The following "Question" was asked by an attendee at the 2005 Shepherds' Conference (a ministry of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California), and was "Answered" by John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from "General Session #4 John MacArthur - Q&A." A copy of the CD, cassette tape, or MP3 can be obtained by going to: www.shepherdsconference.org ©2005. All Rights Reserved. Grace Community Church.
Questioner
I’m a native son of Michigan, moved out here to California. When I was back in Michigan in the ministry, before I left to come out here, I had an older gentleman in a small church grab my arm and say, “Dwayne, don’t you ever lose your fire, no matter where you are and where you minister.” Then I moved to southern California and, since being here, in the context of that then, there’s been a lot of pushing on me because of things, like saying, “You’re angry when you preach,” or “You’re naming names”; there’s been a lot of pressure to not do that in the context where I’m ministering. In the last few years, I feel like I’ve grown and, you know, got some of that youthful zeal or whatever, taken away or matured. And then I sat here yesterday morning and felt very good because somebody, who obviously was not youthful zeal was doing these things that my heart felt so good to hear and had felt good saying, and yet I know just two or three weeks ago, I was preaching and referring to The Purpose-Driven Life, but indirectly—purposefully indirectly—not naming names, and I also went to the I Corinthians passage of, you know, “Wood, hay, stubble… and “ It will be before God and let God measure people’s ministries. I don’t want to judge their motives, but let me tell you the truth…” With this weekend, I’ve been very encouraged, but now I’m at a struggle. What seemed to be spiritual growth or seemed to be maturing in me or whatever, and now I just still feel that challenge to share. How do you balance that? How do you balance this need to not judge people’s motives, and yet the need to keep the church safe from doctrinal error?
John MacArthur's Answer
Yes, you know, you can never judge people’s
motives—never. I mean, that’s a basic principle. You just don’t know their
heart. I wouldn’t do that. I don’t question, I don’t assign to people evil
motive, evil intent—I can’t do that. But, I am commanded to, not “despise”
preaching, but to “examine” everything carefully and hold fast to what is good
and let go of what is evil. And I will tell you this, it’s just a basic
principle and it’s been that way for a long, long time: if you publicly advocate
something (I’m not going to betray a private conversation, I’m not going to
betray a phone call or something that was said in private), but if you become an
advocate for something that is inconsistent with Scripture, then those of us
who understand that that is inconsistent with Scripture are required to rise up
and to protect people from that error. It’s a question of, if you’re going
to play fast-and-loose with Scripture and twist and tangle and untangle and turn
and use 15 different translations to say whatever you want to say, and wiggle
your way around to make your point, and tie some verse to it, and it’s an unfair
treatment of Scripture—it would be one thing if nobody knew you were doing that,
but if 30 million people know you’re doing that and people are asking you
questions constantly, then… Look, if I write a book and something in that book
is not right biblically, please answer me and tell me the truth and take that
book down with a biblical argument. It’s fair game. I’m not trying to protect
myself. Look, it’s about the truth for me. It’s just about the truth. It’s
not personal; it never has been and never will be.
I do think, just in answer to your question—and I’ll stop with this—don’t be argumentative. You know, Paul says, “The servant of the Lord must not strive.” Don’t make trouble, don’t be argumentative, don’t be hostile, don’t be angry, don’t be ugly. Be sweet and gracious and… It’s really important, as a young man, that you show love and compassion and tenderness and sweetness in all the relationships, personally, and, even when you speak about these issues, you speak with a certain amount of restraint and you don’t attack the person and you don’t attack the motives; you just deal with the issue.
And don’t ever deal with private issues, don’t ever deal with personal conversations, but when somebody says, “This is the truth,” and spreads it from one end of the evangelical church to the other, and I’m convinced that this is not right, this is not helpful, do I have a responsibility? Of course I have a responsibility. When a lady comes into my church, that’s 65 years old, and comes up and says, “Pastor, I read this book—something’s wrong with this. Pastor, what’s wrong with this book? It’s not right,” what’s my responsibility? Just because you say it, doesn’t mean we all roll over. It doesn’t mean we all bow down. Just because everybody thinks you’re right, doesn’t mean we bow down. Everything has to be taken to that Berean test, doesn’t it? Everything! Take me there! Any time.
It’s all about the truth, and when you get something this pervasive—I mean it’s really pervasive—there’s no question it’s going to come up. And what am I going to say? “Well, I don’t want to say anything”? I do want to say something! It’s not right! It’s not accurate! It’s not true! Not everything is wrong—it’s not all bad—and its intentions may be good, but it’s not an accurate handling of Scripture, it’s not an adequate presentation of the gospel, it’s not a true representation of what God wants: He wants His will, His glory, His purpose, not yours. I’m not going to be intimidated—I’ll put it that way—by people who think all of a sudden I’ve stepped over some evangelical “foul line.” But, at the same time, over the years—it’s interesting, you know, I live in two worlds. In my church, week in and week out, week in and week out, people don’t think I’m controversial. They don’t, because we’re not fighting that battle in Grace Church. I just come, pray, preach, love the people, lead the people, nurture the people, teach the people… But, beyond this church, there are issues that threaten the body of Christ and, for some reason, the Lord has given me the opportunity to address those issues. This isn’t something you choose to do because it’s really fun to do this and be engaged in this. Even my wife says, “You know, why don’t you write a book that everybody likes.” My standard answer is: not everybody even likes this book, you know, and this is the Word of God! I mean, how could I…
So, anyway, you get the picture. But, be sweet, be gracious, be humble, be moderate, be kind. It’s more important now—and part of the problem you see is, until you’ve taught your people long enough that they have the criteria to make discriminating judgments, until you’ve taught them long enough to be discerning, they’re going to think you’re picking on people, because they don’t comprehend the issues. So, don’t worry about fighting the war outside your church. Don’t worry about, you know, attacking something somewhere else. You stay, you focus, you nurture your people, and eventually they’re going to understand the truth. I don’t even fight those battles here. I’ve said more in these few minutes to you about this issue of “The Purpose” thing, than I’ve said totally to my whole church. It’s not a part of our life. They know how to discern these issues. So, that’s where you focus your life and, if God gives you a broader platform, then you have to decide, you know, how you’re going to address that.
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