“Jesus, why are you being so insensitive? Why don’t you care more about the people? Don’t you realize that the people you just chased out of the Temple are good guys?”

In our day, we wouldn’t be surprised if this was in Mark 11:15-19, the account of Jesus driving the money changers out of the Temple. But, it isn’t.

No one loved people more than Jesus. No one spoke more of the love of others than Jesus. In Mark 11:15-19, Jesus embodies what genuine love is. He shows us what it looks like to be devoted to a group of people through thick and thin for the sake of their own souls.

We live in an age where the only sin the world recognizes as such is when you’re not nice. The term “spiritual abuse” (itself a real problem that shouldn’t be downplayed) is carelessly thrown around whenever someone feels even mildly uncomfortable about what’s said from the pulpit. Instead of seeing the pulpit as the place where the Bible is proclaimed, we’ve catechized a generation of people to think it’s where the “Bully” proclaims his opinions. Empathy at all costs regardless of beliefs or actions is the greatest commandment. “Feeling heard” is more important than actually being heard. Cowardice is the new righteousness. Courage is the new sin, unless it’s seen as “courageously defending” someone who is living with a victim mindset. The unforgivable sin today is whenever anyone makes me feel uncomfortable. Belonging is more important than believing. Feelings are more important than facts. My personal interpretation is more important than exegetically faithful doctrine.

As has been said by many: 1) Truth without love is brutality. 2) Love without truth is hypocrisy. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Like a type of Nestorianism, we have separated love from truth, people from process, and courage from compassion.

In the courts of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), we have a process. It’s outlined in the Book of Church Order (BCO). We also have theological standards that officers in the church vow before God Almighty to uphold. They’re called the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Shorter & Larger Catechisms. Every man who is ordained in the PCA whether as an Elder or a Deacon is “calling God to witness what he asserts or promises, and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he swears” (WCF 22.1). Is there a more sobering moment for an officer in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ?

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