From His Lips to Your Ears

Vice magazine (which, it appears, is an ironically accurate name) did a hit piece on a pastor and his church in Idaho. The problem, ostensibly, was that they taught that wives need to be led with a firm hand. The piece was horrendous to read. There was premarital sexual abuse by an elder's son and marital rape. There was cover up by church leadership (multiple churches). There was lots of undeniably horrible stuff. But you weren't expected to come away thinking, "That was undeniably horrible stuff." You were intended to come away thinking, "That church is evil ... because that biblical belief is evil ... and, therefore, the Bible is evil ... and so is anyone who believes it ... which certainly covers all Christians ..." Well, you see where this is going.

I read it. I came away thinking, "This is exactly what I have been mulling over lately." I wrote recently how we are happily discarding biblical principles because of sinful abuse of biblical principles. Your Honor, I'd like to submit this article as Exhibit A. The reader in this case is not allowed to think, "That's a biblical principle being abused by unbiblical people." They are mandated to think, "That stuff is clearly wrong. Since it is clearly wrong and it is attributed to Christ and His biblical principles, then Christ and the Bible are clearly wrong." Now, of course, this has been going on for millennia. Think "the Crusades." Without even attempting to defend the Crusades (because I wouldn't), we have been told over and over, "Look what was done in the name of Christ. Christianity is evil." A fundamental failure to think. You see, just because it is done in the name of Christ doesn't mean that it has any connection to Christ. And if, in fact, Christ taught against such things, then you will need to assume that the accuser is lying and not the Christ-follower.

That's where we find ourselves in this hit piece. If it is true, ungodly men in positions in the church where they should not have been (1 Tim 3:2,4; Titus 1:6) did things they should not have done (1 Cor 7:4; Eph 5:25-27; 1 Peter 3:7) all falsely in the name of Christ and His Word. The fault here is not Christ and His Word. The fault is the ungodly men (and women who perpetuated it; I want to be fair here). The principles weren't wrong; the practices were. The Scriptures weren't wrong; the people that failed to practice them were. You can't "love your wives" (Eph 5:25) by abusing them. You can't "live with your wife in an understanding way" (1 Peter 3:7) by ignoring their thoughts and feelings. You can't assert your sexual desires thinking, "My body is my own." (1 Cor 7:6). Church leadership that ignores all this cannot be said to be shepherding the flock (1 Peter 5:2) while remaining "above reproach" (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:6). An elder who covers up this kind of activity for his children cannot be said to have children who "are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery" (Titus 1:6) or who manages "his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive." (1 Tim 3:4). In that text, Paul says, "If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" (1 Tim 3:5). Excellent question!

The article, as I said, described horrible stuff done in the name of church leadership with the protection of church leadership and a protective mantle of "thus saith the Lord." I offer no defense for the behaviors or abuses in that story. I might question the veracity of the accusations and I would certainly want to know what those accused have to say before passing judgment (Prov 18:13). Scripture requires "two or three witnesses" against church leadership and does not allow for "trial by public opinion" (1 Tim 5:19-21), but I'm pretty sure the public and the Christians that follow them will call for public hangings here. The truth is, despite the wisdom and reliability of a report from Vice from people who already hate the church, we don't actually know how much of this story was true. However, we need to avoid perpetuating the error from Vice by assigning those behaviors and abuses to biblical principles and, therefore, throw out God's Word as reliable or authoritative. That is the primary aim of the story. There is no excuse from a biblical perspective for what is described in that article, but we must not make the mistake of assigning that sin to God's account or to His Word. That would be the aim of the father of lies and his followers. We all choose to listen to voices from others. Whose voice will you listen to? The god of this world or the God whose word is truth? If the latter, my prayer is "From His lips to your ears."