Christian Eye for the Pantywaist Guy

 by Ben-Peter Terpstra  

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Does loving your brothers and sisters mean allowing them to live in a “critical free” environment?

The Bible teaches us to love. That’s a good thing; love is all. But does loving your brothers and sisters mean allowing them to live in a “critical free” environment? I mean, Christians should be selling “tough love” values, as opposed to yoga mats, right?

Once upon a time, a Christian leader informed me that I was “tearing the Body of Christ apart” because I had confronted his pastor, king. This was a most serious charge. There were wild accusations, tears, full-body hugs and even prophetic sing-songs, I’m told. 

Apparently, I’m really good at “tearing the Body of Christ apart” when I’m not working with the Jews to sell poisonous bananas, but there’s a very serious side to all of this. Question: How do liberal Christians handle criticism? Answer: Not very well, actually.

“The major blind spot of megachurches,” according to Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Fellowship, Seattle, “is that they tend to be very effeminate with aesthetics, music, and preaching perfectly tailored for moms.” Is it time to explore the root causes?

Driscoll adds:

Manly men are repelled by this, and many of the men who find it appealing are the types to sing prom songs to Jesus and learn about their feelings while sitting in a seafoam green chair drinking herbal tea — the spiritual equivalent of Richard Simmons. A friend of mine calls them ‘evangellyfish’ with no spiritual vertebrae.¹

I also wonder: Is one of these roots the great, polytheistic religion of Oprahwinfreyism? As is well known, there are some sweet-talkers in Christendom. Where are all the honest men?

I disagree with some of Driscoll’s ministry stratagems, but I also think that he deserves credit. Yes, the pastor has made some gawky miscalculations, but, for the most part, his argument makes sense. So, in the spirit of political incorrectness, here are four ways (borrowed from wise heads) for handling conflict:

On Coarse Language: “Nice people don’t call others a brood of vipers fit for hell (Matthew 3:7, 23:33) and ‘whitewashed tombs’ (23:27),” states Paul Coughlin in No More Christian Nice Guy. Or do they?  Coughlin’s point is clear. If Jesus and his followers used coarse langage, then perhaps we should too.

On Judging: I’m tired of the Christian Left waving their “Do not judge” banners, and then judging people for judging. For the millionth time, Jesus didn’t tell his followers not to judge. He told them not to judge hypocritically!

Asserts Mary Alice Chrnalogar, a cult education expert, in Twisting Scriptures: “This is just another word game to make you think that judging what is wrong with leaders is, in itself, wrong.” She adds: "You will notice that when you judge these people in a positive light, you will never hear them shout, 'Judge not!'" 

On Cultural Relativism: In a nutshell, "Liberal Christians," explains Mark Driscoll in Radical Reformission, "are happy to speak of institutional sin but are reticent to speak of personal sin because they will find themselves at odds with the sinners in the culture."

I mean, we can’t judge, say, Debbie Democrat for having a partial-birth abortion because she gets stroppy. Besides, bodies are recyclable. We, can, however, blame the Catholics for Mohammed Atta’s hatred of towers because of Pope Urban the II’s call for a defensive crusade at the Council of Claremont, in 1095.

On Responding: Confronting people isn’t a game. In Judging: When? Why? How?, Derek Prince reminds readers that: “Once just judgment has been decided on, however, then it must be followed up by appropriate action.”

“It frustrates me that Christians are so often passing judgment on other Christians,” states Prince, “but, after that, they do nothing about it.”

Back in 2006, for example, I felt angry with Rick Warren’s pro-appeasement positions. The megachurch pastor, after all, invited a pro-partial birth abortion leader to his church to pontificate about AIDS, which may go some way to explaining why TIME magazine’s staff are sucking up to him now.

But rather than sit back and yell at my TV-screen, I decided to do something, and challenged Rick Warren to a dance off.

In closing, life is messy, and some churches are really messed up. I am not saying that Christians must turn their churches into boxing rings. What I am saying is this: Selling out is not an option.

In looking at what occurred during Christ’s life, we can gain many insights into why we have all fallen short of our maker’s plan. Yes, liberals are right to point out that we’re imperfect beings, but that’s more of a reason to strive for perfection, isn’t it?

When I raise these issues, however, I know there are some people sitting on their backsides thinking, “Oh, my wordy word, why must an Australian judge me?” 

“Don’t worry,” I reply. “It isn’t my job to throw unrepentant sinners into hell. God will do that.” Then, I end up chuckling.

Endnotes

1. “Men Are From Mars,” (An Interview by Jason Bailey), Christianity Today, June 10, 2006.

Culture: Religion

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