Evangelicalism Gone Wild: The Continued Folly of Hyper-Grace Sanctification.

Photo Credit: modernmarburg.wordpress.com

We interrupt our current blog series to bring you an updated press release concerning Tullian Tchividjian and to sadly recount the continued decline of American Evangelicalism...

Last week (celebrity editor) Phil Johnson criticized (celebrity counselor) Paul Tripp over a public article wherein Tripp basically stated that Pastor Tullian Tchividjian's divorce is necessary because his marriage is 'irreparably broken.'  As most of you know Tullian Tchividjian's ministry credentials were deposed by a south Florida Presbytery recently following his extramarital affair. (Paul Jones of Reformation 21 also weighed in on Paul Tripp's public comments.)

As this tragedy unfolded publicly Phil Johnson added some very helpful commentary along the way. Here are some Pastor Johnson quotes that I found to be quite discerning. "I can't imagine any circumstances under which it would be appropriate to counsel a man who is admittedly guilty of adultery that it's OK to file for divorce after a six-month attempt at reconciliation. Plus, this particular man was a pastor whose whole message was supposedly about the power of the gospel and grace and forgiveness. Tullian himself has been practically demanding grace and forgiveness since the day after his sin was exposed. Furthermore, he seemed to throw his wife under the bus even in his original "confession." From the public perspective, it seems clear that he has sinned against his wife; he is not merely an innocent victim of her sin, whatever that may be. All of those things raise questions in my mind, but the biggest question is, Why is Paul Tripp so willing to be complicit in this whole mess?"

"Even if Tullian had been the innocent party in a situation where his wife abandoned the marriage, I would hope someone who places so much emphasis on grace and forgiveness would wait longer than 6 months to file for divorce.

I'm friends with a couple where one party was exposed as a serial adulterer and the other partner's immediate response was to ask for a divorce. But we counseled the aggrieved party to move very slowly. The estrangement lasted quite a bit longer than 6 months, but the Lord has shown extreme grace; both the sinning partner's and the aggrieved person's hearts appear to have been miraculously changed, and the couple is now reconciled and their love for one another renewed. THAT's what we should hope and pray for if we truly want the gospel to be exalted. 

In Tullian's case, I think the fact that he himself was unfaithful to his wife saddles him with the responsibility to show extraordinary grace to her. Six months is not long enough for that. He's clearly in a hurry to get all the hassle over with and get back into the pulpit. Personally, I hope--by God's grace--that will never happen."

"Others in the Tchividjian family (including Tullian's brother Boz) have made comments online suggesting that there IS more to the story, and that the full story does not exonerate Tullian. No matter how I try to look at it, something smells terribly wrong. And Tullian's behavior up to this point hasn't exactly inspired confidence in his judgment or his integrity. In other words, being as charitable as possible, I can't see any scenario where I'd think this was good counsel from Paul Tripp or a proper thing for Tullian to do."

"Tullian may have stepped down from his pastoral position, but he has emphatically refused to stepped out of the public spotlight. He continues to defend his radical view of grace, which he tries to turn into an excuse for his sin. If he had responded to his sin the way Bob Glenn did, no one would be discussing his case online. Since Tullian himself wants to placard his self-justification on the Internet, it's going to be discussed on the Internet by those of us who have felt for a long time that his teaching is skewed in a dangerous direction. Selah."

"Paul Gordon: "a divorce has been filed with biblical grounds after reconciliation failed..." To accept that assertion in light of the one-sided way Tullian himself has chosen to play this drama out on the Internet would require a foolish gullibility that Scripture expressly forbids (Proverbs 18:17). That problem is compounded by the fact that Paul Tripp's highly publicized role in this seems to take the matter of discipline out of the hands of the local church and its elders, which is where the true accountability ought to be. If (as it seems) your main complaint is that these are matters that should not be made public, why not take that complaint to Tripp and Tchvidjian, the ones who have more or less insisted on keeping the whole matter on the list of trending issues?"

For those of you who are trying to understand the larger context of this debacle I put together a brief summary below (you should also check out sola sister's helpful timeline here).  Tullian Tchividjian was removed from the Gospel Coalition some time ago because of his controversial teachings concerning the doctrines of justification and sanctification. I have done my best to explain to my leadership team why this "hyper-grace" sanctification paradigm is unbiblical and dangerous (see this article and this article for a brief recap). 

Things took a turn for the worse a few months ago when this best selling author (Tchividjian) resigned from his ministry at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Tullian later admitted that he had committed adultery. 

To add insult to injury news broke this evening that Tullian has taken a new ministry position at a PCA church in Florida. Here is Willow Creek's statement (HT- Janet Medford). "We're so delighted to welcome Tullian Tchividjian to the staff of Willow Creek Church. A graduate of Columbia International University (philosophy) and Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando (M.Div.), Tullian is a best-selling author, having written seven books on the gospel of Jesus Christ and its liberating implications. Most recently, Tullian served as the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and founded Liberate, a ministry devoted to connecting God's inexhaustible grace to an exhausted world. He loves the beach, loves to exercise, and when he has time, he loves to surf. He's also a huge fan of both the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Heat."

If the apostle Paul were ministering today I can only imagine that he would post an "open letter" using language similar to what you find in Galatians (I am bewildered, astonished, and perplexed by you) and 1 Corinthians 5-6 (It is actually reported that Biblical counselors and Christians pastors are validating Tullian's recent divorce and have restored him to ministry and leadership).  Perhaps Paul's letter would read something like this?

Here is my initial response to tonight's news: I thought that the Reformation celebrated not only sola gratia but also sola scriptura (among many other bedrock truths)? The apostles established the non-negotiable qualifications of a pastor/elder/deacon (church leader) in Jesus' Church. 1 Timothy 3:1-2, It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, MUST BE above reproach, the husband of one wife (a one woman man), temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.... 1 Corinthians 9:27; But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be DISQUALIFIED. Proverbs 5, Romans 6-7 and James 3 are also relevant texts. 

The Scriptures never promote a graceless law or a lawless grace! 

Please don't try and argue that this is JUST a "church ministry" position and that Tullian is not serving as a pastor so this is ok. Tullian should remain under the authority and care of his elder board (Heb. 13:17). The fruits of genuine repentance for a sin of this magnitude are not something that one manifests in a few months. 

If RTS Orlando allows the Sr. Pastor of Willow Creek Church to finish his D. Min it would be very sad. When someone told me Willow Creek Church hired Tullian (post adultery and divorce) I assumed they were talking about Bill Hybels- and so I really wasn't surprised. But then I went to the church website and saw it is a "reformed" Presbyterian church. The Sr. Pastor claims he is a big fan of R. C. Sproul. What? During a TMS D. Min class Dr. Steve Lawson, spoke very clearly about how unbiblical and dangerous Tullian's hyper-grace teaching is. 

Evangelicalism has gone mad. It was Dr. Ligon Duncan who told 4000 pastors this March that some teachers create strange doctrines in order to justify sinful behavior. Phil Johnson, Dr. MacArthur, Jerry Wragg, Mark Jones and many "no name" pastors warned the church about the theological trajectory of Elyse Fitzpatrick and Tullian T. 

I truly hope that someone hacked into this poor church's website and posted this ministry job hire (spoof).  When I wake up tomorrow maybe we will all find out that this was just a bad joke?  If so, I will make sure to send Willow Creek an apology letter.

In all seriousness, I need to give the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones the final word. "This is the call which goes out to Christian people today: we must realize our unworthiness before God, our distance from the saints of the ages, our terrible dissimilarity from the Christians of the New Testament; then we must repent and re-consecrate ourselves to God in Christ, and we must make sure that our Christianity regulates our lives. But more than anything, we must realize that the state of the world is such that nothing but the power of the Holy Spirit can cure it, and we must feel this to such an extent that we are brought down upon our knees to pray to God in His mercy to look upon us in pity, and for His great name, that He should send a mighty revival among us. That is the only way, that is the only hope, because with men it is impossible, but not with God, for “with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  From Knowing the Times.


This Article Was Originally Published in September of 2015.

Since this time even more serious accusations have been brought against Tullian highlighting a secret life of Libertine behavior; (for example not the following article here, here, and here).