In Light of Lawson’s Fall: Take Heed of the Dangers Ahead

In light of the recent statement from Trinity Bible Church regarding Steve Lawson, I want to bring three reminders:

A fool speculates & speaks

The simple reality is that we don’t know what we don’t know. The statement released by Trinity Bible Church was, I trust, very carefully worded. To try to insinuate or pry more information out of it than was intended is foolish and unnecessary. Most simply don’t need to know more of the details than have been made known. I say that first because our flesh loves a “good scandal” (Prov. 18:8 & 26:22). Through our media saturated society we feel entitled to all the details of every indiscretion. “If we don’t know,” we opine, “how can we render judgment?” But I would remind us, that’s not really ours to do. Those who are close and have actual accountability in regard to Lawson have already begun working to handle what is their responsibility. Don’t speculate. Don’t infer. Don’t assume. That’s a fools errand (Prov. 18:13&17). There may come a time when we need to know more so that we can respond righteously. It’s likely not today.

Sin casts a long shadow

When a man falls into some public sin, we ought to take notice of how far that sin has reached. Most of the folks in our congregation have never heard Steve Lawson preach in person, much less met or spoke to him. As far as I know, none of our folks have ever been under his pastoral leadership or know him in any kind of personal way. His church is around 1,300 miles from ours.
Yet we more than know of his sin, we’re affected by it. This is why writing something like this isn’t grabbing a dog by the ears (Prov. 26:17). As my wife and I discussed this last night, one of the comments she made was, “a lifetime of ministry now has a shadow over it. Everything he’s written, said, or done, will now have this hovering over it.” A comment on “X” referencing a well known video clip of Lawson preaching at a Shepherd’s Conference where he energetically asks, “Where are the men?!” said, “that will always hit different now.” They’re right. But that isn’t just true for public sin. It’s true of all sin. Sin without witnesses is still devastating in its destruction. Just ask David, or Cain, or Solomon. We may not see the ripple effect as clearly, but is just as much there. Sin casts a long shadow, especially for those on a pedestal. I’ve seen lots of “pray for your pastor” reminders in light of this. I’m thankful for that AND I desperately hope that every other believer will be just as warned away from sin by this as well.

Take heed!

The last thing we ought to do in light of Lawson’s fall is retreat to our sanctimonious high chairs and cast Pharisaical glances at the fallen and say, “God, I thank You that I am not like other people…” (Luke 18:11) Instead we ought to take heed and take action. Biblically, a fool won’t learn anything from this situation. But a wise man - a wise man will see the devastation and grief wrought by sin and will take heed to not be caught up by it (Prov. 22:3). They’ll see the explosion and the carnage and decide not walk in that minefield. Scripture tells us that even a simple man can learn from a scoffer being struck (Prov. 19:25). So we all can learn from Lawson’s fall. Let it do the work of warning you from evil and cause you to put off the deeds of the flesh with even more vigor. Put away the trifling with sin and put it to death. Hear this news and be warned by it (Prov. 25:12). So here are five practical ways to take heed:

• We ought to grieve over the destruction of sin, praying for those most harmed by it (Rom. 12:15).
• We ought to confess, “By the grace of God I am what I am…” (1 Cor. 15:10), guarding against a proud heart (Prov. 16:18).
• We ought to remember the ample warnings of Scripture not to play around with sin expecting not to be burned (Prov. 6:27-28).
• We ought to live like we’re hunted by an enemy that hates us (1 Pet. 5:8).
• We ought to “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today’, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. 3:12-13)