Beth Moore urges Christian Leaders to Apologize for Spreading Misinformation
Christian author and speaker Beth Moore recently urged Christian leaders to apologize for spreading false information about the faith.
“I am baffled how often professing believers in Christ—often leaders—feel no need whatsoever to apologize—publicly or privately—or clear up misinformation they spread. It seems, if you’re a watchdog for the church, you get to bite at will. You’re somehow above the ethics of Jesus,” she wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
“I just want you to know—& I don’t say this on my own behalf today but on someone else’s—that, actually, you don’t get to do that. You will answer to the Lord for spreading misinformation,” she argued.
I just want you to know—& I don’t say this on my own behalf today but on someone else’s—that, actually, you don’t get to do that. You will answer to the Lord for spreading misinformation. I am concerned about your spiritual condition because here is what I know: the Holy Spirit
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) February 2, 2022
Moore also maintained that Christians living a godly life cannot go on and live without asking for forgiveness, given that the Holy Spirit convicts believers of sin.
“I say this as one who has sinned grievously. If you walk with God, the time between sin & repentance is miserable,” she tweeted. “Slander, cyberstalking & smearing people’s reputations are sins. If you don’t have conviction of sin, it is not because your wrongs are alright with God. It is because something is awry inside of you.”
Slander, cyber stalking & smearing people’s reputations are sins. If you don’t have conviction of sin, it is not because your wrongs are alright with God. It is because something is awry inside of you.
“Because I, the Lord, have not changed.”
Mal 3:6— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) February 2, 2022
Moore then drew from her own experience, offering an example of the importance of apologizing and offering forgiveness.
Without mentioning names, Moore noted that she was prepared to forgive Pastor John MacArthur after he publicly denounced her at a pastor’s conference. During a panel Q&A session at the 2019 “Truth Matters” Conference at Grace Community Church, Wretched Radio host Todd Friel asked MacArthur and other panelists to play a word association game. When MacArthur was asked what came to mind when hearing the name Beth Moore, he replied, “go home.”
The comments received widespread criticism from other Christian leaders.
“After a certain public mockery at a pastors conference, I was literally heartsick for the ones who had done it,” Moore wrote on Wednesday.
“I thought how miserable they must be for having ridiculed a sister in Christ publicly like that. I knew what I was going to say when they contacted me because it would have been completely sincere: I was going to say I knew what it was like to let your mouth get away from you & I forgive you without hesitation.”
how miserable they must be for having ridiculed a sister in Christ publicly like that. I knew what I was going to say when they contacted me because it would have been completely sincere: I was going to say I knew what it was like to let your mouth get away from you & I forgive
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) February 2, 2022
Now, more than two years later, Moore said no such apology was ever issued.
“It baffled me and made me sad because I believed them to be people of spiritual integrity even if I did not see eye to eye with them,” she wrote. “That they felt no need to apologize was more worrisome to me than the ridicule.”
“Y’all, this isn’t a game,” she continued. “These things matter to the Lord. We are followers of Jesus. Not one of us is exempt from conviction of sin and the responsibility and right, thank God, by the blood of Christ and power of his cross, to repent. We need an awakening of integrity. I need one.”
isn’t a game. These things matter to the Lord. We are followers of Jesus. Not one of us is exempt from conviction of sin and the responsibility and right, thank God, by the blood of Christ and power of his cross, to repent. We need an awakening of integrity. I need one.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) February 2, 2022
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Terry Wyatt/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. He is also the co-hosts of the For Your Soul podcast, which seeks to equip the church with biblical truth and sound doctrine. Visit his blog Blessed Are The Forgiven.
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