There are many blessings that come with being de-platformed. One of those blessings is being freed from various internet press-gangs. Time was whenever there was a hubbub on the internet that agitators on both sides would seek to win my allegiance, to commit my sword to their cause. I get that. Everyone wants allies. And no one wants to be known for having their backside overrun with splinters from inveterate fence sitting. There are times when the call to battle requires that we take up arms. Then there are times to ignore rabble-rousers.
The internet creates some perverse incentives toward war. Success on the web is measured by likes, page views, retweets. One sure way to get these precious commodities is to go after someone with a bigger reach and lay siege. Lest you reveal your pettiness, it is always wise to dress up your attack as a valiant, thankless effort to protect the less discerning sheep from the big, bad wolf. Of course, this is what accusers of the brethren have always done. There is a black thread that runs through those who hate those whom Christ’s work has saved. From Satan’s accusations against Joshua the High Priest to the crowd’s accusations against Stephen to the Pope’s accusations against Luther, to the diabolical work of the Dominicans during the Inquisition to Discernment Ministries in our day, the animus is all the same.
The accusations of the devil will always stick, if we look at the accused alone. Should people be warned about Rosaria Butterfield? Of course. Should they be tipped off about Tom Ascol? By all means. Has Marcus Pittman brought harm to the body of Christ? You bet. Is JD Hall a danger? We had all better beware. Is R. Scott Clark infected with error? No question. Is Andrew Sandlin off base on important issues? Who could doubt it? Does CJ Mahaney have skeletons in his closet? Probably an army of them. Does John MacArthur struggle with pride? I’m sure he does. All of these warnings apply to me as well. And you. Which is why Jesus came. Those discerners who hate me see right through me. My heavenly Father, who loves me, sees me through Jesus.
Our Corinthian fathers rightly received Paul’s rebuke for their partisan ways. They, at least, had the courtesy to be identified by whom they were for, “I am of Paul;” “I am of Cephas.” We are worse, more often identifying ourselves by whom we are against. And we think ourselves faithful servants of our King as we figuratively murder the ones He literally died for.
What do we do? We recognize ourselves in the mirror and with the aid of God’s Spirit, go to war against our own sins, our old man, our flesh. We repent for our tribal ways and ask for the grace to show the grace to others that we depend on ourselves. If we feel the need to warn the brethren, let’s warn them about ourselves.