The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-8, titled "Questions and Answers--Part 36." A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 2001 by John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.
Question
How do I deal with seemingly Christian people, who love the Lord a lot, who are coming to me, telling me...these are not [just] Charismatic people; [but] these are just people who look in the Word of God and [say] "you" say “works,” “works.” How do we deal [with this]? Because I want to stand up and say, “No way, this man is standing up for the Word of God.” But how do we show compassion to people who are saying that like Pastor Hocking, Pastor MacArthur is a cultist? Do we put them aside?
Answer
Yes, I think that you could approach it several ways, but the right thing to
do is to say to them, “Have you gone to him? Have you spoken with him? Have you
asked him if these, in fact, are the things that he believes? Because if you
have not gone to him to confront him and to find out from him that this is in
fact true, you’re guilty of slandering a servant of the Lord without really
knowing it, whether it’s true.” That’s what I would say. If you don’t have the
honesty and the integrity…well, I would say, “If you had the integrity to go to
him and sit down with him and discern whether these things are true, then maybe
I’d be interested in listening, but, I’m certainly not going to be a bucket for
your rumors,” to land in. And be gracious when you say that!
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and
Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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