"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." - 1 Corinthians 10:12,
I was away for a couple of days and during that time we had the disappointing news that Pastor Steve Lawson, known for firebrand preaching on sin, was removed as pastor from Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, due to an inappropriate relationship with a woman. I was not gong to comment but that would not be balanced after the recent Bickle and Morris scandals, although those were obviously abusive and involved children. Realize of course that we do not have any details about this relationship including whether it was a congregant, which would be abusive by nature. This also does not speak to the Calvinism errors that Lawson passionately preached. The focus today for me was the statement from Trinity Bible Church of Dallas. So, let's quickly break down, what a good statement looks like when a pastor fails.
"The elders at Trinity Bible Church of
Dallas regretfully announce that effective immediately, Steven J. Lawson has
been removed indefinitely from all ministry activities at Trinity Bible Church
of Dallas. Several days ago, the elders at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas were
informed by Steve Lawson of an inappropriate relationship that he has had with
a woman. The elders have met with Steve and will continue to come alongside him
and pray for him with the ultimate goal of his personal repentance. Steve will
no longer be compensated by Trinity Bible Church of Dallas." - Trinity Bible
Church of Dallas
The
obvious needs to be pointed out here. The church correctly will come alongside
to restore Lawson's WALK, or personal repentance. There is not a whiff of
restoring Lawson to his role of minister, I can only assume because he has now
disqualified himself from such. This is a core difference between what
Charismania does. When Ted Haggard fell for having a 20-year relationship with
a homosexual prostitute while doing crystal meth, the first reaction was to
lie. When the receipts were revealed, we got the Jimmy Swaggart "I have sinned"
nonsense. He then would go on to pastor another church in the same state for
another decade before being accused of abusing boys in that church and doing drugs.
In Seattle, Mark Driscoll was going to be removed for abusing staff and of course
also stole 200K of tithes monies to hire a marketing company to cheat the New
York Times Best Seller List. After running away in the middle of the night to
avoid discipline from his own board, he would go on to pastor a new church in Arizona.
When Bickle's scandal broke everyone was quick to defend him and smear the
victims. Even after the minors were revealed to have been abused, Steven Strang
still was calling for Bickle's ministerial restoration. If it were not for the
reporting of Julie Roys, the board of Gateway might have accepted the "inappropriate
relationship with a young lady" bovine excrement from Robert Morris. Dr.
Michael Brown still calls Ravi Zacharias a great "holiness preacher." Brian Houston
is trying to start a new online church after two inappropriate interactions
with women and driving blackout drunk. Carl Lentz is back as a church
consultant after multiple affairs including one with the babysitter of his kids
in his wife's bed. Compare these to the statement from Trinity Bible Church of
Dallas. Lawson was removed indefinitely, they will work to help him restore his
walk, and there is no more compensation. All, are wholly appropriate and
biblical. We still do not know what kind of severance the Charismaniacs
received, by the way.
'In light of this, may we be reminded that we are ALL sinners, and Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners - and Christ remains Head of His Church, which is bigger than any fallen man. In fact, Jesus Christ will continue to lead His Church, including Trinity Bible Church here in Dallas, just like He has from the start of this work on January 5, 2018. Since that time, the elders have focused on the primacy of biblical exposition knit together by various men filling the pulpit each week. The Lord was building Trinity Bible Church of Dallas well before Steve became our Lead Preacher, and He will continue to build this church long after Steve Lawson, or any other man for that matter. We would ask for your prayers for the elders, for our Body, and for Steve and his family. Let us always be mindful of the words of 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall."' - Trinity Bible Church of Dallas
Amen, we are all sinners. Pastors are not immune from temptation. What matters here is the reputation of Christ and His church and the health of the sheep. Not Steve Lawson. Because he will be held to a higher standard, I am glad they will work with him on repentance. We should never be gleeful of anyone falling or root for their eternal demise. Notice here also that while Lawson was the lead, he was not a cult of personality pastor, like we see in Charismania. They were raising up other expositors and now will rely upon them. The word is what is important, not the man preaching the word. Paul would be proud. The Lord builds the church and will continue to do so without Steve Lawson. Many Charismatic churches never survive when their cult of personality preacher falls. IHOPKC is trying to rebrand. Gateway's future is murky at best. Mars Hill disbanded after Driscoll left. So, I agree with the verse they used here as the key verse today. It is God warning all of us, especially leaders. Do not believe your own press clippings. If all you surround yourself is yes men, you fail to see they will say yes to anyone, not just you. You need iron to sharpen iron. You need someone to hold your behavior accountable, your preaching accurate and your reputation for Christ spotless. If not, you are not a pastor in the Lord's church. You are a hireling working a job. Let him who thinks he stands to take heed, lest he fall.
Amen, pray for the sheep and Lawson's repentance. Pray that churches follow suit the way that Trinity Bible Church of Dallas has done here.
