When Truth Offends: Kevin H

“You’re hurting the church.”

“You’re too negative.”

“You’re offending your fellow Christians.”

“You’re a self-righteous Pharisee.”

“You’re deceived by and partnering with the woke, the world, and those who hate the church.”

“You’re dragging the name of Christ through the mud.”

I have heard these charges and all the more, over and over throughout the years.  I’m sure they are sometimes true, at least some of them anyway, as I make no claims to be perfect in my overtures and writings, and sometimes can get too stuck in the negative or fall to the temptations of self-righteousness.  Most certainly I know that I offend my fellow Christians.

Yet, I continue to write, and I continue to tackle topics that are not fun and not so well accepted throughout the Christian landscape, especially my home landscape of conservative evangelicalism.  I do so, not only by my own choice and some would say masochism, but also at the encouragement of many seasoned brothers and sisters in Christ, most especially here  by Michael (he may be a masochist, too 🙂 ).  Above all, despite my sometimes protestations, I continue to write at what I believe are the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  To the best that I can discern, I choose to follow what I believe God is leading me to do.

But what about Matthew 18?  But what about grace and forgiveness?  But what about “touching not God’s anointed”?  But what about…..

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” – Ephesians 5:11

“When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord….. For what have I to do with judging outsiders?  Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?  God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.'” – I Corinthians 5:4-5, 12-13

“Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” – Titus 2:15

I do not raise my Bible verses to do battle against the Bible verses brought against me.  Rather, I raise Scripture that is given specifically within the context of the church body, especially when there is continuous and unrepentant sin taking place within the church… Scripture that seemingly contextually fits quite well in the many issues facing the conservative American church today.  You see, when I write, I never write of personal grievances of those who I believe have sinned against me, I never write about sin that is being dealt with biblically within a church setting, and I never write of sin for which there has been repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  Rather I write of sin that has pervaded the church and Christian culture, continues to run rampant within it, many times is covered-up and if not, is then justified if not even celebrated, often is public-facing, and rarely is repented of.

The Old Testament prophets regularly at God’s command called out God’s People for their sins in a public fashion.  The apostles often wrote letters that were to be publicly read, at least within the church body (and ultimately canonized into Scripture for billions and billions of people to read over the course of time), calling out sins taking place in the church.  Jesus multiple times called out His disciples in front of others, with Peter, the one on whom He would build His Church, being perhaps the poster child of call-outs.  Even the Apostle Paul would later get in on the act of calling out Peter in public.

I claim nearly no equivalency of being a prophet or apostle or most certainly Jesus, Himself.  But the example of calling out sin in an open fashion has been set, and if done right and proper (not always an easy proposition), I propose actually brings glory to God.

Therefore, no, when sin within the church is properly called out, it does not “hurt the church”, but rather it gives the opportunity for the church to be cleansed.  Yes, when an individual Christian or church or Christian organization commits sin and remains resistant to repentance, the exposure of such can appear to “drag Christ’s name through the mud”, but the mud dragging is being committed not by the one who calls it out, but by the one who is committing the sin, remaining unrepentant, and sometimes even carrying out the sin under the guise of the name of Christ.  Moreover, no, it is not more important to protect the reputation of the church or the brand or the pastor or the “Christian culture” when they have committed gross and/or ministry-disqualifying sin, sin that has often hurt others who have little or no voice to speak up against the powers that be and/or have been manipulated or intimidated into silence.

What about all those fellow Christians who are offended by the call-outs?  Of course, we should never offend for purposes of our own benefit or getting even or to tear down others or to elevate ourselves.  Yet creating offense, in and of itself, is not a sin.  Just ask Jesus about that when He calls the Pharisees a brood of vipers or when addressing Peter, He says, “Get behind me, Satan!”  It would seem that creating offense can sometimes have holy purposes.

Often times, for every Christian who is offended by sin in their Christian culture being called out (by deduction, they are offended because they participate in said sin and/or an idolized Christian figure of theirs participates in it), there is another Christian who is heartened because they have been personally hurt by such sin and are glad and encouraged to see someone standing against it.  For every Christian who is affronted by corruption in their camp being taken head-on, out in the open, there is a non-believer or someone who is struggling in the faith who has the thought, “Maybe they’re not all hypocrites and maybe Jesus is different than what I have pictured from my many other interactions with Christians”.  For every Christian who is angered by “in-house” topics being brought up, there is another Christian who is disturbed about the same happenings of “in-house” things, but hasn’t found a way to speak out about them, but is encouraged to see someone else speaking up.  I say these things because they have been personally expressed to me, multiple times.  I will gladly offend the Christian who is caught up in hypocritical sin if my words and actions are concurrently encouraging those who have been hurt by the church, or are struggling in the faith, or haven’t yet figured out how to speak up themselves.

I make no claims of perfectly bringing up such issues or always dealing entirely appropriately with them.  I also know that those who most need to hear my messages are the ones who most seemingly just disregard me, if they’re not first arguing with me and digging in even deeper in defense and justification of their ways.  If not for knowing that it brings encouragement to others, I would often be left feeling that my efforts are pointless.

“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. – Proverbs 31:8-9

“learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” – Isaiah 1:17

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” – Ephesians 5:11

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.” – I Corinthians 7:17

To the best that I can discern, I am trying to follow where I believe God is leading me in this aspect of my life.  I do so because I love God and I love His Church, and want better for her.  I invite others to similarly follow as God leads.