In an era of cheap-shot mischaracterizations, broad-brush generalizations, and sound-bite misrepresentations, I think one of the most difficult but vital responsibilities of Christians is to approach every issue with thoughtful discernment.
The temptation to play the world's game of "shoot first, ask questions later" is real, particularly for those of us who by nature have a combative spirit and a quick tongue. But alas, haughtiness isn't a spiritual gift, no matter how much the world seems to be begging for it.
Don't misunderstand, I don't think sarcasm entered the world as a result of the fall. From the moment Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, withering scorn has been used effectively by God's people to illustrate in powerful and persuasive ways the absurdity of living life in rebellion to truth. Maybe that's why I like what we do at Not the Bee so much.
One of my favorite Americans, escaped slave-turned-abolitionist Frederick Douglass, understood this truth.
"At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed," he once expressed. "O! Had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would, today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder."
Surely our era, where an evil even greater than slavery stalks the land in the name of choice, where man's rebellion to God has led him to pretend males are females, and the chemical castration of children is regarded by some as an act of compassion… surely such an era demands the same ridicule, reproach, and rebuke that Douglass mentions.
But to be effective, our renunciation of evil must not be tribal or selective. Nothing undoes the credibility of a Christian appealing to the eternal existence of moral absolutes more than our perceived willingness to downplay the sins of one whose depraved conduct embarrasses us.
That's why it was so important for Christians far and wide to make abundantly clear that we were more appalled by the revelations regarding Ravi Zacharias's sexual misconduct than anyone else.
It's why high-profile ministers like John MacArthur deserved immense credit rather than scorn when he called out the rampant misogyny of megachurch preacher Mark Driscoll long before everyone else came around to condemning it.
It's why the same-sex pedophilia scandal in the Catholic church, as well as similar epidemics within evangelicalism, should be held up to the piercing and penetrating light of Christ's gospel of truth rather than concealed in an effort to "protect the brand."
Was the #ChurchToo hashtag movement, coming on the heels of #MeToo a few years ago, an effort seized by non-believers to discredit the church as a whole? There's no question in my mind. But any damage it did to the witness of the Church ultimately pales in comparison to the harm perpetuated by keeping the presence of sexual sin within the body of Christ concealed.
And now, even as worldly voices are lining up to use the most recent shocking revelations of sexual abuse occurring in U.S. churches as some kind of indictment of the entire faith, or as a battering ram against the legitimacy of the Christian sexual ethic, Christ followers must do the hard work to confront the crime, speak the truth, and offer personal grace to everyone involved.
Jeff Bedwell, a campus minister from the sprawling Southern Baptist megachurch in Chets Creek, Florida, was recently arrested for the unthinkable crime of grooming and sexually molesting a young girl from his congregation. The offense began when she was only 12 and lasted for five horrific years.
Meanwhile, Brian Pounds, the lead minister of First Assembly of God in Vernon, Texas, has been arrested and charged with drugging and raping a 15-year-old girl he was allegedly counseling at the church. The details on the case are the very definition of vile and depraved.
While the truth of Christianity ultimately hinges on the singular question of whether Jesus of Nazareth was who He said He was, we are fools if we fail to acknowledge the damage such crimes committed by nominal Christ followers can inflict on our mission to make disciples of all men.
How must we respond? By loving mercy, doing justice, and walking humbly with God in all circumstances, even horrific ones such as these. It is that response alone – a response that acknowledges and admits human failure while pointing to its only cure – that will stand out to the world. Burk Parsons' recent tweet comes to mind:
The truth of Christianity is always bigger than the sinful and corrupt vessels that profess it with their lips. May these innocent sheep, victimized by wolves masquerading as ministers, find that truth and the eternal care of the Great Shepherd.
