Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, February 21, 2004
 | Outed! (Part 3)
Here are some references to catch you up on this issue: |
In the latest development of the Jim Vineyard scandal/saga, a brand new poster has appeared in the Oklahoma Baptist College forum of the FFF to make public the identity of the pastor who wrote a letter to Jim Vineyard rebuking him for describing oral sex in graphic detail to a young lady and advising her to masturbate (all this in the guise of "counseling" her, though she had not asked him to counsel her). (For a more detailed synopsis, click here.) While this attempt to unmask the man who rebuked Vineyard is clearly more OBC intimidation, it seems pretty lame to me. Indeed, I cannot understand why this pastor chose anonymity in the first place.
As I have remarked before, as long as men who have taken the office of being shepherds of the flock choose to be timid, we will have bullies doing pretty much as they please. But surely he knew that Vineyard and his followers have known his identity ever since Vineyard received the letter of rebuke from him (a very well written letter, by the way). So why hide his identity from the people who would support him and respect him for doing the Biblical thing in confronting Vineyard?
These IFB preachers, even those who fear the Lord, would really benefit from sitting down and learning to think things through. A good course in the Art of War would help them see that most of the same principles are inherent in the Scripture, and for the exact same reason: wisdom and foresight win every battle, not courage alone, nor caution alone. If your first goal is to protect yourself, you will never gain anything at all---not even the protection of yourself! ("For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.")
Anyway, in a strange coincidence, the posters named Dissenting View and Supporter (who loudly proclaimed Vineyard to be "God's anointed" and thus beyond rebuke) disappeared on the exact same day that Vineyard and part of his entourage left for a trip to Israel.
Meanwhile, the posts on Criminal behavior/Power Rapist got the attention of a few people, including a mother who wants her son to get out of that place. A few brand new people appeared on the board to ask a some questions and then disappear.
Some people argue that it's nearly hopeless to fight abuses of the pulpit simply by raising a stink, but I think it's very profitable. For one thing, nothing is gained without systematic documentation, and while the FFF is hardly systematic, it provides a wealth of references and contacts for those of us who want to create systematic documentation of abuses in IFB pulpits. Second, if we let time play a role in the effort to demand purity in the pulpits of the IFB, then the increasing wealth of charges of abuse creates a body of evidence. Third, by keeping these matters public, we see the evidence of incorrect teaching and bad doctrine in those who still blindly follow their IFB pastors under the incorrect idea that a pastor has some type of special anointing that makes him above reproach and not accountable to own people.
The arrogance and lust have to be exposed. And the ignorance and error have to be made plain and then addressed from Scripture. People suffer in these corrupt churches, and God's people are estranged from Him by the teaching of error. For the glory of God and the proper exaltation of His name, these abuses have to be addressed.
