“Something is wrong my beloved when the Church of Christ just allows this to continue. We are allowing little lambs to be fleeced and slaughtered while those of us who know better are, for the most part, silent. Unless the Body of Christ rises up and starts going after these wolves, we will be just as guilty as they are for allowing God’s children to be destroyed.”
-Nancy A. Almodovar, A Modern Ninety-Five: Questions Today’s Evangelicals Need to Answer
“Those who step forward and bring truth to the light are often accused of “damaging the Gospel.” Isn’t the Gospel about truth and light?”
“Putting aside our “religious” work will often open our eyes and hearts to the beaten and bruised laying in the dirt who have given up hope.”
-Two Tweets by Boz Tchividjian
C.J. Mahaney is at it again! Undoubtedly facing the sting of criticism from a large number of media outlets for his appearance at the Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference last month, Mahaney was doing the only thing he and his fellow Sovereign Grace leaders know to do when facing accurate criticism – attempt to silence their critics! Mahaney resorted to his favorite battering ram, James 3:1-12 as he launches into his tirade against those who dare write Tweet’s opposing him.
Mahaney laments that the internet is “where the presence of uncontrolled tongues and unaccountable people is so prevalent and so damaging to the lives and the reputations of so many.”
CJ, or the “Humble One” as I like to refer to him, has been known to frequently state that “I am the greatest sinner I know.” I suggest we take him at his word. One of the big problems in Evangelical Christianity “leadership” is the fact that the big dogs are not accountable to anyone. One of the T4G panel discussions attempted to persuade their faithful followers that this was not the case with them. Lig Duncan, Al Mohler, Mark Dever and C.J. Mahaney told the crowd that they get together every other year for a few days to plan for the T4G conference. The first thing they do is confess to each other areas they are struggling in. This could take up to an hour per person! What models of accountability these men are! How fortunate we are that they share these few morsels with us.
In reality I would say this is a farce. Brent Detwiler had this to say about the Humble One and his accountability:
“We also asked if the CLC pastors were speaking into your life. You assured us they were. (Later we discovered this was untrue. They were providing very little input.) If true, we asked why we were not updated on the team level. We talked about the disconnect between us being evaluated by you, but you not being evaluated by us. We also talked about other issues and examples but I have not included them here.
…C.J. badly misled us in this regard. Dave (Dave Harvey) and I (Brent Detwiler) were shocked by the almost total lack of accountability we later discovered in his life. This profound lack of authenticity really affected us given C.J.’s teaching on the subject. C.J. has yet to confess his patterns of hypocrisy or share specific examples.”
-Brent Detwiler, “Three Years Trying to Help C.J. (Dec. 2000 to Dec. 2003)”
And let’s not forget how the Humble One submitted to Covenant Life Church pastors, again the model of accountability. Brent Detwiler said:
“So is C.J. leaving because he disagrees with the pastors? Is he leaving because he feels shamed or mistreated by them? Is he leaving because he finds them inept or unable to pastor him? Is he leaving because he doesn’t trust them? All of these sinful reactions are familiar patterns in C.J.’s life. Or, from the Lord’s perspective, is he leaving because he doesn’t want their pastoral input, he is offended, and Joshua and the pastors are building a church contrary to his wishes?
So, C.J. and Carolyn have packed their bags and taken off to greener pastures where C.J. can “receive care and counsel,” “examine [his] life and leadership,” and “consider [his] future.” Wow, who needs the CLC pastors to do any of that! And who could get away with this but C.J.? Men throughout the history of the movement have sat tight during similar circumstances.
C.J. wrote today, “Some of you have asked where I will be attending church during my leave. That’s a good question, as it’s not uncommon for pastors to take a leave in a church that is away from their home congregations, and this seems wise.” This is a case of SGM spin. It is partly true but mostly false. It is true that pastors outside of SGM may attend another church while undergoing evaluation but that has never been true for us. It has never been the case in the history of Sovereign Grace Ministries. No pastor has been granted “asylum” or refuge in other church or been transferred to someone’s pastoral care outside of SGM. Of course, the SGM Board thinks this is best. But do the CLC pastors think this is best?
Here is what Joshua said on Wednesday. “We’re torn over this decision. We understand C.J. wanting to attend where he feels he can best be cared for and best serve his family, but we also have reasons why we think it would be good for him to stay at Covenant Life.” Did the SGM Board and C.J. pursue input from the CLC pastors before making the decision to have C.J. and Carolyn pull out of CLC? It doesn’t sound like it.
Talk about contrary to SGM polity. Since when can the Board pull rank over the local church and C.J.’s pastors and determine church membership and pastoral care without their input? Never! The support of the SGM Board in C.J.’s decision is secondary. They are not C.J.’s pastors! C.J. is a not a member of Dave Harvey’s Covenant Fellowship Church! He’s a member of Covenant Life Church. That’s doctrinal hypocrisy. I’m afraid the happiest place on earth is now the last place on earth you’ll find C.J. and Carolyn.”
-Brent Detwiler, “C.J.’s Flight From Covenant Life”
And then in the recording above the Humble One has the nerve to state how these evil Tweeters have damaged his life and reputation! Of course he doesn’t specifically mention himself, that would not be humble, but it’s pretty obvious that the narcissist is always talking about himself. No mention of the many lives damaged by abuse in Sovereign Grace churches. I saw the comment below on the Wartburg Watch and thought this indvidual did a good job of summing up the disgust many former Sovereign Grace members have for Mahaney:
So my advice to Tweeters? Continue to use your tweets to speak out about the injustices, lies and hypocrisy found among C.J. Mahaney and his loyal band of enablers. Let him continue his ridiculous antics in the pulpit. He can flail his arms, stomp, scream, whisper and cry all he wants. We who tell the truth are the ones doing the Lord’s work.
My suggestion to C.J. Mahaney is to follow his own advice below and shut his pie hole. You have said more than enough Charles Joseph Mahaney. Do the respectable thing and remove yourself from the pulpit. You make a mockery of Christ.
“Proud persons are of all others the most impatient of church discipline, and incapable of living under the government of Christ. If they sin, they can scarce endure the gentlest admonition; but if they are reproved sharply (or cuttingly) that they may be sound in the faith, you shall perceive that they smart by their impatience. But if you proceed to more public reproof and admonition, and call them to an open confession of their sin to those whom they have wronged, or before the congregation, and to ask forgiveness, and seriously crave the prayers of the church, you shall then see the power of pride against the ordinance and commands of God. How scornfully will they spurn at these reproofs and exhortations! How obstinately will they refuse to submit to their unquestionable duty! And how hardly are they brought to confess the most notorious sins! Or to confess that it is their duty to confess them; though they would easily believe that it is the duty of another, and would exhort another to do that which they refuse!”
-Richard Baxter, “The Signs of Pride in and about Religious Duties”
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