It has come to my attention that an announcement was made to the Warfield list concerning a web site that has been set up by a member of our church, a site that has been recycling a number of old accusations against us.
I am confident that many of the readers of the Warfield list are experienced pastors, and consequently are not about to believe charges of “corruption” and “dishonesty” for no other reason than that they don’t agree with a couple of my books. But at the same time, I think I have to say something. I have not mentioned the name of that web site here because I don’t think the maintenance of that blog has been spiritually healthy for the individual involved. And since that is the case, then it would not make any sense for me as a pastor to do anything to exacerbate the problem.
But one thing does need to be said about the whole thing. The individual who posted to the Warfield list said that our elders were on the horns of a dilemma. Either we must discipline the gentleman concerned on “trumped-up” charges or we must discipline me (DW) for my dishonesty. This basic line has been stated numerous times by our opponents here in Moscow because they really want us to discipline somebody simply because he disagreed with me. But that is not our style. In the meantime, the accusation that we have “made no effort to shepherd him” is simply false, and so that is what we will continue to try to do. No horns of a dilemma at all. But I would invite anybody who has reason to be concerned about this issue to simply pray for us all.
Our elders posted an exhortation in the comments section of this individual’s blog, and I would like to reiterate the main points of our exhortation here. They apply to all of us, and particularly in situations like this one:
1. Remember the Golden Rule;
2. Don’t demonize motives;
3. Check with the other side before going public;
4. Evaluate your criticisms to see if they are weighty enough to warrant public controversy;
5. Avoid anonymity;
6. Guard against substituting quantity of words for quality of argument;
7. Love accountability;
8. Respect privacy;
9. Don’t vent your feelings (Prov. 29:11);
10. Remember that incarnate Christian living matters.