As to the Last Post...

So I just deleted my last post; if you didn't read it, it was about the exorbitant amounts of money a number of Christian leaders make and a call to live humbly and not bring disgrace to the name of Christ.

Upon reflection, I felt it was unconstructive and, quite frankly, sinful. It was accurate, the figures were true, and I do think that there is a great deal of foolishness in the way a lot of Christians leaders handle finances and how much they pay themselves. However, I still feel that it wasn't wise to post.

I'm reminded of one of Edwards' resolutions:

"Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good."

Its all too easy for me to use people as "examples" when addressing issues as a clever guise for gossip and slander. This is, quite frankly, what the "Christian blogosphere" typically thrives on, and while I think it's a terrible trend and seek never to speak in a slanderous way, I often fail. I feel like my last post was a prime example of this.

The key to the issue is the "real good" which Edwards mentions here; or as Paul says in Ephesians, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." It is easy for us to use the guise of "defending the faith" to cover what is really defamation of brothers and sisters in Christ.

Scripture gives us the way to handle sin: a brother sins against us, we go to him, and if he is unrepentant we deal with it in the context of the body of believers. "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness." There are two key things which stand out to me in these scriptural principles of dealing with sin which are often absent in my and others' attitudes. The first is that these matters are to be dealt with within the body. 1 Corinthians 6 clearly teaches that to air our grievances in the public sphere, rather than in the church, is sin. Indeed, Paul goes so far as to say that we should "rather be defrauded" than to cast disputes within the body before unbelievers for judgment.

The second principle is that the place for correcting sin is in the context of relationship with that person. I don't know Billy Graham or R.C. Sproul, or for that matter Peter Popoff. Thus, in it is not my place at all to expose areas in which I believe they are sinning. There is no good word in scripture for such relationless "correction": it would most likely fall somewhere between divisiveness and gossip. The honest fact is that most bloggers, including at times myself, use our anonymity and percieved position of "responsibility to the truth" to be little more than "idle busybodies".

I don't question that there are ignorant, well-meaning believers out there giving money to charities which will put it to poor use. However, it is a better thing for us to be taken advantage of and have our rights violated than to cause the name of Christ to suffer reproach. I'm not saying that there's no place for making public such issues, but I am saying that it should be done only after long, hard prayer, honest efforts to correct the brothers involved in love, and with a spirit which is grieved and truly humble rather than one which is angry and vindictive. Let us be lovers of peace, not of senseless controversies. Let us keep no record of wrongs. Let us trust the Lord to bring justice, and seek first and above all to honor Christ by loving His body.

I apologize for the tone of my last post. Part of it was honest grief at the state of the body, but I know part of it was an act of pride and sin. Thanks be to Jesus, who forgives all, and before whom all stand as equally unworthy of the rich grace he lavishes upon us. May we emulate his humility, take up our crosses, and die to our need to be right. Amen.