Don’t get me wrong, we all need discernment. I have a love-hate relationship with certain Discernment Ministries. By their very nature they look for fires to put out. Sadly, in their zeal, they sometimes end up being spiritual bullies. In some cases they end up as a vigilante, heresy-hunter industry, rather than a discernment ministry. Sometimes they even attack each other.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been asked questions about Servus Christi (SC). His name is Joshua Chavez. I initially encountered him via several videos posted on Facebook. SC has a penchant for outing prominent ministers for their suspect associations.
At the time, John MacArthur and Alistair Begg were in his cross-hairs. The charge was their alleged capitulation to the Social Justice “Marxist” Gospel. In fact, MacArthur had just signed The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel – which is contra the SJG. Alistair Begg had just finished several sermons directly warning about the dangers of the SJG.
Neither MacArthur nor Begg have ever taught a social gospel – quite the opposite. Where was Chavez coming from?
As it happens, he singled them out because of loose connections with members of The Gospel Coalition (TGC). It was guilt by association and conference sharing platforms. Servus Christi has a long list of similar targets and charges. Apparently everyone is corrupt in some way – everyone except Chavez and his associates.
I don’t really want to get into the TGC issue. It’s more convoluted than a rolled up mile-long garden hose. Other ministries have singled them out. One of these is Pulpit & Pen. There are at least two ironies to this: The first is that P & P have defended MacArthur and Washer; the other is that P & P once went after Nabeel Qureshi on the guilt by association canard. Watch David Wood’s video response HERE.
Although P & P might be charged with inconsistency (or favoritism), their responses to Servus Christi are still relevant. But you can decide for yourself. For example, SC claims Paul Washer partnered with Hillsong. Did he really? Chris Rosebrough also chimed in on SC. Phil Johnson and Todd Friel discussed him HERE.
Servus Christi doesn’t take criticism lying down. When someone (Bob) blogged his thoughts, he got an official visit from one of Chavez’s friends. The exchange had a creepy moment where Bob’s family was mentioned. Bob pointed out that he was an ex cop and doesn’t tolerate veiled threats.
Chavez’s friend has issues with Sinclair Ferguson, Phil Johnson, Joel Beeke, Justin Peters, Todd Friel etc, etc. If your name isn’t on the list you’re either not famous enough, or you’re part of his inner sanctum. We further learn from this exchange that there’s a Vatican conspiracy. Bob writes:
[Chavez’s friend] Mr. Grützmacher [aka Waldens: note comments on this blog] has put forth the argument that John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, the editors of the Reformation Heritage Books KJV Study Bible, the editors of the ESV Bible, Ligonier Ministries, the speakers at the European Bible Training Center Conference 2017, the speakers at the Shepherd’s Conference 2017, the speakers at the Together For The Gospel Conference 2016, the speakers at the Ligonier Conference 2017, the speakers at The Gospel Coalition Conference of 2017, and the speakers at the G3 Conference of 2018 are all agents of the Vatican. Every single one of them is an undercover Romanist. Every single one of them without exception. (Emphasis mine, bracket notes mine)
No ministry or pastor is flawless. Everyone may be subject to some criticism. Yet most of the people and organizations mentioned above are the antithesis of Romish teachings. There’s more material available on Servus Christi, his destructive methods, and his associations. Be warned. Do your homework. Find out what the people he’s attacking actually teach.
This brings me to the following thoughts:
Some bad examples of bullying have come from ministries not officially classifying themselves as discernment. They see themselves as bastions of the truth and sometimes attack people. I’ve also been asked about another person’s ministry, not for the first time! On the one hand you don’t want to harm someone’s ministry. On the other, you see it gracelessly reviling others. What do you do?
Well, we’re all accountable to discern for ourselves to some degree. Don’t just follow one ministry. Don’t be a personality follower. Always check with your Bible and pray for discernment.
When I became a Christian, I searched for online teachings. It wasn’t difficult to spot people to avoid. To some extent this was because of time spent in Herbert Armstrong’s abusive cult as a teen. Avoid people or groups who consider themselves sole champions of truth, while verbally abusing those they disagree with.
Finally, we do need mature Christian leaders who speak out against bad doctrine. However, it should be done in grace, humility and truth. Avoid those who use the Apostle Paul as a pretext to revile others. They’re not Paul. Paul didn’t tell fibs about those he warned the flock about. Don’t let them use him as an excuse to vent their anger and vindictiveness either.
Maranatha!
Further reading:
The Expression of Our Love to God in Our Day
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