“Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore it if it be goodness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance and Other Essays
I have always been one to fight for justice, to take up the cause of the little man, and to confront the abuses of the rich and powerful. I like straight shooters, I dislike liars, especially in the pulpit. Thus, when one of the pastors at UCCD wrote me the following:
As you may have noticed, I have removed several of your past posts from our church’s Facebook page. The posts removed deal with the crisis at Sovereign Grace. I sympathize with your concern for these important issues, however, I feel that the posts deal with the issues at play in ways that are unhelpful for our congregation and the members of the Facebook group.
I decided it was time to find a new church. What had in fact occurred was the pastor who wrote me the above email had, that very day, strong-armed a fellow member who had started and maintained a private Facebook group into ceding control of the group to him, removed my posts which highlighted the sexual abuse and conspiracy to cover-up the abuse by SGM church leaders, and then wrote me the email.
My former senior pastor labeled me “edgy.” It wasn’t meant as a compliment, but I took it as one. I like what Roger E. Olson, in his book “How To Be Evangelical Without Being Conservative” said about being edgy: “Evangelicalism should be an “edgy” religious and spiritual attitude and habit of the heart.”
Thus, owing to the hand of Providence, I started writing to expose physical and spiritual abuse and bring about much-needed reform to the corrupt Evangelical church. Whether our efforts meet with success is in God’s hands. I simply try to stay true to my calling.
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” ― Martin Luther
Email Todd Wilhelm at: tlwdxb@protonmail.com
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