Thread by @RScottClark

Tullian violated his oath, violated God’s law repeatedly, had extra-marital sex with a married member of his congregation, was defrocked, was given ANOTHER position of trust, broke that, defied presbytery & session, & has planted a church.

https://twitter.com/reachjulieroys/status/1163082397652529152

“Across Christian denominations, it’s generally the professional and moral standard that clergy refrain from sexual contact with parishioners, said Nancy Duff, the Stephen Colwell Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary.”

Here’s Narcissism: While he was married, while he was her pastor, he had sex with a married member of his congregation.
“Tchividjian said his “infidelity in 2015 was completely wrong, morally & ethically.” But, he said, there was no element of abuse in that or the other affair.”

He really doesn’t ser the abuse. This is another reason why he ISN’T a pastor. Who re-ordained him? To whom is he accountable? The presbytery removed him from office. He’s no longer a minister. He has no authority.

He has been sent by no one. What’s his basis for planting this congregation? He ferls compelled to tell HIS story. That’s the definition of Narcissism.

A pastor is a shepherd of Christ’s lambs. He had a sacred trust to care for those lambs, to preach the law & the gospel, to care for, to protect them. Instead he chose to have sex w/one of them.

What happened to the lamb he separated from the flock for his own ends? “The continuation of his career, while Steele said she was ostracized and her life floundered after their affair, was hard on her and her faith.

“The loss of my faith hurts and you can’t get that back,”

“The Sanctuary” is ostensibly a “a judgment-free congregation “ but what about Jesus’ judgment of those who cause a little one to stumble?

“but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt 18:6)

Every defense of Tullian’s decision to defy the church is grounded in his story, his gifts, his personality. It’s the definition of Narcissism.

*feels compelled*

Think about what happened at Willow Creek PCA. He violated his oath, is removed from office by presbytery. Willow Creek gives him a non-ministerial/quasi-ministerial position but he wasn't straight with them. They had to fire him.

What would a penitent person think? He would think: "I've sinned against God. I violated my oath of office. I've violated the trust of my congregation. I violated the trust of the congregation that tried to take me in. The church has spoken at the regional & local levels."

He would think: "I've destroyed the life of one of Christ's lambs. Clearly pastoral ministry is not my vocation. I need to sell time shares."

The story he should be telling is that of a former minister who was made a laymen by his church, a story of penitence wrought by grace. That story should be told quietly in a congregation where he's accountable to elders. That would be a great story but it isn't his.

*made a layman*

The opening line of the story is telling: “Preacher Tullian Tchividjian told his congregation on a recent Sunday that he sees himself in a story from the Gospel of John.”

No, Tullian, a congregation needs to see Jesus!

The congregation also needs to hear God’s holy law in all three uses, including the 3rd, the normative use. That’s going to be problematic when they get to the 5th commandment. How has Tullian honored his presbytery or the session at Willow Creek by defying their just judgment?

The 7th commandment is obviously problematic. “It was consensual” is not repentance.

The 8th commandment creates problems: from where are these worshippers coming? At least some of them are coming from other churches.

The 9th commandment? Did Tullian tell the truth to Willow Creek? No. Is he penitent? No.

James 2:14 seems applicable here: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?”

There is a difference between mere profession and true faith. The latter produces fruit, evidence.

Belgic Conf: “So then, it is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being, seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith but of what Scripture calls "faith working through love," which leads a man to do by himself the works that God has commanded in his Word.”

There are three parts to the Christian faith: Guilt (under the just condemnation of the law); Grace (God’s free favor, in Christ, to helpless sinners), & Gratitude, the Christian life lived, in union Christ, by grace alone, through faith alone.

In the Christian life we acknowledge our sins, we turn from them, seek to die to them daily & live to Christ according to his holy law not in order to be saved but *because we have been saved” by grace alone, through faith alone.