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 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)
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 