Thursday’s news concerning Dr. Steve Lawson being removed from ministry due to “an inappropriate relationship with a woman” has grieved me to the very core of my being. It’s like a gut punch to the soul. The news is all over the web. It is national news. Already, many of his teachings have been removed from the internet – he is no longer a fellow at Ligonier Ministries and likewise, he is no longer a part of The Master’s Seminary.
I’ve waited until now to comment on the news and have done so deliberately. First, I didn’t want to communicate anything rashly. I didn’t want to write something I would regret later on.
Then, I wanted to grieve. This hurts and hurts deeply. Linda and I are grieving over this.
Then I wanted to take time to ask the Lord to search my own heart and soul.
Also, I wanted to take time to pray for Steve, his wife Anne, and the Lawson family, as well as the church he was pastoring. The news is devastating from so many angles and on so many levels. This is the most grievous news I think I’ve ever heard concerning a trusted man of God since I came to the USA in 1992. I certainly did not see this one coming. False teachers abound who are frequently exposed, but this news is so different and so very tough to bear.
I can say that Dr. Lawson’s preaching ministry has impacted my life greatly. I have attended several of his expository preaching seminars and am thankful I did. There’s no doubt that he was THE leading man in America, and perhaps the world, for the cause of verse by verse, expository preaching. His ministry distributed “Expositor” magazine which was a rich encouragement to many God called preachers. Steve is known for sound, biblical preaching.
It’s been said that his fall is part of God’s judgment on America, and I think there is some truth to this, even as it does not relieve personal guilt. Not in any way. His removal leaves a gaping hole in the cause of the raising up of Bible preachers in our land who will “Bring the Book” to the pulpit.
In times such as this, it is good for the soul to take stock and remind ourselves of what God tells us in His word. In the severe storms of life, the word of God is a rock beneath our feet – something we can stand on when all else gives way.
This situation is very dark and very dire, but the big picture we need to always keep in mind is that the Lord remains resolutely on His throne. Jesus Christ is the unrivaled King of all nations. I must remind my own soul of this, as should you.
The Lord has His true shepherds and His true churches throughout the land and thankfully, there are many of them. He is building His true Church and the gates and strategies of hell will not prevail against it. I tell my soul, “Soul, do not be cast down, remember this!”
Jesus Himself is the only true hero, the One faithful and true.
My friend, Pastor Brian Borgman, preached last Sunday and stated that our heroes should be dead, because they have already finished the race well. There’s a lot of truth to that. He also said that we should choose friends who are zealous for the Lord, rather than lukewarm – people who will spur us on towards Christlikeness and holiness. People who will encourage us in the things of God.
It seems that Dr. Lawson, at the age of 73, has stumbled badly, while close to the finish line. His entire legacy is forever tarnished, even though what he wrote and preached was true and so very helpful. He is out of public ministry and that is only right. It is a tragedy, a massive tragedy! There can be and should be no excuses for what has taken place.
Though we (on the outside) don’t know any real details, the details are actually none of our business just now. They are the business of Steve Lawson, his dear wife of 40 years Anne, and the business of the elders at the Church he was pastoring who are overseeing the whole thing at their local church in Dallas, TX. What a blow this is for that local Church! How sad! How very sad!
I pray for the elders that they will have continued wisdom from the Lord. They seem to be handling the situation admirably, from what I can observe. While many are asking for more of the details other than the statement made on the Trinity Bible Church, Dallas website (https://www.trinitybibledallas.org/ ), these elders are about the very difficult task at hand, seeking in it all to witness Dr. Lawson’s repentance.
I don’t know Dr. Lawson personally, other than meeting him and talking to him a few times. I want to be something of a friend to him at this time, at least in this – to be faithful in praying for his soul. That is all I can do from a distance but do it I must. One man commented, “Steve knows he let many people down. He, without God’s help, is hurting from head to toe.” We know that sorrow, by itself, is not repentance (though it will always accompany repentance). May the Lord grant true and genuine repentance to Steve and whatever the outcome, may his family know the Lord’s deep comfort and presence with them at this time.
Saints of God, as a shepherd under Christ, I want to give you rock solid truth, stated here in the words of Pastor Dan Phillips:
“I am a Christian for one fundamental reason—Jesus Christ. He is true. He is everything He claimed. He never changes, He never fails. This truth has held me steady from day one. Everyone else can change and fail. But that doesn’t affect why I’m a Christian. Jesus Christ is why. In case my point isn’t obvious: when an admired Christian fails, even miserably, it is heartbreaking. It drives you to prayer and deep heart-searching. It shakes your very bones. But it doesn’t shake the foundation. Jesus is the foundation. He is unchanging and He is unshakable.”
Isn’t that the truth, dear ones? And praise the Lord for that!
The Bible teaches that all things work together for the good of God’s people. God will use this, even this. I want to allow the Lord to use this week’s terrible news for the good of my own soul. I encourage you to do the same. The Lord uses the means of grace, and especially the gathering of the saints on the Lord’s Day as His primary means to nourish our souls. How we need this! Our very lives depend on this. Every one of us.
Galatians 6 reads: 1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Here are some words from Pastor Nick Batzig which are especially relevant just now, though written over a decade ago – source: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/take-heed
Bernard of Clairvaux once mentioned an old man who, upon hearing about any professing Christian who fell into sin, would say to himself: “He fell today; I may fall tomorrow.” The apostle Paul commended the same mindset when he wrote, “let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). There is great wisdom in not trusting our own ability to stand. When I was a boy, my father would often say, “The person I trust least of all is myself.” It should shock us to hear a professing Christian say, “I would never do that,” or, “How could anyone do that?” The Scriptures record great sins of unbelievers and believers alike to instruct us in diverse ways. The former teach the unregenerate their need for the new birth. The latter teach the saints their need to distrust themselves. It is one thing to understand the sinful actions of unbelievers in Scripture; it is quite another to understand the sins of the saints.
Consider the following: If an innocent man could choose a piece of fruit over the infinitely valuable God (Gen. 3:6); if the most righteous man of his day could get so drunk that he passed out naked before his sons in his tent (9:21); if the most faithful man of his day could father a child with his wife’s handmaiden (16:1–4) and twice hand his wife over to other men (12:11–15; 20:1–2); if the mother of promise could laugh at the words of the God of promise and then lie to Him about doing so (18:9–15); if “righteous Lot” could greedily pick the most materialistic and sexually depraved place for himself and his family to live (13:8–13), and could hand his daughters over to the sexually perverse men of the city (19:4–8); if the son of promise could show partiality to his oldest son because he liked his hunting skills (25:28), and he, too, could hand his wife over to another man (26:6–11); and if the namesake of Israel could swindle his brother for a birthright (25:29–34), then so could I.
If the meekest man on the planet could act in such sinful anger and unbelief that God would not let him into the Promised Land (Num. 20:7–12); if his successor could disobediently covenant with pagans (
Josh. 9); if two of Israel’s greatest judges could, in unbelief, doubt the immediate promises of God (
Judg. 4; 11); if the mighty man of valor could fall into idolatry at the end of his life (8:22–27); and if the strongest man who ever lived could be defeated by wine and women (chaps. 14–16), then so could I.
If the man after God’s own heart could commit adultery and premeditate the murder of one of his mighty men (2 Sam. 11); if the wisest man could foolishly allow his heart to be led astray by a thousand women to worship foreign gods (
1 Kings 11); if the weeping prophet could charge God with deceiving His people (
Jer. 4:10); if his penman could seek fame for helping him write his book (45:5); and if a prophet of Israel could self-righteously run from the mission of God (
Jonah 1–3), then so could I.
If the forerunner of Christ could doubt the identity of the One to whom he bore witness (Matt. 11:2–3) and if the Apostle Peter could try to stop Jesus from going to the cross (16:21– 23), deny Jesus (
Luke 22:54–61), argue with the Lord about the gospel and its implications (
John 13:6–10;
Acts 10:9–16), and support division in the church over the doctrine of justification by faith alone (
Gal. 2:11–21), then so could I.
If James and John could use Jesus to get to the top (Mark 10:35–37) and could want to call fire down from heaven on those who did not believe the gospel (
Luke 9:51–55), and if the Apostle John could twice fall down to worship angels (
Rev. 19:9–10; 22:8–9), then so could I.
We must resist the temptation of thinking we can stand in our own strength. We must depend on the grace of the One who said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). If we fall, we must go to Christ, confessing our sin and hoping in His mercy. The Scriptures declare: “The righteous falls seven times and rises again” (
Prov. 24:16). To fall seven times means that you have been restored six. The greatest believers are subject to great weaknesses. In no way do these truths give a license to sin; instead, they give a sober realization that “nothing good dwells in us” (
Rom. 7:18). We must distrust ourselves, bear with the weak, and hold fast to Christ. We must flee to our Great High Priest, who was tempted in all points as we are yet never sinned. We must go to Him for grace and mercy to withstand temptations, and we must go to Him for grace and mercy if we fall. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, “let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Amen and amen!
God bless you REAL good!
John