I’m learning about some pretty horrific stuff that’s been allegedly going on in the Sovereign Grace Ministries circles. Not that I was unfamiliar with the problems there—SGM Survivors have been blogging since about 2007, and I’ve known about the blogs and occasionally looked at them. But recently the details have been described more graphically, and the case is going to court. With Facebook, especially, the situation has become ever more public.

At the same time, I’m studying Ephesians, in chapter 4 about maintaining unity in the bond of peace.

At the same time I’m researching for Hidden Heroes #6, based in Colombia. Reading about believers who refused to take up arms against those who came against them and joyfully, gladly gave their lives for the cause of Christ. Christians who give all their time, effort, money so that the gospel could go forward, seeing amazing results as lives were truly transformed.

As usual, as I cogitate, and as the Holy Spirit reveals, seemingly unrelated areas of my life tend to intersect.

Suppose a church or ministry says to its people, “Don’t say anything about _____________ [fill in the blank with a scandalous, heinous activity within the church], because if you do, the ministry will suffer. The cause of Christ will suffer. The outside world won’t understand. People will go to hell.” The unspoken message is, “If our lives are a mess, we can’t let anyone know. We’ve got to keep giving the impression that we’re unified in love and cheerful obedience.”

What they don’t say, and what many church people don’t catch, is that they’re demanding unity on the basis of what a man says rather than what Christ had done. They’re maintaining a façade of unity, a veneer of the Christian life, when there’s a rot at the core that desperately needs to be torn out and replaced with a good strong foundation. A foundation like the one the Colombian believers so obviously had.

What’s going on when a young woman finally has enough courage to take her rapist to court, but he happens to be a pastor . . . or a missionary . . . or a ministry leader . . . and in the courtroom not a single Christian is sitting with that young woman—they’re all maintaining their unity by sitting with the accused? Is this the kind of unity David talked about, Jesus talked about, Paul talked about?

What’s going on when some absolutely shockingly heinous accusations are being brought against a ministry that has been able to maintain a good reputation among evangelicals (in spite of a rumbling amongst the bloggers) and almost no one in the larger Christian community calls them to account? Is that considered an admirable unity? I’m not talking about claiming their guilt before a trial. I’m talking about people saying “Abuse is wrong. Horribly wrong. Sovereign Grace needs to be willing to let this case move forward. They need to show the transparency that they demand of others. The leaders cannot be at a different level of accountability.” Where is the outcry? Why the deafening silence among those who have rubbed shoulders with Sovereign Grace leaders? Do they think they’re maintaining unity in the bond of peace? Do they realize that they are the ones hurting the cause of Christ?

They may start an organization called “Together for the Gospel,” emphasizing their unity, but the people who so desperately need this gospel—alleged victims of some of the very men in positions of leadership, are being shunned. Some of them have said, “If this is your Christianity, if this is your Jesus, I’m not interested.”

What kind of unity is this? It’s the difference between being unified around the Savior, an eternal Cause, like the Colombian believers, and being unified around a “Leader,” a cause made by man. The unity that truly together lifts up the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ will show an outpouring of love to the weakest among us (and who is weaker than our children?) rather than keeping silence so that a “ministry” won’t be toppled.

Do we think that the “outside world” can’t tell the difference?

A friend brought to my attention a very legalistic article,  Why Should Christians Attend Church? by Dale Robbins. Each statement  is flawed, and on that friend’s blog I answered each one point by point. Now I’m reposting here.

(1) Is church attendance an expression of our love for God? No. Worship is the expression of our love for God. Many people who “go to church” do it for various wrong reasons rather than to worship. Saying that this activity is an expression of our love for God is making worship into an outward thing rather than a heart thing.

(2) Does church attendance build up spiritual strength? No. Jesus Christ is the sole source of our spiritual strength, rather than any activity that we do. Can I build up my spiritual strength by doing a hundred push-ups a day? Neither can I build it up by driving to a building and walking into a building and sitting in a chair and opening my Bible.

(3) Does church attendance bring a special visitation of the Lord’s presence? No. A special visitation comes with a gathering in the Name of Christ, which is more than just in words. This can happen anywhere with any Christians, and may not happen “at church.” (There are churches that have “Ichabod” written over the doorposts.)

(4) Does church attendance provide fellowship with other Christians? Sometimes, but often not. The very way that most church meetings are designed seem to be trying to eclipse fellowship with other Christians. Come. Sit quietly. Shake hands. Sing. Sit quietly. Shake hands again. Go home and watch the football game.

(5) Is church attendance an act of obedience to God? No, certainly not in and of itself. How desperately the Christian community needs to understand and recognize that outward acts of “obedience” are utterly noxious to God when there is no faith. God calls them “dead works” and commands us to repent of them.

(6) Does church attendance provide accountability to spiritual leadership? No, though church involvement could, if it’s the right kind of church.

(7) Does church attendance combine our spiritual strength in prayer? No. However, corporate prayer could do that. Do we even have any spiritual strength to combine? Are we praying together? Are we REALLY praying together? Are we even praying? Is this accomplished by church attendance?

(8) Does church attendance honor the Lord’s Day? No. There is nothing in the Scripture that even hints at this. But Hebrews 4 tells us that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Sabbath rest.

So why do I want to “attend church”? That term is too passive, and I never use it. What I say is “be connected with a church” or “be part of a church,” because a church is a living, breathing organism, rather than simply a meeting.

Here are some reasons:

1. I want very much to find and connect with other like-minded Christians. Through the church, especially one like ours that fosters relationships, I can meet needy people–those who need mentoring or monetary help or physical assistance–that I can help. I can meet women who can help and encourage me.  The church gathering, especially the hallways and lobbies and cafes and nurseries and aisles and prayer rooms, is an ideal venue for meeting these people.

2. I want my children to learn more who God is. The church we’re a part of has a primary pastor who is very clear in his presentation of the truth of who Jesus Christ is and how the good news of the gospel applies in our everyday lives. It’s important for them to hear it from some other authority figure other than just us.

3. I want to worship God with other believers. True corporate worship really is strengthening to the faith of all of us.

4. I want to pray with other believers. Our church may have a ways to go in developing believers in this department, but they’re making the attempt, and they provide opportunities and places to go to pray two or three together. It’s not unusual at our church to see people clustered here and there spontaneously praying together.

5. If I ever were in a situation that needed church discipline or crisis counseling, I would be in a sad state if I didn’t have a connection with a church that had pastors who took their job of discipling seriously. Though all pastors make mistakes, some of them grave, the pastors of the church we’re in  still try to counsel in love and wisdom and follow the Matthew 18 protocol in their dealing with difficult discipline situations.

In Dale Robbins’ article,  a number of statements revealed an underlying worldview built on a shaky foundation. But I’ll address here only part of one of the statements:

“For believers, there is no substitute for attending church. Besides something that pleases God, it is necessary for a believer’s spiritual well-being.” All three of these concepts are problematic, but I want to address here the phrase that church attendance is “something that pleases God.” The Christian community desperately needs to understand and internalize the crucial fact that without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. It is only those works that spring out of FAITH in Jesus Christ that are pleasing to God.

Can a woman who has a sterile relationship with her husband decide that she’s going to produce a baby to please him? She could produce a lifeless doll (“dead faith, dead works”) and pretend that it’s a baby, and maybe everyone around her will even pretend along with her, because they’re all carrying their own lifeless dolls, but the real baby will be produced from the intimate trusting relationship born of mutual love. The loving husband is pleased in that intimate relationship, and then, ultimately, the husband is pleased in the beautiful fruit, a living, breathing human being, that is born out of that intimate relationship.

Though there is work involved in having a baby (just as there is work involved in the Christian life), a woman cannot produce that fruit of the womb in her own strength: that fruit of her life is a gift of God. The fruit of our lives that is well-pleasing to God is the works that are born out of our faith relationship in Jesus Christ, “Christ in you.” Those works, those living works, are a sweet savor in the nostrils of God, because they are produced from the intimate relationship of mutual love.