Justice and Love

My friend, Norman, has good thoughts about how to handle controversies in the church. It's good to think about these things, because I don't want to sacrifice love in the name of justice, nor justice in the name of love.

I completely agree that mere offense is not enough reason to start an argument. I agree that we all want to speak our minds, and it's dangerous if we are waiting our turn to speak rather than listening to what others have to say. I think criticisms should always be qualified, and always leave room for clarification and reconciliation. And I think these things are easier said than done. It's good for me to have you around to remind me.

I also think that silence has created as many broken homes as careless speech. In every scandal, every time a priest abuses a little boy, every time a pastor engages with impunity in sexual practices he has railed against from the pulpit, every time the cross of Christ has been used as a justification for oppressing women, blacks, or any other group, every time the leaders of the church have quietly led their flocks out of the eyes of society and down the road of a new gospel... there have always been those who saw problems, saw warning signs, and may have even spoken to these leaders about their concerns, but in the end kept their fears to themselves. A murderer walks free for a want of two witnesses willing to speak publicly rather than go to the murderer first.

Now, this previous point is gross hyperbole. Mark Driscoll has not killed anybody, he has not sexually abused children, beaten his wife, ordered a black man to the back of the bus, or throw trash and yelled at men leaving a gay bar. He hasn't done those things. But he has said things that many find very hurtful, and not in keeping with the gospel or Scripture. He didn't just say them to his small group, or even to his own church. He published them in a public forum, inviting public critique, even from other believers.

If Rachel Held Evans sees what he has done publicly as 'bullying,' then she would be doing truth, unity, and the gospel of Christ a disservice if she remained silent, or merely told him 'I think this is bad' and then sat back as she saw it continue. There is always the danger that Ms. Evans' passion will lead to error and lack of love. This is no less true of Pastor Driscoll's passion. Passion is fire, and fire is dangerous. It doesn't mean we should hide it. And it certainly doesn't mean (to borrow the words of another controversial Christian figure) that we should "trade truth for false unity."