Why Matthew 18 (Usually) Does Not Apply When Challenging Dangerous Religious Leaders

Last updated on: February 16, 2019 at 3:38 pm by Benjamin L. Corey

Why Matthew 18 (Usually) Does Not Apply When Challenging Dangerous Religious Leaders 2019-02-16T15:38:27-05:00 Benjamin L. Corey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s true– I’ve publicly and strongly disagreed with some well-known Christian leaders. It’s also true that some of them have very publicly disagreed with me. In those exchanges however, I will frequently find some voices on the internet posing this question:

“Did you go and talk to them privately first as instructed by Matthew 18, before writing this?”

It’s a fair question– and one worthy of its own post.

Matthew 18 does in fact offer an appropriate method for holding individuals accountable and promoting reconciliation in relationships. It essentially spells out a process when a fellow Christian in our faith community sins against us: try to reason with them personally, bring others to mediate with you if that didn’t work, and then taking the matter before the entire congregation if all else fails. For many scenarios, this is a good and wise process that, with the right people involved, can work.

With the wrong people involved it can fail spectacularly, but that’s a different post.

Back to Matthew 18. It is important to note that this is not an accountability or reconciliation process prescribed for dealing with public figures who you do not personally know, and are not in community with. Instead, this process is specifically prescribed for when we have been personally sinned against in the context of an actual relationship with the individual– such as someone at your church. (Does anyone really think Franklin Graham would give you a personal audience every time you wanted to express a disagreement?)

Matthew 18 certainly represents an ideal– when possible and safe, it’s always a good idea to close the loop and talk with a person directly. However, when responding to public statements made by public figures, we are dealing with a situation outside of what is covered in Matthew 18– unless one is in personal relationship with that person.

Nowhere in Matthew 18 does it grant public figures the freedom to say whatever they want behind the microphone, on television, or in a book, while getting a free pass on criticism or push-back (and honestly, I don’t know a single one of us who expects that kind of treatment). In fact, when ideas are toxic and dangerous, fellow Christians actually have a responsibility to speak up– because that’s what Jesus did.

Let us not forget, that publicly rebuking the horrible ideas and oppressive practices by religious leaders was central to the ministry of Jesus– they were actually the ones who came up with the idea of killing him.

The fact that Jesus gave an entire speech where each paragraph started with “Woe to you!” probably didn’t win him any cool points.

I would argue that it is actually good and right to publicly rebuke harmful Christian leaders, when done for the right reasons.

Let me illustrate one example. When I first went through my teaching practicum (months of teaching with a baby sitter who graded every hour of your teaching) I had one write-up that was more common than the others: I would get written up for not correcting students who shared an answer or idea that was wrong.

At first, this didn’t feel right to me– I didn’t want to embarrass anyone or hurt feelings, after all. However, when later explained to me it made sense. The rationale was this: student B may hear the incorrect answer shared by student A in class, and without any indication from you that this was incorrect, they might walk away believing this answer or idea was actually true.

In the same way, it is important to critique the ideas of popular religious leaders when they are at odds with the type of love we see exemplified through Christ. To leave toxic or dangerous public statements unchallenged then, is to aid in some people believing them– by way of passivity.

In addition, it is important to reframe most of these public exchanges to see why they don’t fall within Matthew 18. The vast majority of the time (at least with me), the public rebuttal is not an attack on the person (though it may be misinterpreted as so). What is actually being challenged is their ideas. For example, when I write a post for my series, What Franklin Graham Is Wrong About Today, I’m not “calling him out” about a personal sin against me– I’m simply challenging ideas that I think need to be challenged. The competition of ideas is not anything that falls within the reconciliation process of Matthew 18.

So, the next time you’re tempted to ask someone, “Did you go and talk to them before posting this?” just remember that you’re citing a biblical process that is more personal and intimate for those within a local church together. Matthew 18 does not apply when continuing Jesus’s example of publicly challenging the ideas of dangerous religious leaders.

Follow follow BLC on Facebook:

Christian Culture

Previous Post

May 19, 2016

The Serious Problems With Using Ecclesiastes 3 To Justify Christian Support of War & Violence

Next Post

May 24, 2016 No, This Isn't All Part Of God's Plan (So Let's Stop Blaming It On Him)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abuse Adoption Asked & Answered Atheism Atonement Bible Book Calvinism Christian Culture Christian Nonviolence Christmas Church Church Killing Lies Community Creation Care Creationism End Times Evergreen Forgiveness Fundamentalism Gender Gender Equality Ghosting Grief Guns Healthcare Hell Hermeneutics Holy Land Human Trafficking Hunger Immigration Islam Israel Jesus Justice Lent Letting Go Of Hell Series LGBT Life Mark Driscoll Missiology Most Popular Posts Nationalism Old Testament Open Theism Parenting Persecution Political Poverty Prayer Pro-Life Pro-llife ethic Progressive Christianity Prosperity Gospel Put It To Bed Series Race Sincere Questions Suicide Prevention That God Show Theology To Those Christians Who Say Travel Unafraid Uncategorized War What Franklin Graham Is Wrong About Today

Select a Month October 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz