When It Is No Longer Grace to You
When Twitter took off this past weekend and was trending #GoHome and tagging both John MacArthur and Beth Moore, I desired playful optimism that this was a tragic-comedy where they died together and spent a reconciling 90 minutes in heaven before coming back to earth to tweet about it. in actuality, I suspected this was a spectacle of pain and misery of him against her. I was worried this would be one more stain of uncivil speech by Christians given over to the world-wide-interweb.
I admit that I was also hoping this was some Twitter-user drudging up old things MacArthur had said or an old video of a debate between the two of them. It wasn’t; it was a current video less than 12 hours old baiting MacArthur to say something outlandish about a sister-in-Christ. What is worse is that this was an event supposedly celebrating 50 years of MacArthur’s ministry as a preacher of the reconciling message of Jesus Christ. MacArthur is the man who led the radio program, Grace to You. And on the 50th anniversary of his preaching, he bypasses speech of grace and instead invites judgment against fellow believers.
YouTube replayed the entire scenario for us. From the hosts invitation to the “lets-say-two-words-game” to MacArthur’s responses, the entire environment was toxic. “Go Home” were merely two words amidst a theatre of tragedy. There was laughter and cajoling during the set-up; pastors flippantly responding to the challenge; and boyish giggling from beginning to end. And all of this from an expository preaching community; I wondered where is “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things"?
I ended the viewing. I was furious, sad, dismayed, and outraged - all at the same time. I wasn’t surprised by the anti-female preacher thing. This shouldn’t surprise us coming from MacArthur; on this, he has been consistent. Yet amidst the lack of surprise, the outpouring of praise for Beth Moore is good and right. The encouraging words offered by men and women for the ministry of female preachers over the past days - men and women who have searched the Scriptures and found significant narratives of women preaching, prophesying, teaching, and leading - are necessary and beautiful and not in vain.
AND...
There is a deeper problem for evangelicals in this video. The spirit of the gathering and the content of the discussion are reprehensible. This is the worst of us. It twists sideways and cuts deep. Whether egalitarian or complimentarian, the tone and talk of the event is distasteful. If ever there was an egalitarian Christian event that spoke of men this way, the male response would proclaim, “They have the spirit of Jezebaal.”
The SBC event called upon its own demons when it started the set up for MacArthur. It was a game to play. The host begins, “I will say a word and the the three of you need to give me a one-word or pithy response.” MacArthur rightly responds, “I feel like I am being set-up.” He was right, yet instead of sensing the spirit and running away, he joined in. Another panelist replied, “Yes, that is always the case with Todd. He will always try to embarrass you.” Again, John could have put a stop to the spectacle, yet he remained. As the set-up continues, (nervous) laughter insues signaling the coming of a punch-line. The joke was simply, “Beth Moore” and the punch-line was “Go Home.” MacArthur couldn't stop with two words; he continued “There is no case that can be made biblically for a woman preacher.” Others continued and called Beth Moore a narcissist and a jewelry hawk. The sinister set up, juvenile snickers, and demeaning name-calling are unbecoming of Christian leaders.
What pains me in this bashing of a woman preacher is that it violates the code of ethics for complimentarians. I teach at a seminary, and some of our students are complimentarians*; they hold this beliefs with respect and humility. Indeed, complimentarians have long held that their position is grounded in Scripture yet sustained by a deep respect for women amidst a humility in assigning particular gender roles. This video fails the primary tests of the substance for the position, namely respect and male humility. One public event undoes dignity and demonstrates a hypocrisy that is not quickly forgotten. This video-testimony not only hurts women who preach but it also hurts those men (and women) seeking to hold complimentarian views with humility.
I worry about moral capacity in our cultural moment - a moment defined by a president known for crass-speech; a #MeToo movement that still holds decades of secrets; a disregard for decorum; and an increasing rage raised by crowds.
I grieve the entire scene at the SBC event. I grieve that getting a laugh from a crowd came at the expense of Beth Moore’s dignity and occurred during a celebration of one man’s lifelong ministry. I grieve that the crowd laughed and encouraged the host and the panelists in a game of disdain. I grieve that no one man stood up and said, “enough.”
Is wickedness becoming virtue? In an age of partisan and ideological division; is sneering character? I grieve that sneering-self-justification is finding residence in our sacred places: our homes, our sanctuaries, not to mention our workspaces and our public conversations. This is the insidiousness of the banality of evil that lurks quietly within a mob or a man, and quite possibly within all of us. What will it take for a mere voice in the crowd or a speaker on the stage to reject the set-up and moment of embarassment and choose whatever is honorable and true rather than whatever is humorous and snide?
Beth Moore’s response is Christo-centric, centered, and wise:
“I did not surrender to a calling of a man when i was 18 years old. I surrendered to a calling of God. It never occurs to me for a second not to fulfill it. I will follow Jesus-and Jesus alone - all the way home. And I will see His beautiful face and proclaim, ‘Worthy is the Lamb.‘ here’s the beautiful thing about it, and i mean this with absolute respect. You don’t have to let me serve you. That gets to be your choice. Whether or not I serve Jesus is not up to you. Whether i serve you certainly is. One way or the other, I esteem you as my sibling in Christ.”
The good news is that Steadfast Love has not yet left the world.
Psalm 36
Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
before their eyes.
For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
They plot mischief while on their beds;
they are set on a way that is not good;
they do not reject evil.
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgements are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
*Complimentarians are Christians who believe women and men hold differing roles in church and society and believe preaching and teaching the Word of God is for men, alone.
Given my total ignorance of this video or who John MacArthur is (I have an inkling about Beth Moore) says something about me and my Twitter community compared to yours (it never showed up in my TL, or I never saw it, even if it was there). It also says how removed I've become from the larger evangelical community, at least as it is represented on Twitter or other places on social media. I've abandoned Facebook entirely, given my concerns about privacy and the company's continued failings. Much of this community now seems like a foreign and evil country to me. All the same, it is good to hear from you, and hear your words of grace. Thank you, my friend.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tim, for taking the time to comment. I have similar feelings these days about social media and wonder the best way forward. Peace to you, Kyle
DeleteVery nicely put. It is always frustrating to hear when brothers and sisters in Christ go after one another. Furthermore, after spending a whole semester researching this topic only to realize that thinking like Mac Arthur's is both wrong and manipulative, only furthers that frustration. Thank you for your words and may pray for both MacArthur and Moore in this time when the enemy seems so set to split the body of Christ again.
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