Voluntary Ministerial Blindness

Keswick at Portstewart has come and gone for 2013 and enjoyed, in God's blessing, the heatwave that blanketed the UK this July. The main preachers during the week were Rev Allister Morrice, Scotland, and Rev. Dr Liam Goligher, Philadelphia, and the preaching was of the highest standard, as you would expect, and the sense of the Lord's presence with us was captivating. It was biblically sound and balanced - in the main - and the application of God's Word to all present was precise. The Bible Readings each morning were rigorous and deeply insightful and sanctifying. The evening meetings were also pointed, although the singing programme was repetitive, very subjective, and somewhat annoying.

The really sad thing about it was that despite mention of the persecution of Christians in far-away lands and in totalitarian regimes by some speakers, there was simply no recognition that this is happening under their noses and within their own churches, and with some of the persecutors being actively involved in working against the Gospel and its hard-pressed servants.

Why is this? Well, persecutors, like all bullies, do not recognise as persecution the persecution in which they are involved. They speak against it in conventions yet use this role as cover for their persecution of brother evangelicals when they return to "the firm" that employs them.

The sheer blindness that accompanies these ministers is visible only to those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear."  Others simply do not suspect that good men at Portstewart would work against brother evangelicals who are being ill-treated by and in their congregations, or simply ignore their plight.  But that is the reality.  Being first and foremost the good churchmen that they are and want to continue to be, they will not stand up for their ministerial brethren if by so doing they might jeopardise their promotion prospects within the churches.

This ministerial blindness can be explained: persecution of Gospel ministers is something that only happens in far away lands, not within their churches.  Theologically liberal churches never persecute their own, but they always persecute evangelicals.  Too much ministerial wreckage is lying about Northern Ireland for this to be denied.  Liberal ministers are not persecuted by their denominations because such ministers do not preach the biblical Gospel.  But Gospel ministers within liberal denominations can expect to be ill-treated by such church systems, and not even their evangelical colleagues will stand up for them.