Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. –Proverbs 26:27
I haven’t been able to get this proverb out of my mind for a few weeks now. When I first began meditating on this verse it was the Lord using it to rebuke and chisel away at aspects of my pastoral heart. These verses also came to mind while being a distant observer to the latest firestorm on Twitter. This time it involves a stalwart of the Conservative Resurgence, Paige Patterson.
I suppose I thought of this verse because of my experience in reading A Hill On Which to Die by Judge Paul Pressler. (Pressler, by the way, is also now being accused of years of sexual abuse). I had to read this book for a seminary class about five years ago. When I gave a short review of this book back then I wrote these words: “If you are looking for something that would make a conservative like myself repulsed at the politics and ridiculously lofty claims about the resurgence then this book is also for you.”
That was putting it very lightly. I was seriously repulsed by what I perceived as men doing the right thing in the wrong ways. As a child of the conservative resurgence what we’ve inherited, thankfully, is a biblical worldview and confidence in the authenticity of Scripture. I’m grateful for the work of these men in battling for the inerrancy of Scripture. A right battle. But we’ve also inherited a fighting and divisive spirit. I’m convinced some of the ills we still experience in the SBC comes from the ungodly ways in which we did battle during the CR.
Newton and Schaeffer
As one heavily influenced by men like John Newton and Francis Schaeffer, I was appalled by the way in which so much went down during the conservative resurgence. Newton and Schaeffer are men who did not shy away from controversy but somehow seemed to keep their heads about them. Schaeffer endured his own battle for conservatism in the 1940’s and 50’s and had this to say about the controversy:
As I have thought perhaps more quietly than in previous days, it has seemed to me that in the past there has been a fallacy in my thinking. That fallacy is simply this: that insofar as we are so abundantly right (as we are concerning the Biblical position), therefore it would certainly follow of a necessity that God’s rich blessing would rest upon us as individuals and as a movement. I no longer believe this is so. For increasingly the realization has welled up in my own soul that although this principle of separation is of tremendous importance, nevertheless there are other principles in the Word of God which must be kept with equal fidelity if God’s full blessing is to be upon us…(From the Letters of Schaeffer)
I believe that during our own Conservative Resurgence we didn’t learn the lesson which Schaeffer learned. And it has cost us. We have seen an increase in polarization and infighting in what was promised to be a time of piece. I’ve observed many stones being rolled up hills in order to crush the opposition. And I guess it was thought that they (we?) were doing the Lord’s work in lugging these boulders up the hill to squash those who opposed things like inerrancy. We dug pits for modernism and postmodernism and liberal agenda. But now the stones are rolling back down the hill and our feet are inching towards the graves we dug.
I’m talking about the way in which battle was waged.
In Ed Stetzer’s recent post on Paige Patterson he mentioned “the letter from Patterson” that he received when he dared oppose him. Listen, I’m a peon when it comes to Southern Baptist life. And writing stuff like this will likely keep me there. But I also know people, whom I greatly trust, who who have letters of their own. Letters where they had dared question Patterson and received a scathing response in return. Though only having my toe in the waters of SBC life I’ve also experienced this ‘no criticism zone’. It’s a real thing. And it’s a real problem.
Rolling Stones
So here is why I’m writing all of this. I feel myself wanting to join in with those who are now pushing stones up hills and digging a pit for Patterson. And I don’t even know the guy, not really. And that scares me. It scares me because I had hoped that maybe our generation would have the chutzpah and the gospel-centrality to stop this madness. I’d hoped the gospel would have gone a bit deeper in my own heart. (Which is probably a dream of madness in itself).
What I mean is that I see this pattern repeating itself. I see people rolling stones up a hill to crush their opponents and then the boulder comes back down on them. The upcoming generation of onlookers get a bit of twisted glee from watching this old cartoon rerun. Then we do the same silly thing. We pick up the boulder and give it a roll ourselves. That’s what I’m seeing right now. I’m watching this Twitter storm and everyone calling for the head of Paige Patterson. And they’re probably right in calling for repentance and change and a laying down of power. But those stones are going to roll right back down again.
Those words of Schaeffer keep echoing in my mind. God doesn’t just bless those who do the right thing. It also requires doing the right thing in the right way. And that is why my heart is grieving. I’m thankful for much of the work from the Conservative Resurgence. I’m also thankful for much of the good I see coming from the #MeToo movement, recent growth in racial reconciliation, and our gospel-centered movement. But I’m also grieved. I’m grieved because I see us lugging boulders up hills and grabbing shovels.
And I know how this story ends. I’ve seen it before. So I’m grieved. And we’re seeing it now with Paige Patterson. In my opinion, he didn’t fight well. The stone is coming back upon him. Will we now lay our hands upon the boulders?
The Gospel Way
Yet, this is the way of humanity, isn’t it? This isn’t just the story we replay over and over with ourselves. It’s the story we tried to foist upon Christ as well. We dug a grave for him. We pushed a stone up the hill. Humanity would have the Christ entombed. But we’ve fallen into our own pits. The stone has come back upon us, crushing our hopes and dreams.
But Jesus changed the story. He changed the narrative. Where is Jesus in all of this? We fell in the pit we dug for him and rather than shoveling dirt on us, he pulled us out of the miry clay. He’s setting our feet upon the rock that crushed us; the very same rock we were hauling up the hill to crush him with. That’s the way of Jesus.
It’s gospel time. That doesn’t mean we don’t call abusers to account. It doesn’t mean we don’t passionately pursue racial reconciliation. It doesn’t mean we don’t fight for women, for justice, and for all of which the implications of the gospel call us to work towards. But it does mean we do it as gospel people. It means we realize ultimate justice comes from the Lord. It means the way we engage is formed by the way of Jesus.
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