By Elizabeth Prata
When the sad news broke about formerly well respected Reformed preacher Steve Lawson, head pastor of a Dallas church, leader in several ministries, and Dean of the Doctor of Ministry program at The Master’s Seminary, had an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman, I wrote about it, but only the factual news and shared a few scriptures.
As I waited to see what would happen, there were several things on my mind and heart I hadn’t shared. Some were sparked by the vagueness of the original announcement from Lawson’s church (Trinity Bible Church). Some sparked by the surprisingly angry tone of some insiders tweeting, and some thoughts came to me as I pondered it over the days following. I wondered also about the swiftness Lawsons’ ministry doors closed and deleted.
One thing I spotted was this line in the church announcement-
The elders have met with Steve and will continue to come alongside him and pray for him with the ultimate goal of his personal repentance
That looks to me like he had not repented yet. Not if it is a ‘goal’. And is there any other kind of repentance than ‘personal’?
Well, yesterday, Phil Johnson @Phil_Johnson_ tweeted more details. His series of tweets are now deleted. He said he deleted in deference to Lawson’s church, who is charged biblically with handling the situation. But Johnson’s information went a long way to resolving some questions for me and for many others.
1/3 Almost. Steve himself informed the elders, but only after the girl’s father had confronted Steve and threatened exposure. This was not a noble confession of sin.
2/3 “Inappropriate” is too ambiguous—as if someone merely caught them holding hands. This was a 5-year relationship with strong romantic overtones. Both parties insist no literal fornication was involved, but their tie to one another was adulterous in spirit, if not in fact.
3/3 He is 73. She is in her late 20s. She is not a member of his church. In fact, she lives in a different state nowhere close to any of the ministries Steve served. I don’t believe any good end would be served by exposing her identity to the public.
I don’t want to be crude, but I flat out do not believe the statement about no intimacy of any kind.
Anyway, it’s even more sordid than we thought. I’m sure it will get worse. Sin always does. Remember, both the woman and the man involved were outed unwillingly. Unrepentant people caught in sin always share the least amount of facts so as to either justify their sin or downplay it. In fact, Lawson preached one last message as the situation was building to blow open publicly, and mentioned (out of context) that a man should not be judged by his one “hiccup.”
Five years is a long time to be hiccuping.
I was upset and angry. It’s a massive betrayal of his wife, family, church, ministries, and the Bride. Not to mention against Jesus.
If you are reading this and are in Christ Jesus, think about that anger for a moment. Why, when faced with new information, did so many people trip from ‘sad, it could have been me, let’s forgive’, to ‘I’m furious and upset and will never, ever listen to him again’ ? More on that below.
As I watched social media since the news broke, there was shock, and from the pagans, mocking of Calvinism, accusations of coverup, parsing about adultery. Many people urged compassion, they focused on forgiveness, there were debates about restoration, and so on. One man wrote,
“Steve Lawson’s sin is that he deceived others while practicing a sin. That doesn’t make me better than him, it just makes me disappointed in him.” from Twitter.
No. It’s worse than just “disappointment.”
Phil’s was actually helpful information. Why? Because the length of time the sin went on, covered and glorying in it, trips the benchmark from a pastor who sadly chose to briefly sin, to the hypocrite, living a lying double life and potentially a false convert. It deepens the lawlessness exponentially.
The one thing I didn’t see was talk of what I consider the main thing.
HYPOCRISY
GOD HATES HYPOCRISY. I’d dare to say that He hates hypocrisy worst of all sins.
The anger we felt when learning the further details exposed Lawson as a hypocrite. Hypocrites make the Spirit in us angry. We become angry, righteously, I hope, but if righteously, then it’s right to be mad.
Hypocrisy is the gap between external appearance and internal character. It is someone who says one thing in the name of the Lord and does another privately. Kevin DeYoung describes it this way–
“the gap between public persona and private character. Hypocrisy is the failure to practice what you preach. Appearing outwardly righteous to others, while actually being full of uncleanness and self-indulgence—that’s the definition of hypocrisy.“
Of course someone preaching holiness and righteousness but all the while cheating on his wife is a hypocrite. The damage is untold when a hypocrite is unmasked. It’s an abomination because he had used the Lord to cover his sin, he had co-opted Jesus into his sin at the pulpit. He had uttered out of two sides of his mouth, blessing and cursing at the same time. It’s putrid, and it makes God extremely angry.
The hypocrite is the Christian who uses the veneer of public virtue to cover the rot of private vice. ~Kevin DeYoung
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The Bible speaks much about hypocrisy. It is always with anger, condemnation, and even curses and woes.
You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying: THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. (Matthew 15:7-8a)
James says a hypocrite’s religion is worthless!
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. (James 1:26)
A hypocrite may even be denied entry to heaven!
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 6:1)
A married man who for years indulged his lusts privately but preached holiness, warned of sin and hell, is a man practicing righteousness before other people, NOT pursuing it for himself. Only judgment is in store!
Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? (Romans 2:3)
At heart, hypocrisy is theatrical religion, religion as a means of personal enrichment or enhanced reputation. It is an abomination to the God who sees and knows the heart. ~Tim Challies
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Steve Lawson is a hypocrite. Of course, if he humbly repents, not lip-service repentance, but true heart-baring public self-denial and apology to Jesus and to his people, Jesus will forgive. But personally in my opinion, someone with such a thorough knowledge of the scriptures while indulging in adultery for five years, has a seared conscience about it.
As for the rest of us, sitting here thinking about our own decisions, what it all means, next moves…a layman named Boyd Kendrick replied to Phil Johnson’s post on Facebook, saying,
God is still on His throne, and His ongoing global redemptive works will not be undone. Yet, even so, the seismic aftershocks of this catastrophic moral failure will be felt for generations and may yet affect the lives of many. Such is the long shadow of shame cast by a public ministry with such long tenure and such global reach when it falls.
Hypocrisy is devastating. Absolute corruption. It is where unaddressed sin leads. Be warned!
Further Resources
What does the Bible say about hypocrisy? GotQuestions
What is Hypocrisy? Kevin DeYoung
Bible verses about hypocrisy GotQuestions
God Hates Hypocrisy Tim Challies
the-end-time.org 
In our small Bible study last week, we mentioned Steve Lawson. Someone quickly suspected sexual sin, and another said, “No, that is not it. We cannot say that” because we had no other information at that time. We discussed Matthew 5:28 and how that can morph into something far worse and wondered if that did indeed happen in this case.
In our hearts we knew there was more.
But it was hard to take in from such a beloved & respected man of God.
Now we know that we were correct in our thinking…there was more, much more, and the sadness and disappointment has turned into something far different.
This blog is disturbingly informative, but necessary if one truly wants to pray for his sincere repentance and reconciliation with the Lord. I agree that more will come to light.
Ravi Z and others come to mind.
The one part that you revealed that sickens me the most is:
“In fact, Lawson preached one last message as the situation was building to blow open publicly and mentioned (out of context) that a man should not be judged by his one “hiccup.”
Glaring, stunning hypocrisy spoken in the house of the Lord, from the pulpit, to his trusting and beloved sheep.
Of course, the mockers and naysayers of the Lord will revel in this and try to mock and discredit those who he associated and ministered with. But our God is still on the throne and will, as always use this to purge, prune and bring glory to Himself and His true saints as He always does in situations like this.
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Excellent.
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🙂 wonderful thoughts
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Thank you, Elizabeth, for letting us know the rest of the story, or at least part of it.
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Thank you for this article. Praying for his wife and family. My husband had a double life for many years. We were regular church family. The pain his wife is experiencing is unspeakable.
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I had commented in reply to someone elsewhere about that, too. I was a wife whose husband had a romantic *and* other kind of relationship with a woman he eventually left me for. It was pain I hope never to experience again. It’s a violent act in that it rips apart one flesh. Agree Anne’s pain is indescribable.
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Sister Elizabeth,
Your essay is very insightful!
I have followed your blog for well over 10 years now. You do a fantastic job in carefully researching and writing your essays. I really like how you stay on point with sound Biblical doctrine. Thank you for your God given and guided ministry.
I am always reading your articles with discernment, and I have not been disappointed.
] There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Brother Rick 🥸
Peachtree City area, Georgia USA 🇺🇸
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Thank you so very deeply, Brother Rick.
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Elizabeth,
I hesitate to send you this, but reading your article sent me on a long “rabbit trail” in which this was one of the articles I read: [deleted]
I know you are a “fan” of John MacArthur and so am I, so I would love your opinion on what is going on here.
Thank you,
Nancy
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‘fan’ lol. I give him double honor 🙂
As for Julie Roys, she is poison. Her “journalism” is yellow and she has been proven numerous times to be a liar. She has hated JMac ever since she told Beth Moore to ‘go home’ and has written almost 60 articles about him. Roys herself has admitted in her autobiography to being in an attracted, same sex relationship with a high school girl under her spiritual care when Roys was a ‘youth pastor’. I give her no credence whatsoever. Read her stuff and you are contributing to gossip and lies. Just sayin’
PS I deleted the link to the article you linked to
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Wow. I’ll keep digging. Thanks for the advice! I had never heard of her before.
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what are you digging for? I can help.
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I find the two abuse cases of Paul Guay and David Gray disturbing as to how they were handled by MacArthur’s church. Julie Roys is not the only one who has reported on these cases. I love John MacArthur, but I have to find out, if I can, whether his church wronged the families of these two men. Because John M is such a prominent figure in the evangelical world, I would like to know what happened.
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Oh, I see. Thanks for answering. If you are not a member of the church, you are not entitled to know. You can trust the elders did their job, and trust the reputation of 50+ years of faithfully preaching the Bible correctly, or you can dig for dirt that Roys and her ilk have thrown up. Having an opinion of how it was handled by GCC is thru a lens of busybodies and speculators and gossips, because nothing definitive has been issued by GCC on the matter. As a matter of policy they do not discuss church discipline, and as a matter of integrity they refuse to engage with Roys, whom they have publicly deemed a muckraker. Personally, I trust NOTHING that woman says. Especially after she revealed her lesbian abusive relationship with a high school student.
Phil Johnson’s position on the issue: https://x.com/Phil_Johnson_/status/1099488329714798594
If I may gently say, rabbit trailing down this line of thought is not edifying. And really, none of our business.
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Due to the flood of the many and oftentimes conflicting reports and statements and evaluations, there are many of the redeemed who are just now finding out the “degree” of Steve Lawson’s inappropriate relationship, and by whom and how it actually came to light.
At the first reading of all the reports, I was so very shocked and confused that I offered comments on other sites that I now realize were made too hastily–I could not fathom that Steve was in a deep state of rebellion–I was holding on to the “hope” that due to the lack of information Steve would soon clear up the confusion. And now, to find that the relationship was not a “hiccup” but a 5-year long inappropriate relationship is alarming.
Needless, we are grief-stricken, not just for Steve’s wife and family, the countless he has shepherded, the numerous working relationships he has with Christian ministries, organizations/institutions and fellow pastors, but also for we the members of the flock of Christ Jesus.
–But surpassing our collective despair, we are distraught that our Saviour will again be disparaged by the many who hate Him. And due to the inability of the unregenerate to “rightly” understand the living Word of God–even desire to, how many of them will promote the lie that Steve’s hypocrisy is merely reflective of the hypocritical teachings of our Saviour? The very thought that such a pejorative charge against our Saviour may find credence in the hearts of the deceived and unknowing is unsettling.
In such a time as now, we understand that the intensity of the vitriol against our Saviour will increase. In the near future, can such animosity increase a more egregious misinterpretation of our 1st Amendment rights? Can it become the toehold that initiates Federal legislation to stifle and then ban and penalize any who dares to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”? Matthew 28:19-20.
Perhaps and even likely; but in these days of turmoil, these increasingly dangerous days, we will remember, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:a,b33.
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