On March 13, 2008, Eric Redmond of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills Maryland preached at Southeastern. His sermon title was, “Turning the Other Cheek” and was taken from Matthew 5:38-41. The link is provided here. Redmond’s sermon strikes a nerve at the current atmosphere in our convention and further into the actions of bloggers over the last 3 years. The sermon struck a nerve in my spirit and I pray it does all of ours. Below is a written excerpt from the sermon, I may have missed a word or two, but I believe it speaks volumes:
Jesus says, do not defend yourself, don’t fight, do not appeal to the law, do not a man recompense to which you are entitled… go beyond what is demanded, stop thinking in terms of repayment and resistance… In the church, we are failing at this greatly in the blogsphere. What we have done in the blogsphere in the name of integrity or in the name of truth or in the name of this is for the good for the entire convention, yea right, this is for your personal good so that you feel good, in the name of all that. We have gone on to cyberspace and said, here is how we are going to deal with what we see to be evil, we are going to go out there and say all manner of things about the people that we don’t like and we are going to take positions in opposition to the things we don’t believe in, but who in the world told you that you need to be the one to set the record straight? What Jesus says is do not resist evil.
I would suggest listening to the whole sermon before commenting. It is 30 minutes in time, but well worth listening to in its entirety.
“What we have done in the blogsphere in the name of integrity or in the name of truth or in the name of this is for the good for the entire convention, yea right, this is for your personal good so that you feel good, in the name of all that. We have gone on to cyberspace and said, here is how we are going to deal with what we see to be evil, we are going to go out there and say all manner of things about the people that we don’t like and we are going to take positions in opposition to the things we don’t believe in, but who in the world told you that you need to be the one to set the record straight?”
does this post not contradict this sentiment?
But to the point…I’m struggling with all of these things implied as well. I don’t think an injustice is necessarily grounds for suit as a Christian at all. I think the Klouda issue is really a discussion of two issues. The first questions the justness of her removal. The second questions the justness of her suit. One may sympathize with her in the first but not the second. I think that is how basically feel.
I myself have attempted, with some momentary lapses, to greatly curtail my posting and commenting because of this very thing. I certainly have taken great offense at the blatant attack on men and women in whom many disagree with, perhaps rightly so they disagree, however, the personal vendettas and the ‘gossip’ which attempts to pass for reform has greatly troubled me. The truth is however, I am not the one to set such things straight, and time spent fretting over a keyboard could be time spent in prayer or study or visitation. A good word for all of us, regardless of our perceptions or concerns.
jrm
IF,
How? I am also pointing at myself. IOWs, I believe we all can take this sermon to heart, but most importantly, I must take this sermon to heart. I hope you understand my feelings on this.
Jack,
Thanks.
Brother Robin,
This is no doubt an obvious and honest admission from the heart of every blogger. What is in the heart makes it way to the lips, fingers, keyboard and Internet browswer. Different technology (analog to digital), same result.
We as brothers and sisters in Christ are sinners (no excuse by the way), declared righteous by Christ. We should think and grieve about our sin before we hit the enter key.
The Lord is slow to anger, but is not slack.
Proverbs 6:11-19 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man. (12) A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, (13) Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers; (14) Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife. (15) Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing. (16) There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: (17) Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, (18) A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, (19) A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
It’s always good to get a heart check-up! Blogging is just another way to express the heart will less emotion and more exposure. It’s different, but the person at the keyboard only expresses his or her true heart.
Blessings,
Chris
Chris
Further salient words.
robin,
amen.
david
Robin, oh that we would not grieve the Spirit of God with calloused hearts to our own sin. Oh that we could hear His voice and respond with bended knee. Oh that we could offer prayers for all involved and rest in the Lord’s Sovereignty with every detail. To God be the glory…I pray the day comes when glory is all we see.
May we all be called to the Great Physician for a heart check-up and get a transplant if needed.
Thanks for this post, Robin. selahV
My word was “hope” and I do indeed hope and pray that the message of this sermon and post is lived out in each of our lives. Great words for today – all the way around!
Robin,
Thanks for the link and the words. AMEN.
Chris
Robin,
I don’t know if Dr Carson is still at SEBTS or not, I haven’t been since 1998, but I could just here him say
“That’s the point!” “That’ll pweech!”
I am wondering why my comment was deleted.
Great post and great sermon. Those of us who own blogs would do well to consider the implications here. I consider myself “preached to”, and pledge to never attack personalities. However, I fear we have come to a point today where if you even disagree (albeit agreeably) you are considered a rebel, or someone who many these days call a liberal. I consider myself extremely conservative, but I don’t just drink the koolaid of the the CR. So, whenwe disagree with someone or something, we get attacked. I wish it were otherwise. I wish we could disagree without being disagreeable.
Ron W.
This post did not point fingers at anyone. In fact I took it as a personal indictment of some things I have done. If you wish to rephrase your comment without attacking the people you mentioned, that would be fine. Sorry I didn’t email you in time.
Question. If Jesus said do not defend yourself, then why did Paul defend himself and his ministry. Several times he addressed those who said he as not a real apostle and his ministry was false.
Debbie, it was only when the nature of the gospel was under attack through those who would falsely usurp power for personal gain that Paul defended his apostleship (not himself).
A close examination of 2 Corinthians reveals this.
Steve
I think I’m with Debbie on this one…and I am not so sure Jesus said not to resist evil either…I’m glad that founders of our nation didn’t agree with that either.
Robin,
Brother Eric’s words are indeed salient when he says, “we are going to go out there and say all manner of things about the people that we don’t like and we are going to take positions in opposition to the things we don’t believe in, but who in the world told you that you need to be the one to set the record straight?”
I am not sure who he is directing his sermon to but I do not believe we need to limit it to bloggers or the last 3 years. I can recall Paige Patterson’s brother-in-law, Russell Kaemmerling, published a journal during the 80s called The Southern Baptist Advocate. It was supported by Criswell College whose president was Patterson. I also recall a book by Jerry Sutton on the conservative resurgence. Both of these had a lot to say about leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention and the faults of others. Would Brother Eric’s words apply to either Kaemmerling or Sutton or the many others have written similarly outside the blogsphere?
I think we should all remember Jesus’ words when he said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
John W,
What you have said is really important. Look at how Jesus responded to Peter when Peter was more concerned with John’s ability to follow….
John 21:20-23 Peter, turning around, *saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” (21) So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” (22) Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” (23) Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
These days are not much unlike the days of Christ on the lake with Peter and John. Jesus in interested in having followers, but men tend to easily be distracted by the actions of others and like to talk about it. Jesus is saying to us like he said to Peter,…get a clue,…you follow me! Don’t be so concerned about John… “What is that to you?”
Jesus simply asks, “Do you love me more than these”….
Blessings,
Chris
Sabellius: “God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are not three separate entities but simply one, that being God, manifested in three different modes, never at the same time”
Tertullian: “Golly gee, I really want to say something against this, but…this “modalism” is not really attacking the Gospel so much and one can understand the Gospel and be saved by God through this teaching….I think I’ll remain quiet on the issue lest somebody think that I am being mean spirited”.
I, for one, am glad that Tertullian heeded the Apostle Paul’s warnings and did not remain silent.
Grace and Peace to you all…
ABClay
Although I enjoyed the sermon and appreciate the basic premise of the post, I can’t help but see the irony of a blog post that sets the record straight about bloggers who write blog posts to set the record straight and then asks, “who gives you the right”?
A good question for all of us, I suppose.
It reminds me of Arthur Leff’s famous essay, “Sez Who”?
Brother AB,
I think you have illustrated “why” we are not to be silent….”we should never be slack to defend the gospel of God”.
Blessings,
Chris
Chris,
The premise of the sermon is not simply the manner in which we refute “evil”, it is also the question of “should” we refute evil.
The context of the original “sermon” by our Lord was to expound the Law as to how it relates to personal retaliation against those who do evil to you. The Pharisees had been using the “eye for an eye” as justification for vengeance, contrary to the original purpose of the law.
Brother Redmond hits this squarely on the head when he informs us that this is the way that we often respond in the blogsphere with vitriol toward those who we disagree.
I do believe, however, that there is plenty of justification for correcting those who subvert the word of God and the truth that it contains, whether it be knowingly or out of ignorance. This is where I part with Brother Redmond. When he asks, “who in the world told you that you need to be the one to set the record straight?”, I respond that we are to “preach the word, in season and out of season”.
This, as I said before, should never be from an spirit of vengeance or hatred, but in the love of Christ. Are we not to show them “a more perfect way”?
Brother ABClay,
No doubt there exists times when that is necessary.
I trust you had an excellent time at the “Shepherds Conf.”….
Blessings,
Chris
Chris,
The Shepherd’s Conference is as advertised. An enjoyable and rewarding time. Those guys really know how to take care of you there.
Thanks for asking,
ABClay
Steve: Paul’s ministry was under attack, there were those who said he was not the apostle. He defended that more than once.
Also I do believe the gospel is at stake even today. I also do not believe it attacking to name names when things pretty bad are going on. These people are to serve the churches, instead it seems the churches are serving them.
Paul indeed defended the testimony of the gospel and his being a vessel of it. Likewise the false prophets defended their “view” of the goespel. God defended the gospel and endorsed the messenger of it. Likewise He will do so today. Humility is a mark of the gospel. Thanks Robin for helping us remeber this. Humility, not niceness, or pushiness is the mark.
Chris Gilliam
This would be akin to teaching that Peter could sin consistently and demand people turn the other cheek and continue to forgive him but never hold him accountable and he never repents. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what the SBC is teaching these days through the behavior of it’s leaders.
It is called cheap grace.