Life Coaching: How We Treat Others

There is an ongoing controversy in the news about women teaching and preaching the gospel, specifically concerning John MacArthur and Beth Moore, two public figures with worldwide ministries. It’s been in the news this week and I can’t get it off my mind. The short version (in case you live in a cave and haven’t heard) John MacArthur and another dude were on some type of question/answer forum in front of a large group of men. The moderator decided to play a word association game and he gave John MacArthur two words, and asked him to give his reaction. The two words were “Beth Moore,” to which John MacArthur responded “Go home.” And the other dude on the panel called her a narcissist. They went on to compare her to a QVC host selling jewelry. And all the men in the audience laughed. Multiple times. This was recorded and now it’s all over the internet and YouTube. You can google it if you’d like. The encounter was less than 10 minutes long.

Here the thing…I don’t care one way or the other who is theologically correct on the issue of women preaching in church. There are a million different opinions and most are probably wrong. What I DO care about is manners and courtesy. I care about kindness. I care about love.. I care about the fruits of the Spirit being active in the lives of people who are my siblings in Christ. THAT’S what I care about.

Whether or not Beth Moore should be teaching to men, is, to me, irrelevant. The more immediate issue is how do we respond to our brothers and sisters with whom we disagree. I see nowhere in the Bible that we are to roast them on a public forum in order to get a few laughs from the audience. That isn’t right, nor does it promote unity. Proverbs 6 is very clear about things the Lord hates, and one of them is sowing discord among brothers. If I were John MacArthur, I’d “go home”…go home and repent for doing something God detests.

Beth Moore’s response on Twitter was very eloquent, very gracious and very kind. This isn’t the first time this woman has been attacked, and each time (as far as I’ve been able to find out), she’s always responded with gracious words and words that promote unity. That is the fruit of the Spirit in action. Whether a woman should teach men is really not the point. We can strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Well, that camel chokes mightily on the way down, let me tell you. The point is can we just be kind to one another? You know what? I attend church with a diverse group of folks. We don’t always agree on every biblical point. And that’s ok. God can sort that out just fine without my help.

I feel, in this particular circumstance, this lady was sacrificed on the altar of Pharisee-ism and in the fire of entertainment. We don’t need to prove a point at the risk of injuring our brothers and sisters. We shouldn’t aim to kill when we fire our spiritual weapons at one another—and we don’t even need to point that spiritual gun In their direction. I am quite certain none of us are one hundred percent correct on our interpretation of the Scripture. We are all subject to error, even men and women who proclaim themselves to be authorities.

This was heavy on my heart. People smarter than me have already written about it, so it’s easy to find commentaries about it. I’m not gonna write any more. I’m just going to leave this here and you can ponder it today. Be kind to someone. Treat your brothers and sisters as you would want to be treated. God bless you! Maranatha!

Extend the hand of fellowship to your brother!