Intimidation Does not Produce Righteousness

To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. (Romans 14:5)

 Over the years, the idea of being a Baptist, and especially the Baptist distinctives have been so helpful to me in guiding the way I do ministry.

With regard to discipleship, the distinctive that we call Individual Soul Liberty and Responsibility is incredibly consequential.

Each person is responsible to God for his or her beliefs and practices and should be able under government to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience. The responsibility aspect of this is also important. We will all be individually held accountable to God for our beliefs and behavior in this life. We cannot kick responsibility up the chain of command with the excuse “I was just following orders.”

This principle has some corollaries that necessarily follow. Here are just two of them.

As a pastor, I must convince, not command.

This is extremely important. If a member does what I ask, just because I ask it, but not because they are convinced that what I am asking is truly God’s will and truly scripturally supportable, then I am running a cult, not a church, and their obedience is conformity, not righteousness.

This type of leadership is hard. It is time-consuming and often does not produce the type of uniformity or support that leaders like within a congregation. But it does produce solid well-grounded Christians who are following Christ and his word, rather than a human leader or an organization.

Intimidation does not produce true righteousness.

Threats or demands will not produce true righteousness. If fear of people is the only motivation, then conformity is just sin in a new form. This throws a wrench in the popular notion of church discipline. Church discipline is not intended to be a public intimidation tool to enforce conformity. That might help maintain certain levels of outward righteousness, but it does not necessarily touch the heart. Church discipline is intended to help a congregational member see the seriousness of sin, fear God (not man), and in the end distance the church from people who claim Christ but do not live like Christians.

This principle impacts how we interact with one another as biblical fundamentalists. One of the roles we fill with one another is a ministry of warning. We must be iron sharpening iron. But the goal is to convince one another, not intimidate one another. There is a significant difference.

As the FBFI we seek to convince in an appropriate way between brothers in Christ. We have not always done that ideally, but that is our heart and goal. Most often these interactions take place in private correspondence or conversations. Taking the conversation public, publishing open letters, and the like, usually only serve as an intimidation tool. We make appeals based on what we see as important biblical positions.

“But what about all those resolutions and position statements?”  Especially in recent years in those statements, we have focused on defining ourselves as a fellowship to our best ability which sometimes demands drawing distinctions between ourselves and others. Warning friends of danger ahead is a ministry every Christian leader must fulfill at times. That kind of statement is not only useful, it is also essential. If it serves the purpose of convincing others, that is fine—but convincing is the key.  We have no interest in seeing anyone violate his own conscience to please us.

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. (Proverbs 29:25)

Intimidation often works in getting outward conformity, but it is not the product of a righteous heart, and it does not produce true righteousness. It is just a form of bullying. It would be much better to pick up a pen, or sit at a keyboard, and write a letter, explain from a biblical perspective your position, and urge those who are the object of your concern to consider.

Please consider this next time yearn for or demand that Christian leaders “go public” with issues that should be addressed privately.