Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 5:13–16 (CSB)

13 “You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?

It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 “You are the light of the world.

A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Sexual misconduct is as old as sin, but the avalanche of sexual misconduct that has come to light in recent weeks is almost too much to bear.

These grievous revelations of sin have occurred in churches, in denominational ministries, and even in our seminaries.

We thought this was a Roman Catholic problem.

The unbiblical requirement of priestly celibacy and the organized conspiracy of silence within the hierarchy helped to explain the cesspool of child sex abuse that has robbed the Roman Catholic Church of so much of its moral authority.

When people said that Evangelicals had a similar crisis coming, it didn’t seem plausible — even to me.

I have been president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twenty-five years.

I did not see this coming.

I was wrong.

The judgment of God has come.

Judgment has now come to the house of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The terrible swift sword of public humiliation has come with a vengeance.

There can be no doubt that this story is not over.

We cannot blame a requirement of priestly celibacy.

We cannot even point to an organized conspiracy of silence within the denominational hierarchy.

No, our humiliation comes as a result of an unorganized conspiracy of silence.

Sadly, the unorganized nature of our problem may make recovery and correction even more difficult and the silence even more dangerous.

—Al Mohler

How Christians Should Live

John 20:21 (CSB)

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

Jesus came to save us- and has sent us out to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world so that they also have the chance to know peace with God and the peace that God gives believers.

John 13:34 (CSB)

34 “I give you a new command: Love one another.

Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.

Jesus commanded believers to love each other the way Jesus loved them.

We are to love our church family as Jesus loves us.

And the call to love isn’t just directed at fellow believers- we are to love our neighbor as ourselves- and Jesus’ definition of neighbor is everybody that you see.

AMEN?

God has always called for His people to protect the weak- those unable to care for themselves.

Exodus 22:22–23 (CSB)

22 “You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.

23 If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry.

Both in the OT and the NT

James 1:27 (CSB)

27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Christians are to act this way because it is right and good.

AMEN?

It has an even more important reason as well.

John 13:35 (CSB)

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The way Christians love each other is the way that the world understands who God is, and feels drawn to learn more.

Christians loving the Christians around them is one of the most powerful evangelism tools ever seen.

And that comes as no surprise- AMEN?

Because it is exactly the way God has planned.

Matthew 5:13–16 (CSB)

13 “You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?

It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 “You are the light of the world.

A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

This is the way Christians should act- we should be shining our light so brightly that people have no option other than kneeling to Jesus and giving glory to God.

The strength of the light we shine is directly proportional to the amount of love that radiates out from us as we grow in relationship with Jesus and feel His love poured out on us.

The Guidepost Report shows that we did not meet those standards- and make no mistake- the failure of one of us to keep those standards is also of a failure of us as a body of believers.

I felt the pain of the Catholic Church’s failures in this way.

These failures have given people an excuse not to listen to God’s call.

We not only failed to live to the standards Jesus calls us to live by, we compounded that failure by trying to keep things quiet instead of taking care of the innocents hurt.

The Reality of Struggling With Sin

The writing was on the wall.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For almost two decades, survivors of abuse and other concerned Southern Baptists have been contacting the Southern Baptist Convention (“SBC”) Executive Committee (“EC”) to report child molesters and other abusers who were in the pulpit or employed as church staff.

They made phone calls, mailed letters, sent emails, appeared at SBC and EC meetings, held rallies, and contacted the press…only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC.

Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse.

They closely guarded information about abuse allegations and lawsuits, which were not shared with EC Trustees, and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other considerations.

In service of this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action due to its polity regarding church autonomy – even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation.

As survivors became more vocal and the issue of sexual abuse became more prominent in the media, divisions became apparent within EC leadership.

In recent years, as some within the SBC have been more open to reforms, they were met with opposition and antagonism from those resistant to change.

Finally, at the 2021 Nashville Convention, calls for reform reached a crescendo – the Messengers overwhelmingly voted to approve a Task Force to supervise an independent investigation into the EC’s handling of sexual abuse allegations.

The Motion called for inquiry into the actions and decisions of EC staff and members from January 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021, with respect to allegations of abuse, mishandling of abuse, mistreatment of victims, patterns of intimidation of victims or advocates, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives—excerpt from Executive Report prepared by Guidestone for SBC

Al Mohler said he was surprised.

This report should not have caught anybody by surprise.

We are human.

Romans 3:23 (CSB)

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

Sin is an ongoing issue for everybody, believers and unbelievers.

Jesus warned that there are wolves in sheep's clothing that do Satan’s work of leading Christians astray

Matthew 7:15 (CSB)

15 “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.

Jesus warned us that we will find then false believers in our churches.

Matthew 13:24–26 (CSB)

24 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

25 But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left.

26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared.

Some of the people who committed the abuse listed in that report may have been seeking to follow Jesus..

Galatians 5:16–17 (CSB)

16 I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.

17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.

That doesn’t excuse the sin, or the reduce the need for the penalty they face before the law.

Leaders who prey on their flock should never lead again.

Yet Christians, including Pastors, Deacons, and other leaders struggle with the sins just as much as anybody else.

In fact there is a lot of data showing that evangelical men and women are falling to the sin of pornography, which can lead to the sins of sexual abuse.