of course, not just the IFB has these issues with sexual scandal. But why do other denominations respond with sorrow and hopes for restoration while the IFB responds with hatred, bitterness, vitriol and an abandonment of the faith?
Because JH was what? No. Never proven, but oft articulated are the rumors of an affair.
Is it because these other denominational leaders turned themselves in and repented? No. They were discovered and presented with undeniable evidence and then went silent and crept off into the shadows.
What is the difference? Why do the IFB people go nuts and still talk about things from 50+ years ago as a source of bitterness and anger while other denominations forgive the person and pray for their restoration?
One difference is
Independent Fundamental Baptists have had a tendency to exalt the pastor above criticism.
Jack Hyles was
not a man of God. He covered up his son’s perverted lifestyle and foisted Dave Hyles upon unsuspecting churches to prey upon them. He was a braggadocious gas bag who always cast himself as the hero in practically every sermon he ever preached. He made a mockery of
repentance which could be why he believed anyone who said a prayer and made a “profession” was saved in spite of whatever wicked lifestyle that person lived (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-11). He agreed with
Curtis Hutson who took the word
“repentance” out of all the
Sword of the Lord Hymnbooks. His church refused to remove Hyles from his leadership position unlike the case with Steve Lawson.
Bob Gray (Jacksonville, FL) preached at the
Independent Fundamental Baptist church I was attending just a few months before he was arrested. He had been molesting children since 1949 with no signs of repentance (he was part of the no repentance crowd). Gray’s church sent him as a missionary to Germany to cover up his ongoing abuse of children; there was 400 pages of sworn depositions from alleged victims. The
current pastor at Trinity Baptist was part of the cover up of Gray’s ungodly lifestyle. After his arrest my pastor told everyone in the church to keep quiet about what happened because Bob Gray was a “man of God.” David sinned but was constantly in a state of true repentance unlike many who today claim to be “saved.”
I was listening to
Erwin Lutzer not long ago where he gave an illustration. He said which wing of an airplane is necessary for it to fly, the left wing or the right wing. The answer was of course, a plane can’t fly without
both, a left wing
and a right wing. The same comes to
salvation. You can’t have salvation without
repentance and faith contrary to what many Independent Fundamental Baptists teach. They say Jesus didn’t mention repentance in the Gospel of John but totally go blank on the fact that Jesus said,
“Repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). In
Matthew 11:21-24 Jesus warned the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida of coming judgment. He said if the mighty works done there had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented (of their wickedness) long ago. If John MacArthur and all the other ministries associated with Steven Lawson had tried to cover up his deeds, they should have been called out also.
1Tim 5:19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
1Tim 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
