year period investigated, I think about 400 incidents of reported abuse were noted. In a convention of 40,000+ churches! While every instance of actual abuse is abhorrent and unacceptable, statistically this was nothing close to the "apocalypse" (Dr. Russell Moore's description). This does not merit the media's hyperbolic headlines. This is nothing of the sort that was uncovered among Roman Catholicism. And for that, we Southern Baptists ought to be humbly grateful to our God, for it is all of His grace. And we ought to be doubly vigilant to ensure the number of cases continues to decline steeply among us. Our Lord and Savior is worthy of our best effort to eradicate abuse in and among us in the SBC, and in every other organization, for that matter.

But, how we go about this battle matters. It matters because we have an absolutely authoritative and sufficient Book, breathed out by God. It matters because our Baptist polity, which has historically, and we believe rightly, hinged upon local church autonomy, is at stake.

The recommendations of Guidepost were not all bad. I do not oppose all of them. But they infused so much secular mantras and labels and language. Everything has to be "trauma-informed" (which I take as a buzzword for grounded in the worldview of secular psychology). Everything has to be farmed out to "qualified third parties." In other words, local churches and local associations of churches are deemed totally incompetent in this matter. Every committee or task force has to be "gender-balanced." This one is especially intriguing to me because it assumes the presence of more women automatically means less abuse, or more able handling of abuse, more compassionate care for abuse victims, and so on. If that's so, then someone please explain to me the atrocity of sexual abuse within the public school system? More than one study and investigation into the public schools, which is dominated by women, has shown that as many as 1 in 4 kids in that system will be abused at some time. Again, this is not meant to disparage women. And I hate the fact that most sexual abusers are men. But the Guidepost recommendations are flowing out of a feminist worldview that believes women are actually better at protecting children from sexual abuse than men. But that reverses God's creational design! God made men to protect women and children. The public school system emphatically disproves the theory and worldview lying behind such recommendations for "gender balance" on SBC teams and committees.

The SBC SATF took the Guidepost recommendations, and pared them down to about two pages of recommendations (which were adopted overwhelmingly by the messengers). Again, there is much I appreciate about the recommendations. We clearly do want to take sexual abuse within the SBC with the utmost seriousness. But, I have concerns with the adopted SATF recommendations:

• More than one new layer of bureaucracy and administration is being added (aka hierarchy). That's millions more of our CP dollars not going to missions, church planting and seminaries.
• The standard for "credibly accused" is solid, at least as its stated in writing, but it relies upon "an independent third party" to make such a determination. Again, local churches are deemed incompetent, as are local associations and state associations. Indeed, it appears Christians in general are just not up to this task. So, we hire the world to determine if an accusation is credible.
• What if the third party's process for determining "credibly accused" comes from the worldview of #MeToo? Local SBC churches' fates are being handed over almost entirely to outside firms.
• Funding is established for churches to hire third party firms to conduct investigations, but one wonders if re-directing that funding to allow more local churches to raise up certified biblical counselors (through ACBC or CCEF or Rick Thomas) is not more biblical and effective.
• More often than not, victims or so-called survivors (a label I do not prefer as it lends itself to a status of perpetual victimhood, rather than "more than conquerors through Him who loved us") are allowed if not encouraged to remain totally anonymous throughout the reporting process. Is this biblical? Anonymous accusations against those in churches, even in your own local church?
• How a local SBC church handles or "cooperates" with the newly christened ARITF (Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force) greatly determines whether that church will be disfellowshipped or not. But who defines "cooperation?" What if our local church fundamentally or doctrinally disagrees with the hiring of a third party investigative firm? As I read it, such a local church would pretty much be guaranteed to be disfellowshipped from the SBC, were an accusation against someone in that local church ever made.
• The establishment of a "Survivor's Compensation Fund" makes me extremely nervous. Does this not encourage accusations and "out-of-court settlements?" Who determines who gets what? Is this what SBC churches want their CP funds to go to? More power taken out of the hands of local churches in the matter of how funds are allocated and spent.

I realize my view is clearly not the majority view of the SBC, at least not as it is expressed through the messengers to the annual convention. I would have voted against adopting these recommendations. I believe we are complicating what is a simple matter of local church health. No amount of top-down initiatives or mandates will fix what is really wrong with the SBC. Our local churches are not biblically healthy. Far too many SBC churches practice little to no biblical discipline of their membership (Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Cor 5; 2 Tim 3:1-9; Titus 3:9-11). One of our messengers told me that just before the vote for the President of the SBC Pastors Conference, a very large gaggle of people who were not in attendance at the conference arrived, apparently to cast votes against Voddie Baucham. I told the messenger, "Sounds like a typical Southern Baptist business meeting where a pastor gets fired by members who roll into the meeting even though they've not been in a worship gathering for a year or more."

The SBC is unhealthy because its churches are unhealthy. Far too many are unwilling to do the hard work of ensuring, as best we can by God's grace and wisdom, a regenerate church membership. The Guidepost report manifested far too many instances where a local SBC church did not handle sexual sin biblically, did not call proper authorities to report potential crimes, and did not call other local churches. The SATF report includes this comment: "One of the problems in our churches is the ability of abusers to move from one church to another to perpetuate their abuse. This often happens because churches don't have the means to communicate with one another."

Say what? SBC churches don't have cell phones? Or email? Or Facebook? Or Instagram? Or Twitter? Or laptops and printers to type and print letters to mail? This is one of the lamest claims I think I have ever heard. I have never had any great difficulty contacting and communicating with other SBC churches or pastors. But I have had problems with those pastors ignoring my advice not to receive someone into their membership because he or she is under discipline at my church, or left my church slanderously.

No amount of CP money can fix unbiblical, unhealthy churches and pastors. Only a repentant return to doing church God's way, and honoring other local churches who do, will serve as a long-term solution.

For more in-depth analysis: https://www.dailywire.com/news/southern-baptists-metoo-moment

The annual spectacle known as the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting is over. I watched it all via livestream, and our church sent two messengers. Although I have not met with the messengers in person yet, we texted extensively during the convention, and I feel quite safe saying we were all three very disappointed. 

That makes two years in a row. Really three years, since the debacle of the pro-CRT Resolution 9 in 2019, and of course 2020 was canceled due to COVID. Three straight years of disappointment. So, with the next few blog posts, I want to express my concerns and disappointments, primarily for the local church I am privileged to pastor. We already voted to significantly reduce our giving to SBC causes (particularly the Cooperative Program) as an expression of our ongoing disagreement with the direction of upper echelons of the convention and its entities. Hopefully, these blog posts will serve as a launchpad for us to discuss the wisest way forward in months ahead. 

Among the various disappointments with the 2022 convention, perhaps none cut me so sharply as the ERLCs position on the abolition of abortion. 

Last year at the 2021 convention, the messengers managed to do the impossible. They overrode the Resolutions Committee and pulled the Resolution on the Abolition of Abortion to the floor for a vote. It passed overwhelmingly, despite key ERLC leaders speaking against it! They spoke against a resolution to abolish abortion! Their excuse was it somehow insults all the incremental progress made by the pro-life movement to simply call for the abolishment of abortion immediately. Confused? So was I. 

Now, as we anticipate the potential Supreme Court’s overturning Roe any day, the 2022 convention saw lively questions from messengers to several leaders and the ERLC on making abortion illegal, and criminalizing it. Dr. Albert Mohler was the only leader on the platform who offered a courageous answer which pointed to the woman’s culpability, along with doctors and often men, who are complicit in the murder of the unborn.  Mohler further defended the American legal system’s ability to handle various kinds of murder (degrees) and homicides and manslaughter, as well as its ability to discern whether a woman truly was victimized and therefore should not be held culpable.

That is to say, abortion is murder. It thus violates God’s Law as well as the laws of all 50 States, once it is admitted that a baby is a human. Murder has always carried stiff punishments upon conviction. Our legal system is indeed handling all kinds of wrongful deaths and manslaughters and murder cases every day. Why should we not expect it to do so with the willful murder of unborn babies? 

But the ERLC signed on with dozens of other pro-life ministries to a letter a few months back standing in absolute opposition to any criminalization of abortion! Friends, the pro-life movement has lost its ability to reason morally from the Scriptures, particularly the Law of God. And at this convention, more than one ERLC leader defended their position, which goes something like this:

We support the abolition of abortion. But not its criminalization. Because all women are victims of abortion. So there should be no penalty whatsoever for any woman who aborts her baby. Instead, what we should do is to change the hearts and minds of our culture (neighbors and cities) so that abortion becomes illegal, unthinkable, and unnecessary. We will win them with kindness.

Are you following this logic? Nah? Me neither.

Because it is illogical, and worse, it’s unbiblical. Why pass a law (to make abortion illegal) if you have no desire to see it enforced? Does the ERLC seriously think that penalties for crimes such as murder should not be enforced? Or that punishments do not deter crime? Maybe we should ask them if they support the defund the police movement because some of us are growing very suspicious here. Furthermore, does the ERLC seriously think that we can change every single citizen’s view of abortion? Last time I checked, only the regenerating power of Holy Spirit God changes hearts and minds, not my eloquence or powerful persuasion. We’ve had 50 years to change our culture and society’s minds on abortion, and those who love death still love it. Now more than ever! Violence against pro-life ministries and pregnancy centers is on the rise. And mark my words, abortion lovers will seriously hurt and kill some pro-life lovers in the near future (indeed they are promising to do so). Vast numbers of pro-abortion advocates hate God and therefore they hate life (unless it’s their own, of course). No amount of argument, and even no amount of gospel evangelism, is going to change 50% of Americans’ minds, unless we seriously think nearly every single American is going to be born again and come to faith in Christ in the next year or so. O, that God might make it so! But throughout history, God’s redeemed have always been the righteous remnant. Evangelize we must. But the ERLCs strategy here is nuts. 

Removing penalties for violations of laws is not biblical. It is also not loving. We are seeing rampant crime sprees across our land right now is because of DA’s refuse to prosecute and judges refuse to give proper and right sentences. To think we somehow know better than God how to counter human depravity and crimes such as murder is the height of arrogance! Have we no regard for God’s holy Law? Do we Southern Baptists not regard the Law as a moral guide of any kind? Do we not see the wisdom of God in the Law? Do we not see His holy character reflected in it? O, I know we’re not under law, in the sense of being under the Old Covenant. Nor are we under Law in the sense that we must live as Old Covenant Israel. We are under the New Covenant of grace. The Law’s blessings and curses are all fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Righteous Lord. Hallelujah! But have our SBC leaders altogether jettisoned the idea that God’s Law lays down solid principles of crime and punishment? The State does not bear the sword in vain, but is to promote good and punish evildoers (Rom 13). 

So, is abortion not evil? Is a woman never culpable for getting an abortion? Is it actually true that every single woman who aborts her baby is a hapless victim? The #ProudofmyAbortion movement mocks the ignorant, naïve, unbiblical, unloving position of the ERLC.  

Brent Leatherwood, interim President of the ERLC, said from the platform when pressed on this issue, “You will never get me to say we should throw women behind bars.”   

Not even women who murder the most innocent among us? Not even women who knowingly use abortion as “birth control?” Not even women who abort their babies in spite of the husband’s pleading not to kill their child? Not even women who get counsel at pro-life pregnancy centers, see a sonogram of their baby in their belly, are counseled on all the stages of life development in the womb, are made aware of the many adoption agencies and options, and who still go let a doctor chop up their babies like a piece of steak? Not even women who know full well that the “morning after” pill literally poisons and even burns their unborn babies to death? Really? 

Dr. Kevin Smith spoke for the ERLC and did confirm that abortion violates the Commandment, “Thou shalt not murder.” But he said nothing of whether any penalty should then be exacted upon a woman who aborts her baby should a State make it illegal in a “post-Roe” world. In other words, he did not answer the question concerning whether a convicted murderer should bear any penalty for the crime. 

Not every sin is a crime. But some are. Surely, we Southern Baptists can see that abortion, which we all say is murder, is both. The church deals with sin. The State deals with crime. And God has ordained both to do just that. To outlaw abortion but then not enforce it, only ensures infanticide continues.  

And if the ERLC cannot see something as simple as that, then maybe messengers should have abolished the ERLC (the motion was made but it did not pass).

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32).

Forgiveness. It's a beautiful word that flows with joy off our tongues. May we who are in Christ also see it flowing ever-so gracefully from our hearts. When Christians forgive one another, as Christ has forgiven them, it is truly like a river flowing from our inmost being, refreshing the souls of the forgiven.

Forgiveness in the Bible has two senses: vertical and horizontal. We dealt with the vertical aspect of releasing the offender to God's perfect justice and mercy in the previous post. This kind of forgiveness is never optional, because it really goes to our own relationship with the Lord. And, as with everything in the Christian life, the horizontal (practice) flows out of the vertical (position). So, assuming we are fighting the daily battle to keep entrusting the offender to God (vertical forgiveness), we are now in a posture, a ready-position, to forgive horizontally should the opportunity arise.

But what do I mean, "Should the opportunity arise?" Don't we just have to forgive, tell the person we have forgiven her, and move on?

Well, no. That's not how inter-personal forgiveness works among God's people committed to God's ways. You see, the second kind of forgiveness, the more horizontally-flavored forgiveness, requires confession of sin and repentance (or at least a stated desire to repent).

That is, the offender must own his sin, and ask those he hurt by his sin for forgiveness. The Greek word translated "forgive" in Ephesians 4:32 is chorizomai. It refers to a pardoning transaction that reconciles. In other words, a broken relationship is restored in God's kingdom by way of repentance of sin (which by definition includes seeking forgiveness). This is relational stuff. It requires a back-and-forth between offender and the offended.

At times, the offended must personally approach the person to confront him or her concerning the sin (Matthew 18:15). At other times, you might remember that you offended or potentially offended someone and take the initiative upon yourself to go seek forgiveness (Matthew 5:23-24). We see in Luke 17:1-3 the expectation of Jesus that this is not an either/or issue, but a both/and. In other words, in the church, as the Holy Spirit convicts and keeps changing us (sanctification), it is inevitable that we sometimes will go ask a person for forgiveness without being confronted, and sometimes will do so in response to being confronted.

"Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins seven times in the day and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him" (Luke 17:3-4).

Jesus demands that His people be marked by, defined by, the habitual practice of confession of sin, repentance of sin, seeking and giving forgiveness. Why? Because this is precisely how our good Father God deals with us: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Those are present tense verbs in 1 John 1:9. They indicate a habitual, ongoing exercise of our confessing and His forgiving and cleansing. And so we are called to reflect God in our Christian relationships. The same root word for "be kind" in Eph. 4:32 is used in Rom 2:4 to refer to God's attitude toward believers prior to salvation. It's God's "kindness" that is meant to lead us to repentance.¹ O, that we would approach each other with just such kindness. A kindness that encourages repentance, and assures of forgiveness.

But make no mistake about it, if an offender refuses to confess a sin and ask forgiveness, then we can in no way move forward in a reconciled, restored condition. The relationships and health of a local church body are hinged upon repentance and forgiveness. And our enemy knows it, and so targets us very frequently at the level of our basic relationships. So, let's not be ignorant of the enemy's schemes!

When we forgive a repentant brother or sister, we are saying to him or her, I forgive you. I consider myself reconciled in Christ to you and can walk in full fellowship and Christian friendship with you again. I will not bring this offense up to you again, or to others, or to myself (so long as crimes or actual abuse are not at stake). Let's enjoy the benefits we have together in Jesus Christ our Lord as we link arms to proclaim Him to a lost world. Let's get on with our full covenant life in Christ's Church together!

Here are some practical tips to help us all seek and give a more biblical forgiveness as we do gospel life together in our local churches:

• When we approach a person to potentially point out a sin or offense that he committed, begin by asking questions, not making judgments. This allows the person to more fully explain why he did or said something, and may actually cause you to change your mind about whether it's really a sin or whether it requires any further confrontation.
• When a sin must be confronted, be specific. Beating around the bush isn't helpful. Just say what you think the sin is or was, or name the offense.
• When asking for forgiveness, go beyond the culturally accepted language of, "I'm sorry." Say what you are sorry for and specifically say, "I sinned. Please forgive me."
• Avoid fake confessions. "I am sorry that you were offended by what I did" is not the same thing as saying, "I am sorry that what I did offended you," and then calling what you did a sin, or at bare minimum an indiscretion or error. The first really blames the offended person, while the latter takes responsibility for one's own actions. It's the difference in pride and humility.
• Pray for and with one another before and after the confrontation and confession and forgiveness. Nothing so cements a relationship like getting on our knees together to call out to Jesus for forgiving mercies and for reconciling graces.
• Even if it becomes clear that an actual sin wasn't committed, but an action or word still hurt someone's feelings, be kind enough to apologize for the wound caused, and ask the hurt person to help you learn how not to do that again. Honoring each other's feelings is a kindness, whether or not a sin was actually involved. Disregard for the feelings of others is not a virtue.
• Don't say you forgive a person, but then walk away from him or her in such a way that makes it clear you have no intention of really ever living as reconciled with him or her. To say you forgive someone but then want nothing to do with her is simply not forgiveness. What if Jesus forgave you that way? [This would shut down so much church-hopping if put into practice.]
• Be thick-skinned. Don't be easily offended. Give your brothers and sisters the benefit-of-the-doubt. Assume the best. This is "bearing with one another in love" (Eph 4:2; Col 3:13).
• If a brother or sister refuses to confess a sin and repent, obey Jesus and take the next step in the corrective disciplinary process (Matt 18:16). If even this step fails, seriously consider discussing the situation with a pastor, as the brokenness of the relationship will surely soon begin to impact others in the church body. Pastoral mediation is often used of God to bring about the repentance and restoration that we should all seek in our relationships in a church body.
• Prayerfully consider whether this offense requires confrontation, or can it just be overlooked or covered by love (Prov 19:11; 1 Peter 4:8).

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1 For this insight, I am indebted to Dr. Stuart Scott in his book 31 Ways to be a 'One Another' Christian, p. 48.

“And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors . . . For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15).

Forgiveness. 

Such a beautiful, terrible word. 

Beautiful to receive, but often so terribly difficult to give. 

Because it’s not natural. It violates every impulse of our nature apart from God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ. Sinful humans naturally gravitate toward justice. For everyone but ourselves, that is. This is precisely why Jesus told His disciples to “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matt 7:5). I have a log. You have a speck. That’s essential groundwork for forgiveness. 

The Bible speaks of forgiveness in two main ways – vertically and horizontally. I want to deal with only the first of these here. 

To forgive means to release or to set free. When God saves us from our sins by graciously imparting faith in Christ to us, He releases us. He sets us free from the just punishment and guilt of our sin, since He already dealt with our sin once for all in Christ on the cross (Rom 8:1-4; Heb 10:12-18; 1 Peter 2:24).  We can praise God that “where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Heb 10:18). Doesn’t it make you want to sing?

My sin, O the bliss, of this glorious thought My sin, not in part, but the whole Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 

It is this reality, that in Christ we are forgiven, that compels and propels us to forgive. Jesus insists that the forgiven forgive (see Matt 6:14-15). Jesus told a parable of a servant forgiven an absurd amount of debt by the King, only to turn around and choke out another servant who owed him a pittance. Jesus’ punchline put on the lips of the King is pungent: “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Matt 18:33). Jesus went on to warn His listeners that if they acted as this unforgiving, wicked servant, they would be delivered to the torturers by the Father in heaven. 

Any questions? 

Withholding forgiveness is wicked. Unforgiveness hurts only the one refusing to forgive. It damages our souls and imperils our relationship with our God who has forgiven us an immeasurable sin debt in Christ. It is vertical, first, you see. We must release both the offenses and the offenders. We release them to God. When we forgive in this way, we are entrusting the offense and offender to God who judges justly. To God who lavishes mercy and forgiveness by His sovereign will. To God, the only One who can rightly discern all truth and all error. To God, the seer of all hearts and minds. To God, the weigher of all motives. To God, who has given all judgment to His Son, who bore the curse of sin (John 5:22; Gal 3:13).

When we release or forgive someone in this way, we are saying, “I refuse to allow this offense to embitter my own heart. I give this to You, O Lord. I refuse to sit in judgment upon a brother or sister or offender. I will not try to punish the offender with all my man-made schemes. I trust You, Lord Jesus, to do what is right and to make this right in Your time. I love you, Lord. I pray for the offender, that he or she might experience Your saving and sanctifying grace as I have. Grant repentance and restoration according to Your good pleasure. I thank You for forgiving me by pouring out Your wrath not upon me, but upon my Christ. Please help me forgive, and keep on forgiving, just as You do. Make me merciful as You are (Luke 6:36). May mercy triumph over judgment in my heart (Jms 2:13). When the temptation to anger or bitterness or unforgiveness rears its ugly head in my heart, and it surely will, give me speedy grace to lop its head off in Jesus’ name! O lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one (Matt 6:13). Give me daily grace to live as a son or daughter of the Most High, who is ‘kind to the ungrateful and evil’ (Luke 6:35). In Jesus’ name, Amen.”  

Do you see it? This kind of forgiveness is an attitude, a posture of the heart. It’s vertical. It is an act of faith . . . in God alone! This kind of forgiveness may or may not even be known to the offender. Most often, it’s not. And it need not be. We will discuss why that is in our next post. 

Does this attitude of forgiveness mark you? Are you forgiven in Christ? Are you a forgiver like Christ? To claim the first, while not doing the second, is to play the hypocrite and be self-deceived. The forgiven forgive. Not some of the time. All of the time. 

So much anger and bitterness and vexation of spirit even among Christians or those claiming to be so, stems from the root of unforgiveness. Our culture of perpetual victimhood is giving us gangrene of the soul. Let it not be so among us, dear Church. So help us God. 

Forgiveness is a fight. A daily fight (as is everything about sanctification). The war is waged at the level of our hearts, minds and wills. But fight we must. And fight we can in Christ (Rom 8:9-17). And if we take Jesus’ words seriously, forgiveness is forever worth fighting for. 

“Do not slander one another, brothers” (James 4:11).

What is it about us human beings that we simply cannot seem to resist talking about other people? 

And no. I do not mean saying commendatory or praiseworthy things about others. If we’re all honest, we speak far too often about others in ways that are more gossipy and less commendatory. We just can’t seem to keep from throwing in that one little barb, or that negative innuendo, or that tiny bit of speculation. How much of our conversations with friends or co-workers or peers or neighbors really consists of talking about others in ways that, like it or not, may well fit the category of slander or gossip?

Slander according to Bible scholar Gordan Keddie is “every statement that is made with the purpose of belittling someone, or besmirching his or her reputation, and encompasses everything from out-and-out lies to veiled innuendos, and even includes true statements when these are told only to hurt the person about whom they are made.” 

I like Keddie’s definition because, unlike many other definitions, he includes the possibility that even true statements may well be slanderous. It’s the underlying intent, you see. And therein lies the trap for us. None of us is very good at objectively examining our inner motives. And we’re even worse at admitting when something we said to someone about someone else may well have hurt or potentially injured the person’s reputation, regardless of our intentions. Add to this the doctrine of human depravity, which reminds us that even as Christians, remnants of our old sinful man remain, meaning we’re a mixture of pure and impure at any given moment (Gal 5:16-17). Put simply, our motives in this life are never really sinless and perfectly pure. And deep down, we know it.

Gossip is defined by the online Merriam-Webster dictionary as “someone who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others” or “a rumor or report of an intimate nature.” The Cambridge online dictionary states it this way: “conversation or reports about other people’s private lives that might be unkind, disapproving, or untrue.” Here again, we see in these definitions a blend of true or untrue statements, a requirement to check our heart motives, and we learn that gossip typically involves something of a private nature.         

“No human being can tame the tongue” (James 3:8).

Here’s God’s answer. To confess that we, in and of ourselves, do not rule our tongues, but rather are ruled by them! And to know that as Jesus taught, our words always reveal our hearts (Matt 12:34). 

So, the first step or priority in the Christian’s battle against the temptation to slander or gossip is to acknowledge one’s deep-seated propensity to slander or gossip, to acknowledge our need of God’s Holy Spirit and to rely upon fellow believers in this never-ending war against our fleshly desires and nature.

We far too often treat these sins and temptations in isolation, due to our raging American individualism. That is, we just do not truly grasp how much we need the other members of the local church body to keep us on the straight and narrow here. But Jesus describes His people as those who are constantly, by God’s sanctifying grace, removing beams from their own eyes in order to help remove specks in the eyes of others (Matt 7:1-6; Luke 6:39-42). 

That view of my personal, individual sin being far more grotesque than the sin I have noticed in my brother or sister’s life, surely would go far in my battle against slander and gossip! It would incline me to much more eagerly confess my own sins to a brother in my life than to take it upon myself to confess someone else’s sins to him.  

This matter does indeed get sticky and tricky inside a local church, doesn’t it? Especially so inside a church that takes sin seriously, and where members do obey God’s command to “confess your sins to one another” (James 5:16, see my previous post on confession). In healthy churches, relationships develop that pull us close to one another in ways that demand deeper transparency, and in ways that really do make us holy as we pursue Christ together. In so many ways, sanctification is a community project (Gal 6:1-2; Heb 3:12-13; Heb 12:12-17; James 5:19). 

And herein lies my point: It’s hard enough already for pastors and members to do gospel life together with one another inside a local church in ways that ensure biblical confession of sin and sanctification is happening; so, don’t violate the trust of your local church by talking about church members in ways that may well be slanderous or gossipy. 

If, due to a close relationship inside your church, you are privy to certain sin struggles of others, hold those very tightly. Be a person of integrity. Keep your friend’s confidence. “A whisperer separates close friends” (Prov 16:28). Only in extreme circumstances where someone is in danger of some kind or where laws are being broken, or where a pattern of sin is being followed without repentance, should you even consider bringing another church member into the circle of confidence. 

Even in the matter of a public confession in a local church, we should consider that matter part of the overall discipline of a healthy church. Sharing what was confessed outside the membership of our local church effectively usurps the authority of the local church in matters of both formative and corrective discipline. As a pastor, I can tell you I have often been alarmed at how quickly another local pastor catches wind of an internal church disciplinary matter within the flock I shepherd. That can only mean one thing – someone in our church took it upon himself or herself to share outside the church family, something that was clearly a private matter intended to be dealt with inside the local congregation. 

This appears to be precisely Paul’s concern in public lawsuits among the Corinthian Christians (1 Cor 6). In the previous chapter, Paul exhorted the Church of Corinth to deal swiftly with a sin among a member of a particularly heinous and public nature (1 Cor 5). He does not expect the Church at Philippi to enact the corrective discipline upon the member, and he does not even name the individual who committed the sin. He well could have (as he often names false teachers). But he did not and he needed not to do so. The matter was internal to the local Church at Corinth. The members there already knew enough details that they should have been acting in loving, corrective discipline. And the whole notion of internal church discipline then seems to lead Paul to begin rebuking the Corinthian Christians for taking church affairs into the public square, in this case by lawsuits in secular courts. He excoriates them for not understanding that “the saints will judge the world” and for showing themselves “incompetent to try trivial cases” and for not being “wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers” (1 Cor 6:1-8).

Now, I realize we might have very close relationships with other Christians who are members of other churches, or who once were members of our local fellowship. The transitory nature of our lifestyles in 21st century America all but ensure it. But I think even still, we should always exercise great caution in what we say and how we say it when we are telling others something about our fellow church member(s).  Each local church only has disciplinary and discipleship authority over its own members (Heb 13:17). Once a private sin matter has escaped the bounds of a local congregation, pastors and flock have no ability or authority, then, to try and correct any gossip, slander, mis-conceptions, mis-representations, etc. So, I continue to argue for a robust, holistic, local-church-centered view of the matter of slander and gossip. If we inside our local church cannot trust one another with our private wounds, struggles and sins, then we cannot really say we are in a healthy New Testament Church. I have no doubt that breaches of confidence do indeed hurt a church’s overall health, especially in matters of helping one another rightly war against sin and practice biblical forgiveness. Nobody wants to confess sin to a bunch of gossips.  

Here are a few practical tips for pursuing a biblical ethic in our conversations:

• Don’t try to divorce what you say about a fellow church member or what you share about him or her from your overall doctrine of the Church. Truth is, our speech always either hurts or helps both the church member and the church body as a whole (Eph 4:25-32). 
• Avoid “prayer request” gossip or slander. God already knows it all. Asking another believer inside or outside the church to pray with us over a matter is fine. But how we do it and what we say also matters greatly. Keep it basic and as generic as possible. The notion that God only answers specific prayers is hokey and unbiblical (Matt 6:7-13). 
• Refuse to post anything online about a church member or friend that is not edifying and commendatory. Let’s face it, the proliferation of social media has exacerbated slander and gossip, even within Christian circles, exponentially. Helping one another deal with sin is and should be an in-person, face-to-face business (Matt 18:15). The one exception to this might be a public post that contains theological heresy that requires correction. But even then, it seems preferable to try to take it up with the person privately first. 
• Ask people permission to share about their situation or struggle. This would solve so much of our problem! Not sure if something should be shared? Then go straight to the source and ask. If you do not have permission, then do not share it. 
• Follow the Golden Rule (Matt 7:12; Luke 6:31). Loving our neighbors as we do ourselves, as an expression of our all-consuming love for God, really resolves all slander and gossip. 
• Ask yourself good questions before speaking or posting. Is this information really mine to share? Would I want someone to say this about me, or share in this way if I were the one who could lose standing or reputation? Why am I really compelled to share this detail?
• Consider what your words will convey to those outside the church regarding the quality of health inside the church. Will saying or sharing this information extol the virtues and wisdom of Christ in my local church? Or will it possibly denigrate or diminish the reputation of Christ as it resides in and comes through my local church? 
• If you have possibly slandered or gossiped, go ask everyone directly impacted for forgiveness. If you entertained slander or gossip, ask everyone directly impacted for forgiveness. (And yes, this is also a way to rebuke the one who spoke the slander originally.)   
• If you hear a brother or sister starting to share something that seems to be headed in a potentially slanderous or gossipy direction, gently ask that he or she exercise caution. Truth is, nobody would slander or gossip if we all refused to listen to it!
• Ask: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? [I have heard this from so many sources that I do not know where to give credit at this point.] 
• If I have more information than someone else, before I share it, I should plumb the depths of my heart before God to ensure that it is actually necessary for someone else to also know the level of detail that I do. If I am convinced it is necessary, why? What Scripture has convinced me of the necessity? What counsel have I sought in this matter? Prov 11:13-14.   

The potential divisiveness of slander and gossip within a local church ought to give us all great pause to stop and pray and think before we speak (Prov 6:19; Titus 3:10-11). May God help us all and grow us all in His grace, especially so in the bridling of our tongues. For His glory in the Church! 

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

We’ve all been there. Cringing as we hear someone in church sharing a testimony that just gets way too specific about one’s pre-conversion past, or even one’s so-called “backsliding.” It sounds dangerously close to glorifying the sin. At best we might be thinking TMI (to use textese, a language I do not actually speak). At worst, we are covering our children’s ears and praying our teens do not get any wild ideas about how awesome it would be to have that same testimony. 

Trust me young people, one sin is enough to send you to hell apart from the salvation of Christ; you need not heap up God’s wrath against you. “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matt 4:7).

But I digress.

The point is, how should a Christian confess sin? To whom should I confess? Is there ever a proper time for a public confession and/or testimony? How specific should my confession be?

To be clear, I want to say on the front end that I do not think that all of these questions have explicitly clear answers in the Bible.  Some do, but not all. That said, I do think the Bible has enough principles to help us apply God’s wisdom to each of these questions.

To “confess” means literally “to say the same.” It is to admit or to come into agreement. So, when a person initially comes under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and “confesses,” he or she is agreeing with God that he or she is a sinner justly condemned and that his or her only hope of forgiveness and a right standing with God is the righteous life, the atoning death, and the powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once that sinner by God’s regenerating grace makes that confession unto salvation (Rom 10:9-10), he or she is then transformed into a life-long confessor, repenter and believer. That is to say, the Holy Spirit of God by His indwelling presence continually convicts of sin, exposes the wicked remnants of the old man, grants ongoing repentance and faith in Christ thereby evermore steadily and surely conforming the believer to the image of Christ. This is called the Doctrine of Progressive Sanctification. [See Ch. 13 of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.]

So, with that doctrinal backdrop laid, let’s try to give some answers to the initial questions.

1. How should a Christian confess sin? Regularly. Contritely. Prayerfully. Reverently. In the fear of God. In devotion to obeying God’s Word. With love for Christ. Some of the more powerful examples in Scripture are: Job 40:3-5; 42:1-6; Isaiah 6; Daniel 9; Nehemiah 1; 9; Psalms 32; 51; Luke 7:36-50; 15:11-32.
2. To whom should I confess? First and foremost, always to God. Sin is ultimately always and, in a strict legal sense, only against God. For He alone is the Lawgiver and Judge. “Against You and You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight” (Psalm 51:4). But the New Testament also calls upon us to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16 is the classic text). The commands to forgive one another assume that within a local church, members are confessing sin, seeking and giving forgiveness (Eph 4:32; Col 3:12-14). Jesus also assumed His people will be confessing sins that offended others and will be seeking forgiveness and granting forgiveness (Matt 5:23-24; 18:15-18; Luke 11:4; 17:3-4). So, confess to God. And confess to other believers.
3. Is there ever a proper time for a public confession? But these confessions should only be done in close coordination and in submission to your local pastoral leadership (Heb 13:17). The pastors / elders bear responsibility to oversee the flock’s public gatherings. You should discuss with a pastor or church leader, in advance, any notion or promptings you have to confess a sin or share a testimony of God’s faithfulness to rescue and preserve His people by His great grace. Public confessions can be powerful when done well. But they can also be disastrously painful when done poorly. Because of their potential to only compound and/or multiply the hurt, I personally think public confessions should be rare. An explicit exception to this appears to be the case of a pastor / elder who has persisted in sin (see 1 Tim 5:19-21). This makes sense, as the long-term sin of a pastor doubtlessly impacts the entire local church body in some ways, since he stands to preach and teach the Word authoritatively week after week. God takes the shepherding of His redeemed people deadly serious (Ezek 34). There is a reason that the pre-eminent character qualification for an elder is to be “above reproach” (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:6-7).

Another instance where a public confession might be wise is in the case of a very public sin. If a church member commits a sin in a flagrant, public way, the Scripture seems to expect very swift and public action to be taken by the church (1 Cor 5). God forbid we allow the Name of Jesus to be diminished or demeaned among us, or that we give God’s enemies occasion to mock (2 Sam 12:14).                                                                                                                                                      

4. How specific should my confession be? To God, He already knows it all so you might as well come clean (Ps 19:12-14; 139:23-24). It is good for your soul to bring all your cares to God, reminding yourself of how depraved you are, how in need of His grace you are, and how amazing is the love and blood of Jesus which wipes our sin away. But when we are confessing our sins to one another, I think it wise to consider a few principles:

• Has my sin directly impacted a person? Then my confession should be addressed in specific ways to that wound. If I used harsh words with my wife, then I should name those words as sin against God and her, and do so to her in person, and humbly ask her forgiveness.
• Has my sin more indirectly impacted a person or persons? Then I should be more cautious, more general with my confession. Did my child hear my harsh words to my wife (and her mother)? Then I should specifically confess to my child, too. But if my child did not actually hear the words, but has noticed a coldness between her Daddy and Mommy all day, then after I specifically confess to my wife in private, I should also explain generically to my child that I was not kind to Mommy and have asked her forgiveness and am now asking the child to forgive me as well. No need to repeat to the child verbatim what I said to my wife if the child didn’t hear it to begin with. That only causes unnecessary hurt, you see.
• To the extent that my sin has harmed a relationship, to that extent I should consider confessing. Put another way, the closeness and kind of relationship often determines how specifically I confess.
• In public confessions, confession of root sins is best. In other words, sins like pride, selfishness, deceit / lying, greed, are really at the root of all sin. These root sins give rise to all sorts of other sins, which most likely are not known to a broader audience. Thus, confessing with specificity in larger crowds typically only adds unnecessary hurt. But getting to the heart or root of the matter before a larger audience should be enough. Enough to require the humility of the confessor, and enough to garner the forgiveness of the potentially hurt. Those within that crowd that are closer in relationship to us, we should then prayerfully consider making more explicit confessions to privately.

To be sure, the flesh in us always wants the juicy details. But we must ask ourselves, “Why?” If we have not been personally hurt in some obvious relational way, then what would compel us to insist upon more details? We will turn our attention to that matter in a future post.

To wrap up this much-too-long blog entry, however, I challenge you to search the Scriptures for an explicit, or graphically specific public confession of sin. I dare say you will not find anything resembling so much of what too often passes as “a powerful testimony” in churches today. That ought to help shape and fashion our view on the matter of confession. Close relationships in the church inevitably ought to involve us in deeper transparency. But I am afraid we too often try to take that portrait of close biblical friendship and plaster it over the top of our public gatherings.

“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place” (Eph 5:3-4).

“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim 2:1-2). 

The “leaked” document published by Politico pertaining to the upcoming Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade is a stunning development. Add the highest court of our land to the ever-growing list of institutions that have proven to be infiltrated with untrustworthy snitches who care more about themselves and their personal agendas than the higher good or the overall integrity of the institution or offices themselves. Whatever we might think about this “leak,” one thing is clear to us all – it was done for personal political motives. 

Now we wait to see how it all plays out. Will it backfire? Will it accomplish what the leaker intended? Regardless, we can be sure that “The counsel of the Lord stands forever” (Ps 33:11).  

Whether or not Roe is overturned by the Supreme Court (final decision coming in a month or so), it is all but certain infanticide will not cease in our depraved nation. It might be a political or constitutional victory to return the authority to the states in this matter, but until our citizens embrace the truth that no state ever has any right or authority to sin against God, we born-again believers in Christ must not give up the fight! There can never be a “right” to murder babies. There is never a “right” to worship and idolize self to the point that an unborn child is viewed as such a distraction to my life that I poison the child or allow the child’s brain to be punctured with scissors or permit the baby to be sawn in two. So, until all abortion is illegal in every state, in the entire nation, yea, in the world, we must not rest. Abortion must be abolished! In the Name of Jesus, we must insist it be abolished! 

This is a war we fight on our knees, dear saints. Let’s pray! Pray for the Supreme Court. Pray for the courts all over our nation. Pray for legislators and governors. Pray for the hearts of citizens. Pray for pregnant moms all over our land. Pray for pro-life pregnancy centers. Pray for gospel-driven sidewalk counseling ministries that stand outside baby slaughter houses every weekend. Pray! 

Then consider how you might engage personally. Do you know how you can serve a local pro-life pregnancy center? Will you get trained for sidewalk prayers and counseling? Will you love a pregnant mom enough to take her to a pro-life pregnancy center to get her help? Will you adopt a baby? Will you invest in young men who know nothing but fatherlessness? Will you help mobilize your local churches to more fully engage in this most critical war of our culture? Will you sign petitions? Will you call and write and email elected officials? Will you share the gospel of Jesus with dads, moms and children all around you? Will you pray? Will you give? Will you engage? 

Dear Christian, you by grace have come to know the Lord Jesus, the very One who “has life in Himself” (John 5:26). Stop holding back! Unleash the powerful gospel upon your neighbors and friends and co-workers and peers at school. Urge them to repent of sin, including abortion or support of it, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Legalized abortion is the clearest sign of a pagan Nation who hates God and rages against His Messiah (Psalm 2). Abortion seeks to eradicate the precious image of God. Abortion disobeys the very first command of God to mankind to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Politics matter, but they’re not ultimate. Sin has only one lasting solution. His name is Jesus.    

To engage more fully in the Southern Indiana and Louisville region, click here:

https://choiceslrc.org/

https://speakfortheunborn.com/ 

On this Good Friday, amidst the tumult of our sin-wrecked world, it would be good for us to soak up the lines of the poem penned by Isaac Watts. We know this poem as the hymn, “When I Survey.”

 

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it Lord that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

 Think on it. Be alarmed at the grotesque sight of your sin. Be astonished at the unfathomable price of your redemption. Be amazed by your Savior. His name is Jesus. The Messiah. The Lord. He’s incomparable! 

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

A quick Google search for the definition of racism yielded these results:

prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized

And this from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism

a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race

Similarly, a Google search for the definition of sexism spits out this:

prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex

OK, so it is not my intent here to argue against the way our society defines “race.” I have done that elsewhere in blogs addressing the false definitions employed by Critical Race Theorists. I do appreciate that Google’s definition added the phrase “or ethnic group.” Biblically, there is one race – human – but many people groups / cultures, ethnicities. But that’s not my point here.

Also, I am a bit surprised that Google’s definition of sexism does not immediately put forward some phrase like “gender identity.” But, that, too, is neither here nor there pertaining to the purpose of this blog post. 

Rather, I merely mean to point out that prejudice based upon skin color or sex (a creational and biological category based upon the presence of either XX or XY chromosomes at conception), is still viewed as racism and/or sexism. While we typically think of “prejudice” in negative terms, it can also be enacted in a positive way. Affirmative Action and hiring quota systems serve as Exhibit A. In other words, to prefer or reject a person based solely upon skin color and sex is the essence of racism and sexism.

Now, I ask, was it not precisely racism and sexism that motivated President Biden to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court? He promised to nominate a black woman. He boldly declared himself to be a racist and sexist in the matter of choosing a potential Justice, and Democrats and liberals cheered wildly! Well, I guess we can say at least he kept his promise.

Objections by various conservative legislators and Christian leaders to her nomination had nothing to do with her skin color, or her biological sex. I am not saying that somewhere out there among Republicans and Christians there is no one who needs to repent of the sin of partiality. Rather, I merely mean to assert that we have no good evidentiary reasons to think any of the senators or evangelical leaders opposing her nomination and her confirmation to the Supreme Court are actually racist or sexist. In fact, the questions they asked her dealt with her record as a judge, her rulings on cases, her views on pertinent matters being debated in our nation. In other words, they sought to examine her as Martin Luther King, Jr, would have wanted – by the content of her character as it has manifested in her actions and her words.

And by her record of rulings and her own words, she demonstrated herself to be imminently unqualified for the Supreme Court. Our Senate just confirmed the most leftist judge in the history of our nation! Her record on soft sentencing of child pornographers and child predators, and her words associated with those rulings, ought to have been more than enough to disqualify her in the mind of any sane and morally upright person. Even among the prisoners in state penitentiaries, pedophiles receive outcast treatment. Murderers find the pedophile repugnant! My point here is not an endorsement of murder, but rather to simply show how morally insane the rulings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson are, not to mention legislators and Christians who applaud her. Even hardened criminals know better.

As if the soft stance on abusing children were not enough, we confirmed a judge who refuses to say what a woman is. Can’t or won’t provide a basic definition to the word “woman.” Irony of ironies. She was nominated precisely because she is a woman! Here again, the fog of confusion enveloping our land in matters of simple creational and biological categories is dumbfounding. And now we have a Supreme Court Justice with a foggy mind on such rudimentary matters.

And her record on abortion is, well, an abortion of its own. She loves the blood of babies. We have no doubt how she will rule in the matter of the sanctity of human life as created in God’s image.

Far worse, however, is the pandering of pastors and evangelical leaders all across our nation. Thabiti Anyabwile tweeted out comments lauding Judge Jackson’s “character.” Hundreds of others have done likewise. Brent Leatherwood, the interim President of the ERLC of the SBC (my current denomination), tweeted, “Despite the philosophical and legal differences individuals like me will have with her, Judge Jackson’s confirmation is a history-making moment. We should appreciate it as such.”  Professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Daniel Darling, tweeted, “I disagree with her judicial philosophy but I celebrate the history of Judge Jackson’s appointment and am praying for wisdom and discernment as she serves on the highest court.”  These pastors and leaders are considered “conservative, Bible-believing evangelicals.” But one wonders.

In what way is her appointment a “history-making moment” worth celebrating? It’s definitely a history-making event, but should we laud it and appreciate it? Or should we decry it in the name of the thrice holy God? And Dr. Darling, you should be praying for more than “wisdom and discernment” for her. She needs to repent and believe the gospel! She needs to be saved from her sins and certain death and hell.

True Christian courage is a vanishing virtue in America. When prominent pastors and evangelical leaders are given opportunities to call their nation to repentance and faith in the only Supreme Judge of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, they rush instead to say nice things that keep them in the good graces of the politically correct elite. Scared to death to be labeled a racist or sexist or homophobe. Or, worst of all, to be called “mean.”

I am not endorsing unkindness nor mean-spiritedness. But I am searching the evangelical Christian landscape for men and women of courage. Dare I say God is too? (Ezek 22:31)  I am not on Twitter and never will be (no doubt I would get banned on Day 1). But if I were, I think my tweet would have been:

The occasion of the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court is yet another manifestation that “sin is a reproach to any nation” (Prov 14:34). We just confirmed a Judge who is hard-hearted towards unborn babies, and soft-hearted towards child abusers. If “righteousness exalts a nation,” then her confirmation is more affirmation that the God of heaven is judging the United States of America as we plummet headlong on our forsaken, idolatrous paths to hell (Rom 1:18-32). It is not loving nor kind to endorse evil. Therefore, I urge upon you the words of Jesus Christ, “Repent or you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). And again, “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). And again, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already” (John 3:18). Join the Prophet Habakkuk in praying, “O Lord, in wrath remember mercy.”

Wait, is that too many characters? O well, just one more reason I don’t belong on Twitter.

“A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating” (Prov 18:6). 

“A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man quietly holds it back” (Prov 29:11).

Was it a publicity stunt?  Intended to rescue a Hollywood awards show from years of plummeting ratings and viewership?  Or was it a real, raw expression of insult, injury and angst?  

Either way, the debacle between Chris Rock and Will Smith at the Oscars a few days ago was foolish. It was an exchange between two fools. Both of them wicked. Broken in sin. Lost. Chris’ foolish mouth has been inviting a beating for many years. At some point in my lifetime, our culture decided unkind and crude personal jabs and insults were “comedy.”  Shame on us. Will’s venting of anger (pretended or not) was foolish. Will’s response was childish and girlish. (If you’re going to supposedly defend the honor of your wife against a personal “attack” then at least be man enough to punch the guy; none of this open-palm girlish slapping.) Will’s moral reasoning is foolish and faulty. So, I smile and laugh as my wife tells the world in front of me that she had sex with our son’s friend, but I publicly slap a man who tells a joke about my wife’s haircut? But many Christians and cultural icons rushed to initially defend Will. Shame on us. We are a nation of fools. We celebrate folly. And we’re horrified by folly. We can’t make up our minds. We’re confused. We’ve lost our way. Slipped from our moral moorings.  Should we defend Mr. Rock? Or Mr. Smith? 

How about we condemn the whole bloody mess as sinful foolishness, that left unchecked by God’s saving grace in Christ, will ruin the souls of men and women. And how about we stop looking to Hollywood for anything other than entertainment (and often shoddy, sinful entertainment at that). This industry celebrates violence, gratuitous sex of all kinds, abuse of women, objectification of women, feminization of men, and narcissism of the highest degree. Why would we expect anything other than profligate, pagan behavior from these actors, directors, and this industry?  

Even Disney now openly supports sexualization and objectification of 5-7 year old children. There is no “gray area” when it comes to this matter. Kindergarten students should not be taught anything about sex in any schools, other than, “God created man in His own image . . . male and female He created them.” Period. Hard stop. Even 5-year-olds can quite easily discern the difference in boys and girls. It’s a matter of nature. Of what our Christian forefathers called “natural law.” And biology done rightly is the pursuit of discovery of those creational designs and natural laws ordained by the God of life. No young child would even know to think about anything associated with the LGBTQIA+ agenda on his or her own. The only reason any 5-year-old child would have any reason to think about (as if they have the mental capacity to do so rightly) gender “transitions” is if evil, God-hating adults introduce such a sinful topic to them.  

And why would any adult want to do such a thing? Why would any adult want to sexualize children? To teach children that the sexual organs they were born with, given to them by God, are optional? Non-binding? Able to be exchanged? Or ignored? Or abused? Or mutilated? Or stimulated? Why? 

This is the classic definition and picture of “grooming.” This is exactly what child predators have done for decades. Sexualization of young children can only have one goal logically – the normalization and legalization of pedophilia.  And Disney supports it. And so do many Republicans and political conservatives. What are conservatives conserving anymore? We are out of our minds. Fools! 

Some of you think I (and other Christians sounding this alarm) are too extreme. Surely our culture would never accept pedophilia? Fifty years ago, people were saying the same thing about pornography. And no fault divorce. And cohabitation. And intentional fatherlessness. And homosexuality. And “gay marriage.” 

Where is the caboose on this woke, depraved train? Dare we think it will stop at simply acknowledging political “rights” of those who identify as LGBTQ? Those in that community are already demonstrating they have no intention of stopping it at the level of adult political rights. We’re being duped! We’re a nation of fools, and in some cases, churches and denominations of fools! 

Consider how many political conservatives and Christian evangelicals rushed to “congratulate” Dave Rubin on his announcement that he and his gay partner (I refuse to call him a husband, as only God has the right to define marriage) are “expecting” two babies. They thumbed through an online catalog of egg donors (objectifying women as no more than sexual products and parts), and selected an egg donor who had all the traits they desired. This is called eugenics. It’s given us Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood and euthanasia. Then they hired out a womb (again abusing a woman, objectifying her, with no thought to how she might be manipulated or hurt by their selfish, toxic gay masculinity). They’re intentionally depriving this precious baby of a mother. They are using women for their various sexual parts and products. Much more could be said, but nothing about this is righteous. Nothing about this is natural. This is spitting in the Creator’s face. It is abuse of women and children. And if our culture and churches and politicians and citizens do not start rebuking and renouncing and standing against this at every turn, there will be hell to pay. In every way there can be hell to pay. We had better stop playing the fool. God is not mocked. We sow what we reap (Gal 6:7).           

Well-meaning evangelicals are caving to the “born this way” mantra. I realize Dr. Albert Mohler, a man whom I have the highest respect for, meant well when he began 20 years ago trying to prepare evangelicalism for the possibility of the scientific discovery of a “gay gene.” He insisted rightly that sin has affected every part of us, including our DNA. This is the Doctrine of Total Depravity. And he insisted rightly that the only remedy would still be the gospel of Jesus Christ. But I think where he, and others such as those in the Revoice movement, miscalculated, was just how such an idea would be hijacked by the LGBTQ movement. (I am very grateful, by the way, for the stand Dr. Mohler has taken against the Revoice movement within evangelicalism.) Despite the fact that science has not discovered a “gay gene” just as they have not discovered a “transgender gene,” the LGBTQ socio-political movement has convinced much of our society that these behaviors, are in fact, natural. In-born. Present at birth / conception. Can’t be helped. Thus, they must have a “right” to live out their truth and teach it to others, especially kids. Theology and biology be damned. Imagine how this plays itself out if our vaunted (and often corrupted) scientists ever claim to discover a “rapist gene” or a “pedophilia gene.”     

Jackie Hill-Perry, another Christian I respect and appreciate in many regards, convinced many evangelicals that we should not tell our gay and lesbian neighbors and friends that what they are doing is unnatural. She said when she was living as a lesbian, nothing felt more natural. But feelings and thoughts have nothing to do with what is actually natural or in line with God’s creational design and intent. Sinners can (and will) justify any wicked act. But the Word of God is our final and sufficient authority on these matters.  And God’s Word clearly views and treats sexual sins of every category as actions or behaviors flowing from a depraved heart that must necessarily bring both spiritual and physical consequences (and legal consequences under the Old Covenant). The Word of God condemns sins that distort God’s creational design for male and female with special reprobation.    

“For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error . . . those who practice such things deserve to die, they that not only do them but given approval to those who do them” (Romans 1:26-27, 32).   

We evangelical Christians desperately need to recover God’s words, God’s language, when addressing any and every sin. First in our own lives. And in the lives of others as well. For only an accurate diagnosis leads to a right remedy. 

Sin has so corrupted our nature that we do unnatural things. Perverted acts. Shameless in the act. Twisting the very design and intent of our Holy Creator God. The thoughts and intents of our hearts are only evil continually (Gen 6:5). And we sometimes act on those base impulses and thoughts. Our inner lives, our wills, our thoughts, our hearts, are spiritually corrupt to the point of being dead (Eph 2:1).  The vicious cycle of sin and God giving sinners up even further to it, as described in Romans 1, all starts like this: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (v. 18). This truth suppression leads to idolatry, a rejection of our Creator and His good designs. And it all ends in a death sentence.

But good news! God sent His Son to live a perfect, holy life of righteousness. Jesus is the truth. And Jesus willingly sacrificed His sinless life on the cross, bearing God’s wrath against all the unrighteousness of those He redeems. Jesus paid the sin debt of God’s people in full, crying from the cross, “It is finished!” And God gave proof to everyone that He is completely satisfied with Jesus as both Savior and Judge by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31). By grace through faith in Christ, sinners are raised from spiritual death to life (Eph 2:4-9).  God’s Spirit is able to birth sinners anew as they repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15; John 3:1-17; 2 Cor 5:17). We are under a righteous death sentence from God as sinners. But hallelujah! Christ Jesus, the righteous One, exchanged Himself for me and died in my place (2 Cor 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).  Only Jesus can give us a new nature! A nature that abhors all sin, and loves the Savior. A nature that no longer suppresses the truth, but joyfully submits to it. A nature that “speaks the truth in love” no matter how politically incorrect or culturally offensive. A nature that loves wisdom found in Christ alone, and a nature that rebukes folly. 

America – the truth of Christ the Lord, and only His truth, can still set you free (John 8:31-34). Would you be free from your enslavement to sin? From your infatuation with sin? From your celebration of sin? Then you must come to the Light of Christ and confess Jesus is Lord (1 John 1:5-10). This has been the message of the Church to sinners, all sinners, every kind of sinner, for thousands of years. It’s sufficient. Let’s not tamper with it. Although sin is “natural” to humanity, in one sense; in another sense, sin is always a distortion of God’s good creational design and intent. And only God can make straight what is crooked (Prov 3:5-7; Luke 3:5-6). Fear God. Shun evil. Come to Christ. And then, and only then, all your perversions will suddenly appear exactly as they are – unnatural. Sick. Suicidal. Hellish. God-hating. And then and only then will you come to relish the old hymn’s question and answer: Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood! Power in the blood! 

For further contemplation, I commend this short video:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoHUlxI-H7k