The “Featured Photo” for this posting is of the space in front of the post office where an outside mail collection box had stood for decades but was now gone.
I Decided to Respond.
In the morning, I understood that I needed to compose a response to my friend to honor our friendship and the number of hours that we had spent together discussing many of the issues the quote, and the interview from which it came, raised anew. I also realized that I would need to consider other issues that touched upon the true centrality of our faith – our relationship with Christ in intimate prayer and His kingdom, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians. With everything else going on at the time, it took me four days to think and pray through my response, and write and rewrite it, before I thought my response was perfected enough to send.
Letter to Friend
August 30, 2020
Friend,
Thank you for sending me this excerpt (your message copied below for reference) from Pastor MacArthur’s interview with Ryan Helfenbein at the Liberty University Falkirk Center for comment. Family and friends had already sent me the video of the interview and some friends have already engaged me in discussion on its full content. I realized that after listening to the interview in its entirety a number of times, that this interview illustrates some of the issues of Grace church and Pastor MacArthur’s teaching that you and I had already discussed at length when we used to meet for coffee before the pandemic.
As you may recall, we discussed how at Grace, very rarely is there an emphasis upon individual thought and prayer or reliance on the Holy Spirit. This interview, obviously designed to reach the president’s evangelical base in a much wider circle than just within the hearing of the pulpit at Grace, attempts biblically to corral the minds of those identifying as evangelicals to secure and deliver their vote for the reelection of the president. However, sadly, because this is a pastor speaking, there is no appeal here, or even suggestion, that the individual Christian should think through these issues, taking every thought captive to Christ and His gospel, and to the two greatest commandments given to us as individuals and to the church as a whole – to love God with our whole heart and mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves – this love, because of the context of this interview, and the issues of great weight now constantly swirling around us, defined as a love of our neighbor that transcends and is regardless of the social, cultural, political, or racial labels, or economic value the national worldview and mindset assigns to any individual, for all persons are created in the image and likeness of God, a love further defined as a love that truly does not forget the gospel was first announced as “good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people”, to shepherds, the lowest of the lowly of that day. In the interview, there was no mention of the two great commandments and there was a definite avoidance of any suggestion that the individual believer should pray or think, thus providing no encouragement to love God with our whole heart and mind through prayer and thought.
And there was also no affirmation or reminder that believers have been given the Holy Spirit to empower and to direct and guide them into the ways of holiness and gospel living, filling them with knowledge and grace, conforming them into the image of Christ. So rather than speaking of Jesus and His kingdom and gospel or the Holy Spirit, Pastor MacArthur says in this interview, as you partially quote in your message to me, “Christians could not vote Democratic”, and then near the end of this section of the interview, he said that in a phone call, he told the President himself, “any real believer is going to be on your side”. In essence, Pastor MacArthur is here saying he can speak for all Christians, thus elevating his political/biblical thoughts and positions – “going to be on your side” – as something all “true believers” would essentially just do, “true believers” here now defined as those who agree with his political pronouncements and who along with him will stand behind this man for reelection, conferring honor and the support of the church upon him, none of which Pastor MacArthur can actually do, except in his own heart and mind, and none of which he should attempt to do, for the church is not his, but Christ’s, which he does not mention.
Without emphasizing the individual’s relationship to Christ and the commands upon us to pray always and in everything, and without referencing the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the individual’s lives, Pastor MacArthur in this interview seems to abrogate to himself the work of the Holy Spirit in the individual’s life and in the church as a whole. He is speaking as if his political views and words are of the Lord, and he, in my view, is in fact is tempting believers to support, without thought or prayer or seeking the direction and help of the Holy Spirit, a man who exalts himself in pride and arrogance, who lies and deceives, who promotes himself as savior from the chaos and darkness he himself has created and continually incites, and who has formed and heads an administration that is corrupt and lawless and devoid of justice and mercy. The president’s only interest in the church is to deeply manipulate as many Evangelical leaders and pastors as possible to bless and thus aid his reelection campaign by proclaiming his praises to their congregations and to whomever else they can reach through all the media at their own disposal. These manipulated leaders and pastors, some very willingly, are thus not protecting believers from temptation and sin, but rather they are actively shepherding God’s people into placing their trust in an evil man and thus delivering them over to sharing in his evil.
However, all sides involved in this dark enterprise of sin and betrayal have forgotten that the Lord knows how to rescue and protect His people from temptation, sin, idolatry, and from those who in their words, actions, and hearts factually despise Him. They either do not understand or they have put aside the knowledge that He will bring judgement upon those who are polluting and misshaping His church by working to turn the hearts and minds of His people to something else, to someone else, other than Him, as they promote this corrupt and lawless man as an object worthy of a Christian’s praise and allegiance – as a man in whom they can trust in with their whole heart – as Pastor MacArthur seems to do in this interview.
Now, in all my conversations, in responding verbally or electronically to questions put before me, and in everything I write, I try never to tell anyone what to think – there is just so, so much of that going on as one of the primary pillars of the evil descending upon us nationally and within the church – but rather I urge the person to thoughtfully consider all that is before them, at times offering them perhaps an additional or different way or perspective with which to view an issue or situation. I gently urge them to think. And for Christians, I also gently and lovingly urge them to bring everything to the Lord, to Jesus, in intimate prayer, in their heart and mind taking the hands of Jesus, letting their fingers rest upon the imprints of the nails, to consider Jesus as the exact image of God revealed to us, as the one who is truly the Savior of the world, to pray for and seek a close walk with the Holy Spirit and to follow His leading, to trust in the Lord with all their heart, and to ask God to give them wisdom and grace in fulfilling the two great commands, love of God, love of neighbor, in every dimension of their lives. This is now what I gently, and with Christ’s love, pray for you and enjoin upon you as a friend.
Again, thank you for communicating honestly with me on this issue. As I indicated, I have already been engaged with a few friends in working through the implications of this interview, and responding to your message has given me an opportunity to construct even more coherent thought on the issues that my friends and I have already been touching upon. I will share with them your question and the quote from the interview, without using your name of course, along with my thoughts and response, and this I believe will spur us on to even more dialogue and discussion, helping all of us to frame thoughtful and intelligent responses to these and similar issues that come our way concerning the interview and other issues at Grace church. I will also be able to use this for additional witnessing to my family as I again speak of Jesus and His kingdom, and the good news of His gospel of hope, compassion and healing. Again, thank you for this opportunity in communicating with you.
Chris
Your message
The President thanked pastor MacArthur for taking a stand and said church is essential. They also discussed that “from a Biblical standpoint” why Christians couldn’t vote for a democratic candidate. “There is no way a Christian can affirm the slaughter of babies, homosexual activity, homosexual marriage, or any kind of gross immorality…no way we could stand behind a candidate who is affirming transgender behavior,” MacArthur said as he referenced Romans 1.
(For the readers of this post: August 21, 2020, was the date of the interview of our pastor with Ryan Helfenbein. I reference it now as I had not referenced the date in my letter to my friend.)
Response from Friend & Second Letter to Him
On September 1, two days after I sent my letter, I received a full-page email letter in response. The letter stated in part that I missed the point of the quote, that I wandered off into all kinds of personal biases, that I did not address the principles in the quote, that because Democrats believe a woman should be able to access a legal abortion they are satanic servants and they support all kinds of perversity, that the president is not perfect but his morality was not part of the quote, that our pastor’s mission is to preach the Word of God and encourage others to live by the same, that no one can argue with his testimony, that he is not perfect, and that my friend will pray that I would reconsider my ways.
I considered, but only very briefly this time, not continuing to engage because again of the time it would take to respond, but I knew I needed to continue to honor our friendship and his communication with me. However, I knew from experience that in responding to a lengthy communication that was filled with polemics, at least in my mind, that it was a mistake to attempt to answer or engage on every point, and that if I was going to be able to be a benefit to him through anything I wrote, that my words needed to address the most important issues. Thus, with this purpose, I wrote again.
Second Letter to Friend
September 7, 2020
Friend,
I did not miss the point of the quote, for I treated and addressed it consistent with its original intent, as a Christian wrapped political statement designed to bypass critical thinking and prayer by presenting a false dichotomy for a Christian – an extreme black and white choice between the two political candidates/parties, with the only “biblical” choice – the president – already supplied and designated as “upholding righteousness”. To me, the true dichotomy, as I believe I addressed in my letter, is between, on the one hand, being “spiritually” corralled, pressured, into supporting, honoring, and submitting to a demonstratively evil, morally and politically corrupt, and godless man, and, on the other hand, to focusing our heart and mind on Jesus Christ as our king and on His kingdom and the light and hope of His gospel, seeking the Lord in intimate prayer, walking closely with the Spirit, and thinking and praying through all the issues, evils, and dangers, so prevalent in the present political process and its calculated infiltration into the church.
Now, reading over my first letter to you, I realized I had failed to state that just by writing that letter, I already understood that I was now not considered a, “real believer”, by Grace church, being consigned to this status by the political behavioral definition of a true Christian proclaimed by our pastor to the president, as one being “on your side”. I also understand that this may mean, at least in the minds of some, that I should now be put out of the church, but…still…I cannot and will not support or honor, or back, or be enthralled, to a man who is lawless, arrogant, and who only uses the church – and thus Christ, the gospel, and God’s people – for his own sinfully prideful, destructive, and evil ways. He is not imperfect, as you state; he is godless and evilly motivated. I can never be on his side, whoever tempts or tries spiritually to intimidate me to such a position; I truly cannot even bear to hear this man speak.
I run to and cling to Christ by necessity, I embrace and try faithfully to live His gospel, I pursue and pray for an even closer walk with the Holy Spirit, and I work towards a more faithful and joyful obedience to the two great commandments. I believe this is the true choice and goal for every believer. How can any Christian argue against striving towards a greater love for God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to strengthening our pursuit of effectively and intelligently loving our neighbor as ourselves with compassion, thought, and kindness? How can any Christian not admonish, encourage, and urge upon another believer to do the same? I cannot cease encouraging believers to love God and their neighbor with greater strength. For me, to argue against or ignore the two great commandments, or to be silent when they are put aside and diminished, would truly be a violation and destruction of God’s word in my heart and mind, a total sinful eclipsing of the love of God and neighbor in my behaviors and life, and a total abandonment of any walk with the Holy Spirit.
Now, last Wednesday, while I was in the process of thinking through and beginning to write this letter to you, I listened to the half-hour midweek teaching/prayer/communion service from another church, and from that service, following are two very timely, thoughtful, and gentle exhortations by the pastor. These exhortations are very much in line with the work of the Holy Spirit in my own heart and mind in encouraging my faith and trust in Christ and in strengthening my prayer life during these admittedly difficult times, and I offer them just as additional thoughts for consideration.
We need to give more time to prayer so that we stay rooted in faith, hope, and love because I promise you that there are all sorts of forces that are trying to move you into fear, then into a kind of desperation or despair and then away from love and into hate and you don’t want any of that, so that we have to deliberately draw near to God and spend more time in prayer and I encourage that especially during the fall of 2020.
When you are going through a period of drought, we can acknowledge our own doubt and pain, but don’t turn away from the Lord, then you are cutting yourself off from the love and grace and the life that God brings to us in Christ. If we rebel against God by not trusting in God, we wind up with anxiety. We encourage each other even in hard times simply to trust. I trust in Jesus and that he will bring me through this. We do not need to be fearful, but we trust in God.
I end this letter to you with just one observation about the quote from our pastor and the two ensuing positions/themes present in our correspondence. The intent and therefore goal of the quote is to tell believers which party to support and which particular candidate to vote for without any thought or prayer; I do not urge anyone to vote for any candidate, and my position in this letter is that a Christian should not succumb to spiritual intimidation from whatever source, but seek the Lord in intimate prayer and walk closely with the Holy Spirit in this process and in all things. For me, this understanding of our biblically enjoined total dependence upon the Lord and the Holy Spirit will not change.
Again, thank you for your communication with me on this aspect of the turmoil and divisiveness infecting and raging through our nation and the church. As I stated in my previous letter, it helps me in my own thought and in the discussions with other friends, and will assist me greatly in my continued witnessing of Christ and His Kingdom to my family and others.
Chris
(For the readers of this post: I did not provide the sermon quote information in the letter as I did not think that would add to the receptivity of the letter, but here for the readers of this post is the source of the sermon quote: Brian Zahnd, Pastor at Word of Life Church, Saint Joseph, MO – Noon Prayer & Communion Service, 09/02/20. Church website: wolc.org )
Word of Life Church (wolc.com)
Epilogue:
This letter ended our correspondence/dialogue. I did not receive anything further from this friend. Thinking about it, maybe I could have been wiser with my last letter. In addition to what I wrote, maybe I also should have more directly engaged on the issue of abortion, as he was deeply committed in his work against abortion, even weekly, I believe, standing outside an abortion clinic trying to persuade women not to proceed with the procedure. Perhaps I could have said more to truly invite a response, perhaps introducing then a different approach to the issue of abortion than the false dichotomy of the quote. Maybe eventually we would have been able to discuss the issue of abortion without all the political rhetoric and anger and engendered animosity already firmly embedded within it and greatly exacerbated as a key campaign issue. Perhaps then we could have begun to come together to discuss this deep and critical issue within what I think is the proper context – as a community issue encompassing the health and care of the woman and the baby – the community being the village, town and city, the state, and the nation, into which the child is born or carried. Maybe I could have helped move the dialogue to the place where much consensus already exists – the health and care and welfare of the woman and child – the life extending far beyond birth. Perhaps we could have initiated and begun the hard conversations and work to holistically address this issue, not for political and campaign advantage, but as a community work for the good of the woman and the child and all, starting with the community of the village as the first carefully placed brick in building a renewed community from our fractured and fracturing nation. To me, that is the correspondence and dialogue to engage in, the only one with hope and good for all at its center. For abortion, merely as a campaign issue, is an ugly and deeply deceptive political ploy and a false and empty hope for the child, the woman, and the nation.
Postscript:
I realized, though not fully, that when I was writing these two letters – plus all the other “notes” I wrote each morning dealing with these issues – that I was also exploring and writing for a greater understanding of even broader issues that, in a little more than two weeks later, came together to produce my letter withdrawing my membership from the church I had attended for more than forty years. I sensed that was where I was headed and at the end of my first letter I wrote, “I have already been engaged with a few friends in working through the implications of this interview, and responding to your message has given me an opportunity to construct even more coherent thought on the issues that my friends and I have already been touching upon”. This was perhaps also one of the reasons why I took so much time and worked so hard with these letters.
Now as I ponder the path and the steps over the past years and those more recent approaching the election that led to these letters and the eventual letter withdrawing my membership, I see the Lord’s hand and the direction of the Holy Spirit in all of this including:
- The letters I had previously written over the years to our pastor and the church elders concerning the preached political overlays upon Christ and His gospel and the growing and deepening political penetration into the teaching and life of the church,
- The eventual enormity of the church’s support for this man of lies and deception,
- The news reports of actions by the newly appointed Post Office General that seemed designed to effectively disenfranchise thousands,
- The death and memorial service of the great America, John Lewis, and President Obama’s impassioned call to protect the vote and to fight the seemingly endless attempts at voter suppression,
- The trip to my local post office to mail that week’s postcard stories and my discovery of the missing outside mail collection box,
- My writing to many government officials informing them of the missing mailbox and sending a copy of my letter to family and certain friends,
- The interview of my pastor where he spoke of his phone call with the president and his declaration that, “any real believer is going to be on your side”,
- My receipt of the interview video from two sources,
- The receipt of email from the state of California informing me of the ballot tracking system – and my misunderstanding of why I received it – and forwarding the email out to family and a wider circle of friends,
- My hesitation over forwarding the state’s email to one friend but sending it in obedience to the Holy Spirit’s leading,
- The response from the friend I had hesitated to send the tracking ballot email to with a quote from the video interview,
- The correspondence between us arising from the quote from that interview.
- The writing of these two posts because of and as a cumulative result of all these events.
All the things above led to the two letters between a friend and me and my eventual letter withdrawing my membership from my church. With the admonition of John Lewis, I definitely began to attempt to engage in “good trouble”, and I hope to some degree, I was successful. In addition, also with everything above, I am now able to produce these two postings for which I hope, in at least a few other lives, an open reception and use for good.
From these two posts, I also now realize that I should also post the letters that I had written in past years to the pastor and elders of my church, providing now a wider and better context to these two letters to a friend and the letter withdrawing my membership.
End of Part 2
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