Response To The Article “Raising Up The People”

This is a reply to the article written by Floyd Chappelear entitled “Raising Up The People” that appeared in the October 20, 2002 issue of the bulletin “The Exhorter.” I rarely write responses to articles, but I believe the effect of this article (if practiced) will cause Christians to become weak and wishy-washy. Many have already turned in that direction.

Let me begin by expressing 100% agreement with Floyd’s statement that “what the church is all about … is essentially … bringing souls to Christ.” No doubt this should be a primary emphasis of every local congregation and every individual Christian (Acts 8:4). And Floyd’s point in the article about being “patient, kind,” and “loving” in our discussions with others is well taken, but is violated by Floyd himself as he judges the motives of those who “have a confrontational approach” when he writes that they “are always intent on showing themselves to be superior.” There is no way Floyd could know this is the intent of these preachers, unless they told him, and I doubt a single one has ever admitted such.

There may be a very few who are trying to stroke their own egos by confronting people in sin, but I suspect many of those who are “confrontational” are so because they love souls (Eph 4:15), and are trying to imitate Jesus and his disciples who were perhaps the most confrontational people that ever lived. John the Baptist confronted Herod with his sin face-to-face when he told him “It is not lawful for thee to have they brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18), and he lost his head because of it (verse 27). Jesus directly confronted the Pharisees in perhaps the most famous debate of all time in Matthew 22:15-46. Floyd quotes Acts 24:12 as if to prove Paul didn’t approve of “raising up the people,” but all the verse is saying is that Paul hadn’t done any disputing (or raising up people) in the first twelve days he was in Jerusalem (verse 11). Passages like Acts 17:17 and 19:8-9 show Paul was almost constantly disputing (confronting, “raising up people”) when he was trying to convert others.

Floyd relates a story “of a brother who went to a Baptist building and had the young people stand outside singing, ‘all the Baptists are going to‘” eternal punishment. This story is so absurd, I doubt it is real. Most likely it is a story that originated for illustrative purposes. But if the incident did actually happen, then I join with Floyd in rejecting that brother’s blatantly unkind method (Ephesians 4:32). Floyd says that in teaching the gospel we should be “patient, kind, loving, and non-confrontational.” He is only three-fourths right. The truth is we should be patient, kind, and loving at the same time we confront sin and false teaching.

Floyd asserts that those who are confrontational in their teaching are “generally those who are presiding over dead or dying congregations.” I suspect conversion quantities have more to do with the area of the country one is in and especially the attitude of those being taught (Matthew 13:23), than it has to do with the personality of the teacher. But if it were so that being non-confrontational results in more conversions, that wouldn’t give us authority to soften our stand against sin, anymore than the church has authority to provide fun, food, and frolic in order to attract potential prospects. When will we ever learn that if we are kind in teaching the gospel, and the listeners are offended (John 6:61,66), it is their fault, not ours? We are to plant and water (which means to teach against sin and about its cure); God is responsible for the increase (I Corinthians 3:6). Everybody says that, but do they really believe it?

Yes, when the situation calls for it, confrontational we must be. Notice the following other Bible examples of such: I Samuel 15:22-23, II Samuel 12:7-9, I Kings 18:17-18, Matthew 15:3ff, Acts 2:23,36, 3:14-15, 7:51ff, 8:20-23, 13:10, 15:2, I Corinthians 1:10, 3:3, 5:2, 6:7, 11:17ff, Galatians 1:6, 2:11,14, I Timothy 1:20, Revelation 2:20, 3:15. Criticizing those who are willing to confront sin as they ought is justifying the wicked and condemning the just (Proverbs 17:15). Floyd’s article evidently demonstrates it is still true that people “hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and … abhor him that speaketh uprightly” (Amos 5:10).