Did You Contribute to the Sin of Dr. Steven Lawson?

The Church is grieving. Many, many of us who have been beneficiaries of Dr. Lawson’s preaching and teaching are still reeling from the latest news of his moral failure. Many, many have commented appropriately to this shockwave. Many, many have rightly reminded us to “take heed to self, lest we too fall.”   I said to a dear friend, we are all within a half an inch of such shipwreck.

A question that needs to be considered in this is: “Have I contributed to this sin?”  

Before I write the next several sentences many of you readers will already begin, “Ya but.”  I caution you not to do that. If you at once launch into your rebuttal, you will not take seriously this question. Wrestle with this personally, please. “Have you contributed to this sin?”  This is not to minimize or evade the responsibility that Dr. Lawson is and must be held to. My contention is that many of us must recognize our contribution to this sin of Lawson’s and others in a comparable way.

Dr. Lawson has been part of a cadre of Evangelical (often Reformed minded) men and women who spend a gargantuan amount of time and energy on the Conference tours. If not there, they are producing books and study material at a supernatural rate. The Christian books stores and media outlets are replete with video and digital bible studies and courses. The ground supporting my question is this: Local churches have often made the conference, teaching ministries of such men and women indispensable to their ministry.

To be honest, I have contributed to the sin of Dr. Lawson. As a retired pastor I look back on many, many solutions to the local church teaching ministry satisfied by “parachuting” a big-name speaker in, via video, to teach my Sunday School class, Bible Study, or other ministry need. In fact, I know local churches that have become total dependent on the ability to import video teaching from these celebrated teachers.

We have committed two evils. We have demoted the necessity of the local church to develop teachers and preachers from within (Thus devaluing the doctrine of ecclesiology); and we have exalted the celebrity speakers to an unattainable pedestal.

Why must the local church default to importing celebrity teachers to meet the needs of the Sunday School class, Bible study or such like? Why must the local church default to importing the books, these people write, to meet the need of the moment? Why are men and women not being trained to open God’s Word before other believers and teach them the Bible? Why are men and women that have served Christ for many years incapable of following a simple pattern of hermeneutics and prayerfully teach their peers? Why are men and women being conditioned to demote the faithful preaching of their pastor (and elders, presumably) and relish in the conference ministry, the radio, TV ministries, the books and video series of these illuminaries?

A short story. My father was a Sabbatarian. As a young man he helped a fledgling church near the city of Glasgow, Scotland. He had two routes to go to church. One was lengthy and he would ride his bicycle. One was short but needed a ferry ride. One Sunday morning while crossing the ferry he was constrained to witness to the driver. He chose to start the conversation with, “Do you go to church?”  The ferryman answered, “How can I with the likes of you who keep me on this ferry.”  Now remember: No ya buts. My father’s conscience was pricked, and he never took the ferry again on the Lord’s Day. My father, to his credit, was able to see how his choices had aggravated the ferry man’s situation. Can you?

Why are there hundreds of conferences, books, video lessons and the like? Answer: because you and I demand them. It is the law of supply and demand. We have created celebrity pastors and teachers. One astute commentator wrote, “Every pastor should be at home at night with his wife.”  (Remember. No ya but.)  I have lived through T4G attended by thousands, TGCW attended recently by 9,000 women, Shepherds conference, Desiring God, Ligonier etc. etc.  I have also lived through the moral shipwreck and indiscretion of several of the speakers at such events.

What if Churches just said, enough! No more conferences. No more video lessons. No more book studies. No more! As of today, the people of God will look to their own pastors and elders for biblical preaching. As for today the people of God will encourage one another through the carefully handled Word of God, cutting it straight. As of today Sunday School (adult in mind) will see groups of disciples gathered reverently around their Bibles with paper, pen, and hearts open to receive God’s Word.

I have contributed to the sin of Dr. Lawson. Have you?

The local Church needs to embrace a robust Doctrine of Ecclesiology that makes much of the grace found in the preaching/teaching ministries of His “local” people. We have forsaken the primary and Biblical call upon the local Church and become reliant on the celebrity speaker to feed our people. It is not a burden these men and women ought to bear. We need to stop demanding it of them.

If you have considered this carefully and personally, now give me your “ya buts.”