:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

While the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America was debating the ordination of homosexual clergy last week in Minneapolis, a tornado touched down right where the meetings were taking place. Pastor John Piper said, “The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin.”

The response from many Evangelicals and many other Christian groups has been a swift rebuttal of Piper’s remarks, though I’m sure plenty of folks agree with this beloved pastor. Jennell Williams Paris took a humorous approach, while writer Greg Boyd adopted a point-by-point approach in dismantling Piper’s logic and theology.

I think that Boyd hit the nail on the head in picking apart Piper’s points. There are lots of other sins lurking about in America that receive way more attention in scripture and that God could be very concerned about based on biblical precedent. Why would he pick on this one particular issue? In addition, we should be very careful when we claim to know the will of God, particularly when it comes to judgment.

I think enough rebuttals have been written that I won’t need to weigh in here on the particulars. Suffice to say, there are many, many Christians who take the Bible very seriously and disagree with John Piper on this one.

As someone who has benefited from some, but not all, that Piper has written, I’ve been wondering how I would like to be treated if I made the same mistake. I like John, even if I disagree with some points of his theology, and so I don’t want to throw him under the bus here.

What we have here is a good pastor slipping into some bad theology. And if I slipped into some bad theology, how would I like others to reply?

Well, I suppose I would most appreciate personal notes and e-mails that avoided personal attacks, but directly addressed where I was in error. The nature of Piper’s remark in the public forum of the internet means that most replies will be in the form of public statements opposing his initial public remark. While I think it’s important to set the record straight for the media that may have a field day on this one, I think Christian leaders who disagree with Piper and have access to him should write to him personally.

If I slipped into bad theology I would hope that my friends and acquaintances first step would be to write me personally, asking me to change my statement. Depending on the forum of my statement, a more public reply may be necessary. However, I would hope that Christian brothers and sisters would opt for the more personal and direct route of correction if I made a similar mistake as Piper.

Perhaps such an approach will have no effect on Piper on this issue, but if I was in his shoes, I would deeply appreciate personal notes so that I would have a chance to retract my statement/blog post. Public replies are necessary, but I hope that even in this case of bad theology that we’ll focus on restoration beyond the rebuttals.