The Bible Nerd

I knew when the Ashley Madison website hack went public that there would be Christians on the list of people exposed. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the media to wade through all the information and find a “famous” Christian who is on television. You would think that people would be tired of pointing out hypocrites within the church, but apparently it never gets old dancing on the moral grave of those who were not practicing what they were preaching. “Ah ha!” they say, just more proof that Christians are a bunch of losers who act more righteous than everyone else, but in reality are chasing after adulterous affairs. Some of these “outed” believers have gone into full damage control, trying to explain away culpability or merely confess and ask for forgiveness. I can hear this Ashley Madison deal being used by someone as a reason why they are closed to the Gospel or the church.

The real question is, “how should we respond when non-Christians play the Ashley Madison card on us?” I was instantly reminded of the words of Paul when he was describing himself in the letter of 1 Timothy. Timothy had been assigned by Paul to guide the church in Ephesus and there were some serious issues there. I believe that Paul expected Timothy to read this whole letter to the church as it is full of commands for everyone and not just Timothy. At the very beginning of the letter, the common sense thing for Paul to do would be to establish his authority right away. He needs to remind them that he is an apostle, reinforcing their need to follow his instructions. Instead, Paul goes into testimony mode and shares this little tidbit about his past in 1 Timothy 1:13-16,

“¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” (ESV) 

Paul goes the opposite direction of what we might expect. Instead of establishing his authority, Paul humbles himself by admitting how bad his past was. He was a broken and sick man who deserved God’s wrath but received His grace instead. No matter how long Paul followed Jesus and no matter how much he accomplished for the kingdom of God, he never hid or forgot his past, sinful life. He always gave Jesus the credit for his salvation and rescue. Now, what does any of this have to do with the Ashley Madison question? The world needs to understand that Christians are not professing to be perfect people. As Augustine said, the church is a hospital where sick people go to be healed of their illnesses. Jesus Himself said that He came as the great physician seeking out those who knew they were sick and lost. Though it saddens us to hear about another “famous” Christian being caught in sin, it should not shock us nor surprise us.

Of course, we as Christians have to make sure that we are never passing ourselves or the church off as perfect or as never wavering in our moral fortitude. Our story is the same as Paul’s story: we are sinners saved by grace. The only difference between us and those in the “world” is that we were willing to admit how messed up we are and how much we needed Jesus’ redemption. We have to be quick to humble ourselves and not try to behave as though we have it all together or saved ourselves.

This might lead you to ask a follow-up question, “Are you saying that there is no difference in the lifestyle or morality of a Christian from a non-Christian?” Should we really have no expectations that a Christian acts differently than someone who is not? Do we just shrug our shoulders when we find out our pastor is on the Ashley Madison list? He is just a broken, sick, sinner after all! No, that is not what I am saying. You have to give equal time to another thing that Paul said in his letters. The Corinthian Church made the church at Ephesus look like it had no problems at all. There was division, immorality, and all kinds of gross sin happening in Corinth. Take a look at the application bomb that Paul drops on them in 1 Corinthians 4:15-17:

^“15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶ I urge you, then, be imitators of me. ¹⁷ That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.” (ESV)

In the midst of addressing their problems, Paul points out how the Corinthian believers are behaving just like the “world” (in fact in chapter 5, he says they are doing things that are even unheard of in the Gentile world!) Then, Paul challenges them by saying that they should “be imitators of me.” Now, I want you to think about that statement for a minute. Can you imagine yourself standing up in front of your church or someone’s else’s church and saying, “Be an imitator of me.” The first thought you may have is that this sounds too proud. Like you are saying, “I have it all together and I am such an amazing Christian that you should do everything just like me!” I only thought about this later, because the first thought that I had was, “The last thing I want everyone doing is watching everything that I do and thinking that it is an example of a holy, Christian lifestyle!” That is way too much pressure. Can you imagine that much accountability in your life?

Personally, I like the first point from Paul better. It sounds much better to use the “I am just a sinner saved by grace” line to get out of being an example for anyone. I can simply say that only Jesus is a good example to follow. Imitate Jesus, not me. Sounds humble and right, but that is NOT what Paul just said. He said, “be imitators of me” knowing that he was trying to live a life that imitated the life of Christ. Yes, Paul never stopped telling people that he was broken and saved only by mercy. However, he also wanted people to know that same grace was changing him every day, renewing his mind and sanctifying him. He believed that mature Christians should be able to have new believers examine their lives and find role models.

Of course, Paul knew that he would not be morally perfect this side of heaven. I don’t think we should follow his example in the fight that he had with Barnabas over whether they should take Mark on their second missionary journey in Acts 15. Yet, Paul had a high moral standard for his life, and understood that if Christians did not behave differently from the world on a consistent basis it damaged the effectiveness of their witness. Instead of focusing on the names of Christians whose names were on the Ashley Madison list, maybe we should pay more attention to all the names who were NOT on the list. Let us aspire to be able to say, “My name would have been on that list if it weren’t for the grace of Jesus that saved me and is daily sanctifying me.”