* Note that these are sermon notes that didn't make it into the final form of the sermon, not an organized essay.

2 Kings 5:1 (ESV)
1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

We are told here that it was by the hand of God that Syria was given their victory in battle.

We have been focused on God’s dealings with His chosen covenant people, but this passage is a reminder that God is always in control of everything everywhere.

Yes, God chose the children of Abraham to be His covenant people through whom the redeemer would come to the world, but He still reigns and rules over and through all of the world’s affairs.

Psalm 47:7–8 — “For God is the King of all the earth... God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.”

Just because the old testament story follows one group of covenant people does not mean God just checked out on the rest of His image bearers throughout the world.

Whitney laughs at me sometimes because she may find me watching a game, listening to a podcast, and reading an article all at once.

But the reality is, I can’t really do all of that at once.  

Research tells us that, while we can process information from different sources at once, we can’t really give all of our attention to multiple tasks at once if they all require concentration and decision making.

But God ain’t like us.

God can zoom in on individual human hearts and simultaneously govern world affairs.

God can deal with the Israelites for hundreds of years as His chosen people while all the while working out His eternal plan to save people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, and bring them into His blood-bought family.

God is powerful enough to fold world wars into His perfect plan for His global glory and personal enough to fold your bad days into His perfect plan for your spiritual good.

Here we see that God is powerful enough to grant victory in war to Namaan, yet personal enough to have a plan for His sickness.

I can remember my coach in junior high responding to a disrespectful student by asking - Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?

In other words, I have the power to control how much you play in the game.  I make the rules.  I decide how much you are gonna run after practice.  I am the one with the power and authority here.  

I wonder, church, when it comes to your prayer life, have you forgotten who you’re talking to?

Psalm 46:9:
“He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

The God who can turn tanks around kneels down and says to you, His blood bought child - what do you need?  

This is our God, powerful and personal.

Another thing we see is that Naaman’s temporary problem led to an eternal solution.

Don’t be so quick to write off your suffering as meaningless.  Your problems, your pain - they all have a providential purpose.

God often works through pain to save unbelievers, and He always works through pain to sanctify believers.  

I don’t know if I have ever heard a christian say:  You know, the time I grew the most spiritually was when everything was great and I had no problems.  

Now, maybe that happens.

But usually, we look back at our pain, our problems, our sufferings, our sicknesses and we see that God was working and purifying and drawing us close through all of it.

So if you can’t see the providential plan in your pain right now, think about this story.  And think about the fact that God used a life altering skin disease to save this man’s soul.

What might He be doing through your pain?

2 Kings 5:19–24 (ESV)
19He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance,
20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
21So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?”
22And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’ ”
23And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi.
24And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.



Elisha tells Naaman how to be healed.  He tells him to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times.

And Naaman’s response is basically - we got rivers in Damascus.  

Why did I have to come all the way here just to be told to wash in a river?  I could do that back home.

It says he is angry at Elisha’s offer, and then it says he went away in a rage.

You ever responded to God like that?

Ever resented His response to your request for help?  

It seems crazy that Naaman would respond to the offer of healing like this, but we all have some Naaman in us.

We all have some pride that assumes we know better than God.  

We all feel some resentment when He doesn’t do what we think he should when we think he should.

Naaman was an important man.  And so he expected a dramatic miracle, not something as ordinary as washing in a river.

He can’t see the offer of healing because he is blinded by pride.

Naaman is forgetting who He is and who God is.

If he had a really firm grasp of who he actually was - a Yahweh rejecting enemy of God - then he would have had a grasp of what He deserved from God - judgment, wrath and death.

And if he would have grasped all that, he would have jumped for joy that the holy God of heaven responded to him at all, rather than becoming upset that this God didn’t respond how he wanted him to.

If you spend a lot of time bitter towards God or upset that He ain’t answering just how you think He should, you might just need to recalibrate your perception of who you are and who God is.

God doesn’t exist for our purposes, we exist for His.

And we have rejected those purposes on some level and in some way everyday of our lives.

You need to be reminded that you deserve an eternity of conscious torment for your sinful rejection of Him, but through Christ’s death you will receive an eternity of joy in His presence.

You need to be reminded that our holy God has promised to listen to humble sinners like us and then meet our needs when we ask while working all things for our good and His glory.

Don’t resent the Father for not giving you what you think you should get when you think you should get it.

Rejoice in the fact that the God who should be your judge is actually your good Father, now and forever.




Naaman’s resistance to receive the healing points to a deeper issue.  

This isn’t just about physical transformation, it’s about spiritual transformation.  

God, through Elisha, is not simply seeking Naaman’s cleansed skin, he is seeking Naaman’s cleansed heart.

The act of obeying the prophet involved the attitude of submission to the one true God.



Naaman is so blinded by his pride that he would rather keep his skin disease than submit to the word of the one true God and be healed.

Crazy, I know, but the world is full of people who hear the simple gospel  message but choose to stay in their sin sickness rather than submit to Christ and be healed.

And we look at them and think - what aren’t you getting?  

Why stay sin sick when God offers you spiritual health?

But be very careful as we look out at the sin sick Naamans in the world who refused to submit to Yahweh's cleansing.

Make sure you look in the mirror before you look out at them.

Because God says forgive, and yet we hang on to bitterness.

God says to love your wife as sacrificially as Christ loved the church, but we treat our wives with selfish attitudes.

God says be a cheerful giver, but we have Christians stockpiling money and resources in a world full of urgent physical and spiritual needs.

God says to pray at all times, and we spend all our time doing everything but praying.


Before you get too judgmental of the Naaman’s out in the world, start looking at the Naaman in the mirror and ask:

What sin sickness are you walking around with right now because you pridefully refuse to submit to God’s word and so be healed?

Don’t be like Naaman.  Submit to God.  Be healed and free.  

One of the things we learn from the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal is the power of waiting on God’s timing.

Elijah waited on God.

Elijah had pronounced a divinely ordained curse upon the people, and then the Lord sent him into hiding.

He waited in hiding for three years.  Then the word of the Lord came.

It’s safe to assume that Elijah was burdened and broken over the ruin of his nation and the godlessness of the people.  

He was surely enraged over the absolute mockery of God’s name that was occurring among God’s chosen people.

His blood surely boiled at the thought of godless king Ahab ruining the Lord’s reputation among the godless nations and leading God’s people into horrific idol worship of various kinds.

Elijah knew the consequences of a multi year drought on the people of Israel.  He knew the pain they were experiencing as a result of their sin, and he knew the remedy - Repent!

But he waited three years.

How does one sit by and watch His beloved people suffer through such spiritual and physical disaster?  

How does a person hide out while His people are led astray to mute idols?

Elijah knew the way back to blessing for the people, but he also knew for sure that God knew best.

Elijah was patiently waiting on the Lord, because He trusted God.  

It probably seemed to Elijah like a good idea to march up to King Ahab’s throne the day after he announced the drought from God and denounce his idol worship and call Ahab to repentance.

He probably wanted to go on a preaching tour throughout the Israelite cities, calling out the idolatry and explaining to the people that the way to life was to repent.

But Elijah wasn’t carried along by his impulses, he waited on a clear word from God.

If the message you are so eager to deliver for that person is truly from God, then you ought to be equally eager to deliver the message in God’s way at God’s time.

Elijah’s example of waiting three years isn’t meant to be a cookie cutter template for us such that when we have a message for a sinner, we need to wait three years before we deliver it.

Elijah did not wait in hiding because He lacked courage, he waited in hiding because he was led by the clear word of God.

Elijah was not led by emotions or impulses or what he thought was best.  What led Elijah is the word of the Lord.

I don’t know your exact situation, your relationship with that person who is stuck in sin.  I can’t say exactly how long you should wait to say something or how you should say it.

But I do know this - The same God who controlled Elijah’s circumstances controls your circumstances.

The same God who fed Elijah during his three year waiting period will sustain you while you wait.

I know that you don’t have to fix that person through your own wisdom or persuasiveness or having the perfect words, but you can trust that God has a plan to speak and God has the power to change hearts.

God’s plan to bring down the idols of Ahab proved to be more miraculous, more effective, and more glorious than anything Elijah could have dreamed up or schemed up in his own wisdom.

Take a breath.  Look to the word.  And trust God.

It was three years before God used Elijah to confront the sin in Israel.  For you, it may be three hours.  Or three days.  Or three months.

But trust God, and wait on His timing, knowing He is in total control.


Elijah is concerned with God’s reputation as the one true God

Twice in his short prayer, Elijah requests that the people would know Yahweh as the one true God.

He is saddened by the fact that his people are missing out on God, but he is also burdened by the fact that God isn’t receiving right worship.

This motivation reminds me of the John Piper quote:  “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”

We don’t just go to unreached places with the gospel to rescue people from hell, we go there because people are not worshiping the God of heaven.

God demands worship. God deserves worship.  And God desires worship.  

And when our hearts begin to embrace those realities, we get a zeal and a boldness.

Don’t we often find in our evangelistic efforts that our motivation isn’t that lost people might praise God for His grace, but rather that found people might praise us for our boldness and love?

Elijah’s great concern is not that people ignore him as God’s prophet, his great concern is that people are ignoring God.



Our prayer for others must not include a request for our own prominence.  

Our prayer must not be:  God, I really want you to save my son or my friend, but I really want some of the credit.

Your desire for credit in the cause may be part of God’s delayed response.

Ask God to rearrange your heart so that your great concern is the glory and reputation of God, and when that happens, boldness is sure to follow.

***These are simply  notes and thought processes that didn't make it into the final form of the sermon, not a fully formed essay / sermon.



Another way we can sin like Rehoboam is through presumption.

“Presumption is acting as though you know something or have a right to something when you do not.”

Proverbs 12:15
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."

Rehoboam is presumptuous.  

He thinks he knows more than he does and assumes things are going to work out without having a good reason to think so.

Because of this presumption, he does not think he needs counsel.

At first glance, it seems like the problem is simply that he took advice from young people, not older people.  And there is of course a lot of truth in that.

There is an arrogance towards the older generation that is certainly spreading in our culture today, and as Christians we need to take God's word seriously when He instructs us to respect authorities and elders and parents.

But I think Rehoboam's problem is deeper than choosing the wrong counsel.  I think he didn’t really want counsel at all.

He never really wanted the counsel of the older men.  

It’s pointed out in verse 8 that he abandons the counsel of the old men before he ever even goes to the young men.

He does not prayerfully consider the different counsel, He pridefully presumes that he knows best.

He has an overconfident assumption that things will go his way.

I wonder, do you ever experience that type of presumption?  

“I don’t need anybody’s advice before I take this job or move to this place or date this person or make this big decision.”

“That will never happen to me.”

“I’ll never struggle with that like they do.”  

“My marriage will never get as bad as theirs.”  

“My kids won’t ever turn out like theirs.”

A heart of presumption precedes a life of destruction.

When you go through life wrongly assuming you’ve got what it takes, you won’t go to God for what you need.

God’s provision and man’s presumption are like oil and water.

Presumption pushes God to the periphery.  

Maybe you don’t think you are proud or presumptuous.  

But listen to just how dependant we truly are on God for everything.

James 4:13–17 (ESV)
13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—
14yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.


Assuming you will come home safely from work tomorrow apart from God’s enabling and sustaining grace is an arrogant, evil boast.

And if just assuming you’ll get back home from work apart from the Lord’s sovereign gracious will is an evil presumption, then I submit that the problem of presumption is pervasive.

At our sending church, there was a man I greatly admired, who is now a pastor, who would always respond to anything related to future plans with: “If the Lord wills.”

So, I would say: see you Sunday.

He would respond: if the Lord wills.

I’m not saying we always have to say those words, but I am saying that we always need to  believe them.

Why is this such a big deal?  

Wouldn’t this view of life make us just needy, dependent, weak people who can’t go out and attempt or accomplish anything?

Quite the opposite.

The opposite of presumption is not assuming nothing will work out.  

The opposite of presumption is assuming God will work all things out according to the counsel of His perfect will.

The opposite of presumption is not me-centered pessimism.

The opposite of presumption is a God-centered optimism.

When you live with no confidence in yourself, but all confidence in God, you begin to cultivate an ongoing relational dependence on the Lord that leads to a God centered optimism.

Take that famous line from the Lord’s prayer -  "Give us this day our daily bread."  

You ever wonder why we aren’t taught to pray for a lifetime supply of bread?

Because Daily dependence on God cultivates a relational intimacy with God.

Consider the prayer lives of these two people:

One who presumes they need nothing from God.  

And who assumes they need God’s provision for everything.

I talked to my mama a whole lot more my first few weeks at college than I did my last few weeks at college. My first two weeks, I had constant questions.  My last few weeks, I had it all figured out.  (Or so I thought).

Daily dependence on God cultivates a relational intimacy with God.

Ultimately, this Rehoboam story points us forward to God’s chosen king, Jesus Christ.

One repeated lesson of the book of Kings is that the people are in desperate need of God’s chosen king, the promised son of Genesis 3.

David was not that King.  

Solomon was not that King.  

And Rehoboam is most certainly not that king.

But in Jesus Christ, we are given that King.

Sinful foolishness was not only part of God’s wise plan to put Jesus on the cross, it was also part of the plan to put Jesus back on the throne.

Philippians 2:8–11 (ESV)
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Christ is the eternal solution to the problem raised in the book of Kings.  

He is everything those human kings could not be and would not be.

In human arrogance, King Rehoboam refused to serve the people.  In His divine condescension, King Jesus left His throne, and took on human flesh to meet our greatest need.

In his selfishness, King Rehoboam refused to lighten the people’s burdens.  In His grace, King Jesus says that all those who labor and are heavy laden can come to Him for rest.

In His lust for power, King Rehoboam enforced harsh punishments on the people that they did not deserve.  In His love for people, King Jesus takes the punishment on Himself that His people actually do deserve.

We don’t need a wise king to rule us, we need a perfect king to save us

In his request for wisdom, Solomon teaches us what it looks like to make a right request of God.

Unfortunately, Solomon’s story does not end with his right request and God’s gracious reply.

He, like all the other prominent old testament figures before Him, proves that he is not the promised son of Genesis 3.

He is not the one who would save God’s people from their sin and crush the satanic serpent.

In fact, Solomon’s story shows us that he couldn’t even save himself from sin.

1 Kings 11:1–13 (ESV)
1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
3He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
4For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
9And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice
10and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.
11Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
12Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”



Whereas the beginning of his account notes Solomon loved the Lord, here in chapter 11 it is pointed out that he loved many foreign wives.

He had a harem of 1,000 women.

When we hear that, we might immediately assume that his problem was lust.  And that’s no doubt a part of the issue here.

But having a thousand wives wasn’t just about lust, it’s also about trust.

These marriages were connected to political alliances.  They involved treaties of peace with other nations.  

Although God had promised to protect His people from foreign armies if they were faithful, Solomon wasn’t trusting that promise, but was instead taking matters into his own hands.

Rather than using wisdom to serve the Lord, he was crafting devious plans that would lead his heart away from the very God who graciously granted him that wisdom.

The marriages weren’t just about a lack of trust, but the presence of pride.  

These marriages would have shown the people and the surrounding nations just how powerful Solomon was.

He had moved on from the heart posture of chapter three, in which He referred to himself as a little child who didn’t know how to go out or come in.

Now he’s proud, self-sufficient, and wants to show the world just how strong he is.

He was wise.  But that wisdom could not restrain his sinful heart.  He ran after prestige, women, and idols.

He was wise.  But it wasn’t enough.

He exploited his royal position at the expense of God’s people, and thus He lost the kingdom.  

Because of his sin, his reign comes to an end, this prosperous season in the life of Israel comes to a close, and the kingdom is torn in two.  

This again brings into clear focus what I keep saying week after week:  The Bible is not a disconnected group of moral tales full of heroes to emulate.  

It is one big story about one big hero, the promised serpent crushing son of Genesis 3, the Messiah Jesus Christ, who crushes the serpent, cancels our sin, gets us back to God, and has an eternal reign of peace that will never end.

We need more than a wise king to rule us, we need a perfect king to save us.

We don’t just need to be governed, we need to be saved.

When Jesus is debating with the pharisees, He says to them:  behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Jesus is everything Solomon was not.  

Solomon exploits his position as God’s chosen king at the expense of God’s people.

But Jesus does the opposite.

Though he was seated at the right hand of God in heaven’s royal court, He humbled Himself to a human life in this broken world.

He took on human nature, and got tired, and hot, and cold, and hungry.

In his earthly life, the high king of heaven knelt down to wash the dirty feet of his disciples.  

He reached out his holy hands to touch the untouchable.  

Ultimately, our heavenly king, King Jesus, gave up His heavenly crown to bear a crown of thorns.

He left His royal throne to hang on a criminal's cross in our place.

Paul lays out this mix of divine dignity and humble humanity in Philippians.

Philippians 2:6–11 (ESV)
…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.



Because of Solomon’s sin, the kingdom was torn in two.

But because of our sin, the very body of Jesus was torn.

Solomon exploited his position of power to take for himself one thousand brides.

Jesus gave up His position of power to take for Himself one bride, the church.

Through his sin, Solomon’s reign came to an end.  But by the power of His indestructible life, Jesus Christ reigns now and forever.

Solomon had wisdom from God, but the Bible says Jesus is wisdom from God.

Solomon’s words governed a nation for a season, but Jesus’ words uphold the universe for all time.

Yes indeed, something greater than Solomon is here.  

And when we bow before this king today, in humble adoration, we will get to enjoy His perfect, peaceful, prosperous reign for all eternity.

The Bible doesn’t apologize for God’s wrath.  The Bible rejoices in God’s wrath.

I know that in our day and age, the discussion of God’s anger or wrath can cause many of us to be apologetic rather than to do apologetics.

Apologetics refers to the defense of the faith.  The word apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia which means “defense.”

That’s very different from a related word which we use today - “apology.”  This is when we say we are sorry for something we wish wasn’t true.

I don’t want you to feel like you have to apologize for God’s wrath, but rather I want you to feel equipped to give an apologetic, a defense, of God’s wrath.

When it comes to God’s wrath, I want you to do apologetics, not be apologetic.

The wrath, anger, and justice of God can definitely be a stumbling block for unbelievers and believers alike.  That’s why we need apologetics.  

So, while I don’t want you feeling like you have to apologize for God, I also don’t want you to simply brush off people’s genuine obstacles and concerns when it comes to God’s wrath.  

We must show them that God’s wrath is a reality.  But we must also show people why it is a good reality.

First, listen to the way the Bible speaks of God’s wrath and justice, and then compare that with how you speak of it.

Exodus 15:6–7 – Song of Moses after the Red Sea
“Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.”


Psalm 58:10–11
“The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’”
Revelation 11:17–18
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged… and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

The bible presents the wrath and justice of God as a good thing.  

Why is this?  

Because in displaying His wrath, God is glorified.

The reason the world exists, the reason you exist, is that God may be glorified.  And what does that mean exactly?

That’s a Christianse phrase if there ever was one.  What is the glory of God, and what does it mean for God to “be glorified?”

Louis Berkhof (Systematic Theology)
“The glory of God is the recognition of the excellence of His divine perfections, the manifestation of His attributes, and the honor ascribed to Him by His creatures.”
God is glorified when His attributes are manifested, made known, clearly apprehended and then rightly treasured and enjoyed.

And what are God’s attributes?

Holiness, Grace, Love, Mercy, Power, Justice, Wrath, Wisdom, Patience, Power - you could go on.

But notice that the display of many of those attributes requires the presence of sin.  Hang with me.

In a world without sin, there is no grace.  

In a world without suffering, there is no expression of divine mercy.  

In a world without evil, there is no expression of divine justice.

God is being glorified in and through this broken world, because through our sin, His full range of attributes is put on full display.

And this includes His wrath.  His justice.  

In displaying His wrath, God is glorified, and seen to be holy, righteous, just, and all powerful.

When we see God judge the wicked, we praise Him for this expression of His character.  He is thus glorified.

The wrath of God is a good thing because it brings relief to sufferers.

In a world without a just God, sufferers would never receive divine relief.

This is why the Israelites rejoiced in God’s wrath after crossing the red sea.  Pharaoh and his armies had been crushed, granting relief to God’s people.

This is why the christians in Revelation rejoice at Satan and sin being destroyed, because it is then that those Christians experience ultimate and final release from the suffering of sin and satan.

In parts of the world where the persecution is severe, people don’t have trouble with God’s justice and wrath like we do.

But we are learning.  As we suffer more and more for our beliefs, we will begin to find great relief in knowing that all causes of satanic or sinful suffering will one day be destroyed.

The wrath of God is a good thing because it means no evil will go unpunished

You may have heard the famous MLK quote:  “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

He meant that, one day, everybody is gonna pay for their sin.  Justice will be served. All wrongs will be made right.

But without a holy and righteous and wrathful God, that’s just not true.

Without a consistently just judge of the universe, there are countless abusers and murderers and tyrants who will escape their sin soaked lives with no consequences.

But there is a just judge over the universe.  

And all who do not repent of their sins and receive Christ will stand before Him one day so that, as Paul says, “each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

You’ve heard the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished.”  That’s a clever way for us to complain about not getting what we think we deserve for doing the right thing.

But the opposite of that phrase is actually a very important truth that needs to shape your worldview:

Because there is a just and holy God, no bad deed will go unpunished.

But where does that leave us, people who are guilty of bad deeds?


The wrath of God is a good thing because it magnifies the grace of God through the cross

When you truly understand God’s burning anger towards sin, you will begin to truly marvel at the cross of Christ.

When you understand just what our sin deserves, you will rejoice more fully and freely at what we receive through Jesus Chrsit and His sacrificial death.

At the cross, God is glorified in the clearest way possible, because at the cross, the full range of His attributes is on display.

In the brutality of Christ’s death, we see the true ugliness of sin as well as the Father’s hatred of it.  

We see God’s justice in that He does not merely sweep sin under the rug, He nails it to the cross in the bloody body of Jesus.

And in light of that justice and anger on display through the cross, we see more clearly God’s grace.

RC Sproul said: “The most violent expression of God’s wrath and justice is seen in the cross. If ever a person had room to complain of injustice, it was Jesus. He was the only innocent man ever to be punished by God. If we stagger at the wrath of God, let us stagger at the cross. Here is where our astonishment should be focused.”

The wrath of God,  the justice of God, the anger of God towards sin, it is a good thing.

At the cross, God is glorified because His range of divine attributes are made manifest.

At the cross, the love of God delivers you from the wrath of God through the Son of God.

Know this: all sins will be paid for, either by a sinner in hell or a Savior on the cross.

God is offering us all a glorious and gracious way of escape.  Jesus is the way out of wrath and into reconciliation.

When it comes to the wrath of God, may we always be ready to do apologetics, but may we never apologize, because in the wrath of God:

God is glorified.

Sufferers are delivered.

All wrongs are made right.

And the grace of God is clearly displayed through the wrath-removing sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.

“A plane just flew into the World Trade Center.”

“Charlie Kirk was shot.”

These are announcements of bad news that affected us all in some way, on a national level.

But maybe some of you can’t remember 9/11.  And maybe some of you weren’t super familiar with Charlie Kirk.  

Still, you’ve still received your share of bad news.

“Your mother was rushed to the hospital.  They don’t know if she’ll make it.”

“They’re calling the family in.”

“There’s no heartbeat.”

“We’re letting you go.”

“It’s cancer.”

“I’m no longer a Christian.”

“I don’t want to be married to you anymore.”

This world is an ocean of bad news, and it’s a question of when, not if, you will receive your own personal version of it.


I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the World Trade Center.  And I remember, of course, exactly where I was yesterday, when I heard the news about Charlie Kirk.  And I have no doubt that if you have received any of the bad news listed above, you remember where you were when you received it.

This is a world of bad news.  And these days, we don’t just hear bad news, we see it.  As a 13 year old, I remember the pit in my stomach that I felt as I watched the horrific scenes on the news 24 years ago.  The screams.  The smoke.  The shock.  

And, while I didn’t see the disturbing video of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I trust that many of you did.  I did see the frenzy and the panic that ensued among that crowd of mostly young people after that shot rang out.

This is a world of bad news, because this is a world of sinners.  Because this is a world of sinners, it is a world of suffering.  A good world made by a good God has become a world full of bad news perpetrated by bad people.

What’s incredible to consider is that our good God entered this broken world.  Have you thought much about the fact that Jesus received bad news?

Consider John the Baptist.  I think John the Baptist would’ve really liked Charlie Kirk.  John the Baptist went around calling out evil and pointing people to Christ.  And it got him killed.  It’s hard to not see a parallel.

Matthew writes:

“He (Herod) sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.”

“Jesus, they killed John the Baptist.”  

Jesus, God in the flesh, received bad news.  Like we did yesterday.  Like we did 24 years ago.  Like you all have so many times in your own life.

It would seem pretty reasonable to assume that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, would respond to such news with an almost defiant tone, offering up an immediate pearl of wisdom that turned everyone’s grief Godward.

But what did He, the King of Kings, do in response to this bad news?

He withdrew.  To a desolate place.  By Himself.

We often, and rightly so, think about the fact that Jesus would walk that calvary road on our behalf, would bear such great pain and shame for our sins.

But what about the fact that He would subject Himself to a life in which He would allow Himself to be emotionally affected by bad news, just like we are?  He is indeed a great high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.  

Consider another example.

“Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

This was the bad news concerning Jesus’ friend Lazarus. Jesus received the bad news that many of you have received:  your loved one’s life is in jeopardy due to sickness.

When Jesus finally arrived, He learned that His friend Lazarus had died.  Jesus, of course, knew that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.  Still, we read:

John 11:33–35 (ESV)
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”  35Jesus wept.


Jesus received bad news.  And Jesus saw bad news.  And, even though Jesus knows better than anyone about the resurrection hope we have -  He wept.

Why do I say all of this?

Because, in the midst of your pain, whether it’s a national tragedy or a personal one, I want you to know it’s okay to withdraw for a bit.  To weep.

I want you to know we serve a God who took on human flesh.  Who entered this broken world so full of bad news.  


And why?

Yes, to sympathize with us.  To weep with us.  To identify with humanity.

But He didn’t merely come to sympathize, He came to save.

He did not merely enter earth to cry, but to conquer.

He did not come to earth to merely bear the burden of a broken world, but to bear the sin of broken people.

He took our sin upon Himself, and died in our place, and rose to life on the third day in triumph, ascending back to the Father’s right hand, declaring His victory over sin and satan.

In a world of bad news, we now have the best news.  


We, believers, are good news people in a bad news world.  We are bearers of the light in a world gone dark.  We have the antidote of truth in a lie-infected society.  


Jesus did not merely withdraw.  He did not merely weep.  

He pressed forward, and bore the cross, “for the joy that was set before Him.”

So, too, we cannot merely withdraw, though it may be right to do so for a time.  We cannot merely weep, though we should seek to “weep with those who weep.”

We cannot surrender - not to the evil around us, nor to the evil within us.  

But what does not surrendering look like in practice?  How do we respond rightly to the evil and suffering in the world?

I offer a few humble suggestions, though certainly not exhaustive.  Maybe this will provide a place to start.

Preach.

Charlie Kirk was shot dead under a banner that read: “Prove me wrong.”   His crime was promoting truth in an age of lies.  

Our society is growing increasingly dissatisfied with “proving” anything through dialogue or the exchange of ideas.  For one evil individual, the way they would “prove Charlie wrong” and shut him down and up for good was with a bullet.  

This is how the world has always reacted to the truth.  Maybe not with a bullet, but always with opposition.  The sinful human heart does not want to hear the truth about God, and righteousness, and judgment, and grace.  We hate it.  We resist it.  

This opposition has been there since the beginning.  Simply read the book of Acts.  Read church history.  Read the story of martyrs around the world today.  

This is a world of sinners, under the sway of satan.  But Jesus calls us, invites us, commands us to go out into that world with His light.  With His good news.  Under His authority.  For His glory.

“But I’m no Charlie Kirk, and I’m not a public speaker or preacher, and I’m most certainly no John the Baptist.” you may say.  What does it mean for me to preach?

It means you talk about Jesus where you work.  

You speak about how meaningful church is in your life.  

You teach your kids the Bible.  

You send verses to other members of the church that you think will encourage them.  

You ask friends and coworkers meaningful questions that could potentially highlight areas of contrast, or disagreement, with the aim of sharing who Jesus is and what He has done for you.

It means you leave Christian books, or even your Bible, out where people can see it, in hopes that they ask about what you’re reading.

It means you call out evil, unafraid to say what’s true about the sins of our society, no matter what the consequences are for your reputation or even your career.  

It means, when someone asks your opinion about a hot button topic, you respond with biblical truth, not people-pleasing passivity.

And to preach in a biblical way means we do all this with a certain mixture of tenderness and toughness that catches the world off guard.  

We do this in the power of the Spirit, with the fruit of the Spirit.  That means we are bold and courageous but happy and patient.  That means we call out the demonic without demonizing our opponents.  

We have the best news in the world!  And that is news meant to be announced, heralded, proclaimed.  



Pray.


Yesterday, just hours after Charlie Kirk was announced dead, an argument broke out in Congress about the need for prayer.  This isn’t unsurprising.  The phrase “thoughts and prayers” has long been derided by those who don’t believe in God, or truth, or the Bible.

And while we would never openly minimize the power and effectiveness of prayer with our words, I wonder if our actions match our beliefs?  Do we pray like people who believe in a God who hears prayer?

“Pray for our country” is a phrase I heard so much growing up that I honestly grew to resent it.  It seemed so cliche, so empty.  It was often tossed out there by people who I deemed to be less than truly genuine in their desire to see a spiritual revival in our nation.

But the fact of the matter is this:  all great revivals in history were preceded by great prayer.  This is because, as Jonathan Edwards said:

“When God has something very great to accomplish for his church, it is his will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayers of his people.”
 
Do you believe that?  Do you believe that your prayers for coworkers, friends, our church, your country, and the unreached could actually lead to conversions, transformation, and revival?

Let’s pray like the gospel is true.  Let’s pray like God loves to answer prayer.  Let’s pray as if God actually wants to save sinners and glorify His name and use us to advance His kingdom.

Persist

The change we all want to see happen in our hearts, homes, nation, and world won’t happen overnight.  That person you’re trying to reach with the gospel may not have their big “aha” moment the first time you share the gospel with them.  

There is a reason the new testament so consistently uses agricultural metaphors to describe gospel ministry.   Let me remind you of a few:


1 Corinthians 3:6–7 – “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

Matthew 9:37–38 – “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Galatians 6:7–9 – “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap… let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

We plant, water, and watch.  The harvest is plentiful, even in this bad news world, because the harvest is God’s.  

Preach.  Pray.  And wait patiently.  God will give growth.  


Providence

Okay, so this is less about what we do, and more about who God is.  

In all this - in receiving bad news, in working to announce good news - remember that God is in total control.  He is not coming behind the mess, trying to think of ways to clean it up.  He is at work in the mess, getting glory and preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Joseph was sold into slavery, essentially left for dead by His own brothers.  And, as you know, at the end of his story, He finds himself in a powerful position, used by God to save the chosen people.  

And his brothers, those who sold him into slavery, are rightly afraid that their now powerful brother will pursue vengeance.  They beg for His mercy towards their evil, and he says:

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The brothers meant something for evil.  But God meant something for good.  

It’s important to note that it is the same word for “meant” in both phrases.  Somehow, in a divine and mysterious providence, God was actually at work in the midst of an evil act to bring about a greater good as the brothers were perpetrating a great evil.

And, if this gives your brain some trouble, it would be understandable. But I would point you to the words of Peter:

“This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

Many people meant evil against Jesus.  But God meant it for good. God was at work in the messy evil of the cross to bring about a glorious and gracious salvation for His people.

This is the anchor in our boat when suffering comes our way.  Maybe we don’t know all that God is doing when planes fly into the twin towers, or when Charlie Kirk is publicly murdered, or when John the Baptist is beheaded, or when we receive devastating news.

But, this we do know:  the greatest evil ever committed, the murder of the Son of God, was planned by God for our eternal salvation.  

This is the good news from heaven that conquers all the bad news this world could ever offer up.  It is this good news we hold to.

It is this good news that points our hearts heavenward, to an eternal, fixed, unfading hope of glory.  

Christian, this world is as close to hell as you will ever get.  Jesus is alive.  He has canceled our record of debt.  He has disarmed the demonic powers.  He has all authority. He is able to use even the most satanic sins for His glory.

He is coming back.  And when He does, as He says in Revelation, He will make all things new.

Dedicate the first part of the day to scripture and prayer. Keep it simple - Pick a book of the Bible.  Read one portion at a time (your bible probably has helpful subdivisions).  Ask yourself - What does this say about God? How does this point to the grace of God in Christ? How should I respond?  Pray for God’s help to respond, pray for those closest to you, confess sin, and thank God for His blessings.  20-30 minutes, 5 days a week.  Where will this take you in 6 months / a year?

When you lay down at night, take 5-10 minutes to meditate on one verse (maybe from your reading that morning). Thank God for specific mercies from that day.  Confess any sins that stand out from the day and thank God for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us.  Pray for help for tomorrow.  I know you scroll on that phone - I do it too.  What if you swapped that habit out for this end of day spiritual reflection?

Decide that you won’t pick up your phone for anything before you pray for something or someone.  Make it a game - Today, I’m going to pray for my pastor (ha ha) before I pick up my phone throughout the day.  Or, today, I’m going to pray for my spouse before I pick up my phone.  Today, I’m going to pray for the Iveys before I pick up my phone.  Every time, all day. What if you cultivated this as a lifelong habit?

Swap out that podcast for an audio bible or solid bible based podcast on your ride to work, or while you’re folding clothes, or while you’re feeding the baby.  We have the dwell app, and the ESV app has tons of options for different voices, different background music, plans, etc.

Watch a “Look at the Book” Youtube series on a specific book of the bible.  This is a series where John Piper puts a section of scripture on the screen, and just walks you through it by making notes, highlights, etc.  They’re about ten minutes per video.  Where in your day could you place these?
Get a few folks to agree to memorize a chapter of the Bible together.  One verse a day.  You’ll find you begin to really meditate on the deeper meaning of the passage as you repeat it to yourself throughout the day. Hold each other accountable, pray for one another in this pursuit, and text each other things God is showing you about the passage.

Practice family worship.  Again, keep it simple.  Read a passage of scripture, and ask: What does this say about God?  The grace of Jesus? How should we respond?  Then pray.  10 minutes, a few times a week.

Use our catechism, for yourself and your family.  The New City Catechism app contains songs, the bible verse that accompanies the question/answer, and a devotional based on that truth from an older source and a modern source.  Utilize this app, it’s free.  

Talk about the sermon during lunch or dinner Sunday. What stood out?  How did you see Christ?  How should you specifically respond?

Keep a notes app that has a few specific ongoing prayer focuses.  Before you scroll through social media or youtube, scroll through that list.

Keep a notes app with a few promises of scripture that speak to a specific situation you’re in right now.  Before scrolling anything else, scroll through that list.

Read the Solid Joys devotional before you get out of bed. Or when you lay down.  Or you can even listen to it while you brush your teeth.
Pray with and for your spouse at the end of each day.

Use Operation World or a similar resource to pray for an unreached people group everyday.
Fast from something once a week, asking God to help you know Him better and love Him more.  For extra credit, ask another member of the church to do this with you.

Hope City Church,

I felt it would be helpful and right, with so much attention given to the issue, for me to personally address you all with some thoughts concerning the recent annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

First, some clarifications, as I know many of you may not have grown up familiar with the SBC or its various entities.

Let me summarize some general information regarding the SBC, admitting to you up front that I asked the internet to summarize this next bit of info for me and for you:

“The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is not a denomination in the sense of a top-down organization that owns churches or appoints pastors. It is a voluntary association of autonomous churches that cooperate together to accomplish ministry they could not easily do alone.
At its core, the SBC exists for three main reasons:
Missions – The SBC's primary purpose is to send and support missionaries through organizations like the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board. Churches pool resources through the Cooperative Program to fund thousands of missionaries and church planters.
Ministry Training and Education – The SBC cooperates to train pastors and ministry leaders through its seminaries, such as The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, among others.
Cooperation Around Shared Beliefs – Churches work together because they generally affirm a common statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message, while maintaining local church independence.

What the SBC Is
A convention (an annual gathering) of cooperating churches.
A network that funds missions, church planting, seminaries, disaster relief, and various ministries.
A fellowship of churches with broadly shared doctrinal convictions.
A voluntary partnership—churches choose whether to participate and can leave at any time.
What the SBC Is Not
It is not a hierarchy above the local church.
It does not own local church property.
It does not appoint pastors or elders.
It generally cannot tell a church how to conduct its ministry, except that it can determine whether a church is in friendly cooperation and therefore eligible to remain in the convention.”

The conversation swirling around the last few weeks has centered on a particular amendment to the SBC constitution, which was voted on at the annual meeting of the SBC, held in Orlando, FL.
The amendment that has generated the discussion is the "Truth and Unity Amendment" (previously called the Law Amendment in its earlier form).
It would add language to the SBC Constitution clarifying that a cooperating Southern Baptist church does not:
"affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of pastor/elder/overseer, specifically preaching to the assembled congregation."
If adopted, this language would place any church engaging in these practices regarding women in the office or function of pastor under review by the Credentials Committee, with final judgment resting in the hands of messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting.
If investigated and found guilty of violating the language of this amendment, and then voted on by the messengers as such, the church in violation would be removed from affiliation in the SBC.
In short, if you have a woman preach on Sundays, you will be removed from the SBC after a thorough process.
But before I go any further, let me start with some general thoughts on the annual convention, and we will work our way towards clarifying comments in regards to the controversy regarding the amendment.

General Reflections and Encouragements

Near the beginning of the annual meetings, we all (over ten thousand?) joined together for the IMB (International Mission Board) Commissioning.

During this portion of the meetings, we heard from 63 missionaries who are this year being sent to countries all over the world.

They each gave a brief backstory, talked about their destination and the gospel need, and shared prayer requests.

For many of them, their destinations are so dangerous/restrictive that their faces couldn’t be shown, and their voices were AI generated to protect their security.

It’s hard to express the emotion you feel as you sit and listen to this many people describe a calling to the mission field and a desire to reach the unreached with the gospel of Jesus.  

This is what it’s all about, quite literally, when it comes to the SBC.

We aren’t mainly gathering to argue about doctrine (although that is a necessary component of maintaining missional integrity), but to reach the lost with the gospel.

The annual meetings are quite a unique experience.  There are open mics, to which any qualified messenger in the room (of thousands) can freely approach the mic and voice affirmation or disagreement with a given motion or resolution.

Edits were proposed, differences of opinion were expressed, and the president, Clint Pressley, put on a clinic in how to handle disagreement with directness, humor, and charity.

I would note that, in the room, there was a warm spirit, even in disagreements.  The overall “vibe,” sorry I can’t think of a better word, was joyful excitement at what the Lord is doing in us and through us.

As a church planter, it moved me to see and hear from so many other men who have watched their small group of committed members stack chairs and take ‘em down, celebrated having a new family join their church, and preached in front of those good ole black backdrops that cover up ugly gym walls.

But, let’s get into the issue at hand.  The Truth and Unity Amendment.

The context and need for the amendment

First of all, let me say this:  Our shared statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, already clearly states:

“While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

One would hope this might settle the issue.  It hasn’t.  

You would be right to ask, if the statement of faith says it so clearly, why do we need to vote on an amendment to the constitution that just says the same thing as our doctrinal confession already says?
Again, thank you to the summarizing power of the internet:
“The answer is that a confession and a constitution serve different purposes.
The Baptist Faith and Message tells us what Southern Baptists believe. It is our doctrinal statement. The Constitution, however, helps define what it means for a church to be in friendly cooperation with the Convention.
In recent years, questions have arisen because some churches have affirmed women with pastoral titles or functions while still affirming the Baptist Faith and Message in principle. This has led to disagreements about how our confession should be applied and whether certain churches should remain in friendly cooperation with the SBC.”
Supporters of the amendment, among whom I happily count myself, believe that if our confession clearly reserves the pastoral office for qualified men, then our Constitution should also clearly articulate how that conviction affects our cooperation.
In other words, the amendment does not seek to create a new doctrine, but bring clarity to an ancient one for purposes of defining what it means for a church to be in friendly cooperation with the SBC.
Right now, a church can play word games with the Baptist Faith and Message, and have a woman preach on Sundays, but not call her a pastor.  
Or, a church can say that a woman performs the function of pastor but doesn’t hold the office.
This can protect you from a clear violation of the spirit of our doctrinal position.
This is why the clarity from the amendment is needed.
The amendment passed, basically 75 percent to 25 percent.  Whitney and I are humbled and grateful to say that we were a part of the 75 percent. Glory to God.

Peeling back the Onion
All of those procedural notes being laid out, I want to speak to you now about the broader picture, from a pastor’s perspective.

I have read many articles, tweets, and blogs this week angrily opposing what just happened in Orlando, as Southern Baptists overwhelmingly voted in support of the Truth and Unity Amendment.

I have read headlines and statements such as:

"SBC votes against women."
"SBC bans women from ministry."
"SBC silences women."
"The SBC thinks women are inferior."
"The SBC cares more about women pastors than abuse."

These types of reactions to decisions and beliefs we do not personally hold have unfortunately become the air we breathe in our online age.

I’m not an educated man.  But, if you will indulge me, I want to take a minute to regurgitate to you a few lessons in basic logical fallacies.

1. Straw Man
A straw man happens when you misrepresent someone else’s position in order to make it easier to attack.
For example, you might tweet out, in response to the vote: "SBC votes against women."
The problem here is, to point out one specific example, my wife voted right along with me, and was absolutely zealous to find a way to arrange childcare and find money in our budget so that we could be present for this vote.  
We simply were not voting for or against the worth and value of women.  
We were voting for or against the biblical picture for pastoral ministry as clearly defined by scripture, and defining how that understanding would relate to friendly cooperation within the bounds of the SBC.
The Sunday after the convention, much of my sermon happened to focus on the positive example of Hannah presented in the book of 1 Samuel.  

This was not a “vote against women,” and this pastor is not “against women.”

I am against women doing things God neither created nor called them to do, in the same way I am opposed to men doing things they were neither created nor called to do, such as dressing like women, marrying men, or claiming they can be pregnant.
2. False Equivalence
This is when you treat two things as if they are the same, when in reality, important differences exist.  For example, you interpret a vote against women as pastors to mean that women can’t do any meaningful ministry.
So you might read, "SBC bans women from ministry."
The problem with this view is that the day before, we had just witnessed dozens of women commissioned for ministry as missionaries to great enthusiasm and thunderous applause.
Besides, if being a pastor was the only way anyone could do ministry, then 99% of the people in our churches would not have a place to do any ministry, regardless of gender.
Women are not banned from ministry, not in our church nor in the Bible.  
They can teach other women.  They can teach children.  They can serve meals, meet needs, and share the gospel with their children, neighbors, and friends.
This Sunday, a woman will help lead a song and probably pray during our service.
We are not, have not, and will not “ban women from ministry.”
3. Hasty Generalization
This is when you draw one big ole conclusion from one narrow fact.
So, a reporter might say something like: “The SBC thinks women are inferior."
I simply do not believe the people in my church, who listen to me preach week after week, are inferior to me.

Whether you stand behind the pulpit or sit in front of it does not determine your worth, dignity, or value in the eyes of the Lord.

Any pastor worth his salt knows that many of the Christians sitting in front of the pulpit are far more holy than the man standing behind it.

4. Loaded Language / Appeal to Emotion
This is a rampant and repeat offender in our day.  This is when you use emotionally charged language to persuade rather than using facts or evidence.
So you might write something like: "SBC silences women" instead of “SBC votes to uphold the biblical definition of a pastor.”
Can you spot the difference?
There is a lot of money in this fallacy, and our favorite podcasters know it.

The Bigger Issue

So all of these people from outside the SBC have used logical fallacies to cause quite a stir, it seems.

But there are bigger issues than pagan news outlets using unequal weights and measures.

My concern has been the amount of professing Christians whose issues with the decision have been numerous and loud and lacking specific scripture.  

I haven’t seen many, if any, negative posts about the SBC’s vote that have gone on to use scripture to explain away the clear teaching that the role and function of pastor is reserved for men.

But even if there have been a few posts here and there that attempt to explain away Paul’s clear teaching in Timothy, there is a bigger issue.

This debate isn’t ultimately about a proof text here or there in one book of the Bible. It is about God’s good design for sex and gender stretching back to the very first book of the Bible, and then catapulting from there across the entirety of the 66 book canon.

We aren’t actually debating a few verses of the Bible, we are debating the function and role of men and women in general.

Let me introduce a few more terms, if you’re still with me.

Egalitarian and Complementarian

The terms have their own issues, but for our purposes, they are helpful.

An egalitarian is someone who views the roles and functions of men and women as fundamentally interchangeable.

A complementarian is someone who, broadly speaking, views men and women as having equal worth and value, but differing roles and functions by God’s design.

The reason much of our complementarian reasoning has fallen short in recent years is that we have simply stopped at a few key verses that define the pastorate.

I am not simply asking you to evaluate a statement from Paul in the pastoral epistles (although that should clearly settle it).

I am asking you to go back with me to the garden.  

What’s at stake here is not simply, “Will the world’s largest protestant denomination allow women to preach on Sunday?”

The issue is:  “Did God make man and woman fundamentally different and for different purposes?”

The biggest reason many people have an objection to a male only pastorate is not because of their particular interpretation of a passage in the pastoral epistles, it is because they have bought into our culture’s lie that men and women are interchangeable.

If men and women are interchangeable, then of course a woman can pastor!  

But they are not interchangeable.  They are unique by God’s good design.

And this is my charge and challenge to my complementarian friends and my complementarian church.  

It’s courageous, sure, in the face of a feminist culture and society, to stand on God’s word and hold the line with a vote that clarifies the role of pastor as being reserved for men only.

But the question is this: will courage for us be a mere white knuckled grip on a few verses that we actually aren’t comfortable with concerning male only pastors, or will we give ourselves wholly and happily to God’s good design for sex and gender in all of scripture?

Let’s not just be bold about who can preach on Sunday morning, let’s go beyond that and enthusiastically champion God’s good design for manhood and womanhood in all of life.

Men and women are different.  And this is good. Christian, don’t apologize for this, promote it.

We are losing a generation of young men who have been told that their masculinity is a toxic problem not a transcendent gift.

And we are losing a generation of young women who are being told they can and should do everything men do.

The church has the fix.  And we have the fix because we have a word from the Lord on the matter.  We have the instruction manual, written by the creator Himself.


Let me quote Doug Ponder and Bryan Laughlin on this point in an article that you should go read, found here.

“First, we must see the biblical teaching on the sexes as good, not just right. The Bible is not bitter medicine. Indeed, for those who know the God of Scripture, they are soul-reviving statutes intended for our good (Ps. 19:7–11). The problem we face at present is that many Christians are embarrassed by unpopular doctrines, doctrines which they increasingly find unhelpful or unnecessary because they have unknowingly accepted certain feminist assumptions. The only antidote is to trust the wisdom and love of God. We must believe that he knows better than us and that he has our best interests in mind. This is the first and most crucial step for embracing God’s design for men and women.” (This article was first published on Sola Ecclesia, the online theological journal of Grimké Seminary.).

Good. Not just right.

Is that how you view God’s design for male and female?

So what’s the bottom line in all of this?

It’s this:  I am happy for a church that enthusiastically embraces God’s design for the sexes.

You are courageous, you have biblical convictions, and for that I am thankful to the Lord.  You make my job, to stand on the Bible in the face of a hostile culture, easier.

But let’s go further.  Let’s not settle for a biblically sound but bitter spirited embrace of what God says, while secretly wishing it were different.

Let’s humbly submit ourselves to God’s word in all areas of life, particularly as it relates to sex and gender, with happiness and hope.

Let us with joy discover the beauty and wisdom in God’s good design for men and women.

When your unbelieving coworker, or your friend who’s part of a more liberal denomination, asks you about your denomination’s recent vote, I beg you:  Do not cower.  Do not feel guilty.  Do not rush to explain all the things your church still allows women to do.

Just say:  Yes, our pastor voted for the amendment. We are happy to celebrate God’s good design for men and women.

I leave you with a final illustration, one I believe I got from John Piper over the years somewhere along the way.



Imagine a husband and wife are lying in bed at 2 in the morning.

They hear a sound.  A bump in the night.

Stop.  Ask yourself - who should get up and go investigate?

Now ask yourself, why him?

You know the man should go investigate. This is by God’s design.  

He is physically stronger and emotionally wired for that type of conflict in a way that his wife is not.

This is good for the man, and particularly good for the woman.

At this point, let me bring it back to the role and function of pastor.

Pastoring is an outflow of the man’s general calling to lead, guide, and protect.

The man protects his house.  And the pastor protects his flock.

It’s been widely pointed out that the number of aspiring pastors has declined in recent years.  There are simply more pulpits than pastors.

To be sure, there are a variety of factors.  

But no doubt, one of the factors is that we have tamed, civilized, and ultimately effeminized the role of pastor to the point that our young men do not find it a high calling or a sacred duty.

And so, we have come to the place where many evangelicals can’t think of any reason why a woman couldn’t or shouldn’t pastor.

We have lost the biblical vision for the role, and for men in general.

This is our moment.  Not just as a denomination, but as a culture.  There is a noise at the door.  A bump in the night.

The world, the flesh, and the devil are telling us that gender is a social construct.

“Women can marry women.  

Men can have babies.

It doesn’t matter who preaches on Sunday morning.”

God is calling us to something more.  Something better.  Something satisfying. Something high and holy.

It’s time we wake up.

Let’s go meet the sound, with the joy and boldness of the Holy Spirit coursing through our spiritual veins, and pray that God sends the necessary revival to change a society from the inside out.

Trust God in the ordinary, and let Him worry about the extraordinary.


Saul tells David he’s too young and inexperienced to fight Goliath, since Goliath has been a trained warrior from his youth.

David responds by pointing to his past as a shepherd: when lions or bears attacked his flock, he pursued them, killed them, and rescued the sheep.

He argues that the same God who helped him defeat those predators will also deliver him from Goliath.

When I say that, of course our minds rightly go - Wow, David had killed lions and bears.  That’s crazy.

I admit, those are some pretty extraordinary victories.

But notice, these extraordinary victories occurred in the course of David living his ordinary life as a shepherd.

Before David ever faced Goliath, he had learned to depend on the strength of God in his everyday vocation and calling.  

David didn’t wake up looking for giants to slay, he woke up looking for sheep to protect.

David stacked up years of watching God work in the ordinary, with no one giving him recognition, no rounds of applause, no praise from the king.

And after years of dependance on God in his ordinary life, the Lord put him in a position to achieve something extraordinary.

And think about this - the only reason David was even at the battlefield is because he humbly obeyed his dad’s instructions to bring bread and cheese to the soldiers.

It was as David was faithfully tending the sheep, and just faithfully honoring his father’s commands to essentially wait tables for the soldiers, that God put him in the position to conquer the giant.

Some of us would be happy to be seen as a giant killer, but we’re too good to be seen carrying bread and cheese to the battlefield.

Many of us love the idea of extraordinary greatness, but don’t have much time for ordinary godliness.

God doesn’t call you to pursue greatness, He calls you to pursue godliness.

You chase godliness, let God handle the greatness.

Well, you may say, I don’t struggle chasing greatness.  I’m not some athlete or  movie star.

I know how ordinary I am.

Well, I think we all struggle with this in our own way.  

We want to be the best.  We want to impress.  We want to be recognized. We want personal greatness on some level.

You’re not called to be the greatest coach or the greatest teacher ever or the greatest mom or the greatest friend ever.

You are called to be a godly coach.  A godly teacher.  A godly mom. A godly friend.

If you’re thinking of your life in light of David's, what I’m saying is that some of us need to refocus on the bears and lions in our life, and let God decide if we’ll ever cross paths with a giant.

Some of us just need to carry the bread and cheese to the battlefield and let God take care of the rest.

You have a battle to fight, right now, today in pursuit of ordinary godliness.

Maybe it’s just that you need to forgive somebody.  Or reach out to someone and ask for their forgiveness.

Maybe you just need to be more intentional as a spouse, and simply be a better listener.

Maybe you haven’t really been working at your job with a godly zeal, because you wanna do something more significant.

Maybe you just need to start getting in the word more.

There are some things we all need to focus on right now today in the pursuit of ordinary godliness.

You stack up days and weeks and months of years of ordinary obedience, of long obedience in the same direction, and God will handle the greatness.

God will increase your fruitfulness and your impact.  

You just seek to be a godly dad, and your kids will look back one day at the end of your life, and they will say - he was a great dad.

You just seek to be a godly employee, and your boss is probably at some point going to recognize you as a great employee.

You just seek to be a godly friend, and your friends are going to say that you are a great friend.

But as for you, you just pursue godliness.  Let God handle the greatness.



Meditation on God’s past victories fuels our faith for future victories

This is connected to the previous point.  

1 Samuel 17:37 (ESV)

37And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”


David not only pursued the Lord’s strength and help in the ordinary, he used those past experiences with God to increase his faith in the future activity of God.

Reflecting on God’s past victories fuels faith in God’s future activity.



In other words, when you don’t know what God is doing, and you are anxious because you aren’t sure what He’s gonna do, start thinking back to everything He’s already done.

But, what if I can’t think of much that God has done for me? My life has been really hard.  I haven’t seen miracles.

Let me remind you of this:

Romans 8:32–33 (ESV)
32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

What God has done for all of us in the past is provide His perfect Son as a sin canceling sacrifice.

When you aren’t sure how he’s going to get you out of a difficult situation, think back to how He got you out of your sin.

When you aren’t convinced that He’s going to provide, think back to how He provided His only Son for you at the cross.

When you are worried that sin and satan have gotten the upperhand, think back to how God defeated the devil and covered over your sin at the cross.

David's reasoning was - if God delivered me from lions and bears, then I expect to just add Goliath to the list of God given victories.

And we can reason the same way.  If God gave me His only Son, I can expect Him to give me every victory I need.