Full disclosure – I don’t use my thumbs to text or do other things on my phone. My stubby thumbs are too fat to precisely manipulate even the gigantic key buttons on my old-folks’ virtual keyboard. But I digress…

Reticent to Post This

I’ve been struggling over the last week or so trying to decide whether I really needed to write this post or not. The topic is a little painful and disturbing, and I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. Yet it’s important for my own peace of mind to get it off my chest, so I’ll charge ahead with a preemptive apology to anyone whose feelings may be hurt.

To Begin at the Beginning

Some years ago, right after my wife and I moved back to South Carolina from California, we were part of a home fellowship that included some old friends whom we had known for years, and some new friends whom we have come to know and love. In that fellowship, we occasionally watched videos of sermons preached by now-disgraced megachurch pastor Robert Morris. To be perfectly honest, I was never a big fan of Morris’ preaching. It wasn’t that I found anything particularly erroneous about Morris’ messages, although both my wife and I thought he tended to lean a little toward so-called “Prosperity Preaching” which I personally consider to be both heretical and dangerous.

In all honesty, I’ve never been a big fan of topical preaching in general, nor of the modern megachurch phenomenon, but that’s neither here nor there. The others in the group enjoyed Morris’ messages, and since my wife and I didn’t find anything seriously erroneous or heretical in them, we kept our misgivings to ourselves. In retrospect, I think our discomfort was a warning from God’s Spirit, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

After we moved away from that area up to the Blue Ridge foothills, I never thought very much more about Robert Morris until a few weeks ago when I saw an article on the Ministry Watch website of which I’m am a devoted follower and financial supporter. From that article, I learned that Morris is suing his own (former) church for over $1 million in retirement that he claims he is owed. I also learned for the first time that Morris has been accused by Cindy Clemishire of ongoing sexual impropriety (that’s the most benign way of putting it) that happened over a number of years – starting when she was a 12-year-old girl. Clemishire says the abuse began on Christmas night 1982 while Morris – then an itinerant evangelist – was staying temporarily in the Clemishire home. Since then, the Morris/Clemishire case has been in and out of court and the news. Consequently, Morris has stepped down from his position as head pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas and has been indicted in the state of Oklahoma on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

My Concern

But the details of the Morris/Clemishire case aren’t my major concern. Nor are they the focus of this BriRant (if any). I include them only as background to help those unfamiliar with the situation understand what got me so upset. I was quite struck by the Ministry Watch article, because it had never occurred to me that Robert Morris might be one of those wolves in sheep’s clothing that Jesus warned us about:

In my limited experience, Morris’ preaching seemed benign enough although not really my cup of tea. I am quite disappointed in myself that I never saw the ravening wolf wearing the well-tailored wool suit. I was reminded of Ravi Zacharias whom I had always considered a dead solid Bible teacher and pastor until the truth of his besetting sexual dalliances (yet another sweet tasting euphemism) came to public notice after he died. I never saw the Zacharias or Morris train wrecks coming, and that truly bothered me.

Judge the Sin, not the…

Before I start getting hate mail, Yes. I do know that in our country (at least until recently) a person is considered innocent of the crimes of which he is accused until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (now there’s a nebulous phrase if ever there was one). I am also aware of Jesus’ pointed admonition in His Sermon on the Mount:

This quote is often taken out of its rightful Biblical context to infer that Jesus directed us never to judge the sins of others. But that’s not what Jesus was saying. We absolutely must judge sin, but only the sin, not the person who commits it. In our judgement upon sin, we must also always bear in mind our own sins – the logs in our own eyes as Jesus so colorfully put it. Furthermore, we must always make a clear distinction between repented sin and ongoing willful sin. Ms Clemishire says that since this whole ugly affair came to light, Robert Morris has never really exhibited any real remorse or repentance. At one point in this ugly saga, his legal team even pointed the finger back at Ms Clemishire, claiming that it was she who first initiated the sexual contact. But we must remember that she was only 12 years old at the time (assuming her allegation is true), so even if she did initiate the improper sexual behavior, that does nothing to mitigate Robert Morris’ culpability.

Having said all that though, we must remember that the legal actions are still pending against Robert Morris, so we have an obligation to remain open-minded about the case in the meantime. However as I said, the facts of the case are not my major concern. Rather it is my lack of discernment about the men who presume to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The true victims of such crimes are the unbelievers who (at their own peril) take the egregious actions of Gospel preachers as proof that the Gospel itself is untrue. That’s the real tragedy of the whole sordid affair.

Let the Games Begin

I had always assumed that God’s Spirit dwelling within me would give me His discernment on such matters. Of course a number of deeply concerning questions immediately arose in my mind:

• What other “wolves in sheep’s clothing” are lurking around me and my loved ones whom I have never discerned?
• Does the fact that I don’t have this spiritual discernment imply that I don’t really have God’s Spirit dwelling within me?
• Given that we can’t detect the wolves based on their words or even on their public activities, how can we discern them?
• Because I obviously lack the needed discernment, should I therefore assume that all Gospel preachers are such wolves until they conclusively prove otherwise?

I decided to seek out the help of some men whose spiritual discernment, personal integrity, Christian ministries, and Biblical acumen I admire and respect. I shared these questions and my deep concern over my lack of discernment with these men in a group text. I also included in the group my wife to whom I have a sacred duty as the spiritual shepherd of our family along with some others from that small group fellowship where we watched some of Robert Morris’ messages. I thought it was important to share what I had learned from the Ministry Watch article with folks who might not have been aware of what was going on with Robert Morris.

The group text conversation started out civilly enough. One of my friends pointed out that we can’t really judge the fruit of a Gospel preacher’s ministry based on their preaching alone. Of course this is quite true. He also correctly pointed out that very likely there were other “red flags” in Robert Morris’ ministry over the years that could have served as warnings about him. That too was certainly true.

But then another of my friends accused us all of unfairness toward Robert Morris while disregarding our own inherent and sometimes willful sinfulness. He paraphrased Jesus’ own chastisement of the Jewish leaders who brought to Him a woman who had been caught in the very act of adultery and asked Jesus what He was going to do about it. They knew very well that under the Law of Moses, the woman was to be stoned to death for the crime of adultery. Jesus famously responded, “…Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” – John 8:7b (ESV)

I personally believe that this story from John 8 is also misused in much the same way as Matthew 7:1-5 to imply that we are never to judge sin. I believe we are clearly required to confront sin within our midst. Jesus Himself gave specific directions on how we are to carry out so-called “church discipline” in Matthew 18:15-17. Furthermore, the entire first section of 1 Corinthians is devoted to how the Church is to combat sin in our midst.

Nevertheless, we must always remember that the purpose of such confrontations must always be restoration, not condemnation. After all, each and every one of us has a log in his own eye. Shunning and expulsion from communion with the saints must always be the last resort in response to ongoing willful sin. Even then, once the sin has been repented, the repentant sinner should always be welcomed back into fellowship. We find the classic Biblical example of this in 2 Corinthians as Paul wrote again regarding the very same man whom he had directed the church to cast out of fellowship.

Once again though, we must always remember that restoration hinges on repentance – something I personally believe Robert Morris has not yet done. In this respect Morris is a cautionary tale for all of us. I’m reminded of the words of John.

Going Off the Rails

I was quite flabbergasted by the direction the conversation took next. Instead of offering me some encouragement and advice in response to my plea for help with my concern over my lack of spiritual discernment, some of my friends began turning against each other. When I noticed the mood of the conversation changing, I reminded everyone that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. If we can’t conform to Paul’s appeal in 1 Corinthians 1:10 to “…be united in the same mind and the same judgment,” then we must at least obey Jesus’ command (John 13:34-35) to love one another as He first loved us so that all who hear (or read) our words or witness our actions will know that we are His disciples.

A couple of days went by with no further responses, and I assumed the conversation had petered out. Then one of my friends first blasted out that Morris had been abusing young Ms Clemishire for years, and then followed that with, “You are an idiot.” THAT RIPPED IT FOR ME. I have no idea what prompted these unwarranted and ungracious words, but I’d had enough. I deleted the conversation on my own device, and encouraged the others to do the same. I really don’t know what happened. Perhaps there had been a sidebar conversation to which I hadn’t been privy. Maybe the comment was directed toward me. I don’t know, and I frankly don’t care. I certainly felt like an idiot for having started the conversation in the first place. But I was fed up to my eyes with it, so I pulled the plug.

Disheartened & Disappointed

When I started the group conversation with my heartfelt concern about my personal lack of discernment regarding the wolves in sheep’s clothing in positions of power within fellowships all around us, I was hoping for some pastoral succor and advice from brothers in Christ whom I love and trust. It pains me to have to say this. With one exception, they all dropped the ball – either through silence or through casting aspersions upon brothers in Christ. Not tryin’ to say nuthin.’ Just sayin.’ I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t make the purpose of the conversation and the depth of my need for help clear enough up front.

So What’s the Point?

One of the things that God tells us He hates in Proverbs 6:19 is “…one who sows discord among brothers.” Our words have consequences just as our actions do. Whether we utter them aloud either in public or in private, or we let our thumbs blast them out over the Interwebs, once they are out in the wild we can never recapture them. Let us therefore learn to guard both our tongues and our thumbs, considering carefully the effects our words might have before we unleash them.

Our great enemy knows very well that division within the brotherhood of Christ is a powerful tool to inhibit the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. He is especially keen to use our own sinful pride to sow the seeds of dissension and render our Gospel witness moot as the time of Jesus’ return draws closer. I’m reminded of the famous quote most often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” That sentiment has never been truer as we draw daily closer and closer to the end of the age.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am certainly not saying that we should turn a blind eye or remain silent in the presence of willful ongoing sin. God forbid. Jesus Himself clearly calls us to stand up against unrighteousness wherever we find it – in ourselves and in others. But He also showed us by His own example that we must offer grace, mercy, and forgiveness to those who repent of their sins – particularly our brothers and sisters within the household of God.

All of us from Robert Morris to Ravi Zacharias to you and I have feet of clay. Paul tells us:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

A dear friend of mine puts that a little more pithily – “We’re all cracked pots.”

I’m reminded of the admonishment we find in Hebrews 12:1, “…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” To do that, we must surely be united and committed to support and encourage one another if we are to have any hope whatsoever of hearing those words we all long to hear one day from our Savior, “…‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’“