John MacArthur Speaks Out on Steve Lawson: “The Lord Said ‘That’s Enough.'”
During a Grace Community Church Sunday night service, Pastor John MacArthur answered a question about his friend, former Trinity Bible Church pastor and former Master’s Seminary professor Steve Lawson, stating one of the ways God loves and purifies the church is “to expose someone in a position they have no right to be in.”
MacArthur provided an update on his heart surgery, recovery, and an estimated 5-6 weeks before his strength returns enough to preach, even while noting humorously that he was “strong enough to have a conversation.”
Describing Lawson as an “unfaithful leader,” MacArthur noted that “the enemy makes an effort to plant someone in this church who has a corrupting influence.” He stated that Lawson remains his friend but doesn’t understand how Lawson could “preach past his conscience.”
MacArthur finished by saying, “While my heart is crushed for the sinner, it is grateful for the Savior who has purified his church.”
Details have been thin regarding the exact nature of Lawson’s “inappropriate relationship” revealed a little over a month ago, yet sources close to the situation have reported that the young woman Lawson was involved with has been cooperative and repentant regarding her sinful relationship with the long-serving pastor. Lawson remains silent and, by all reports, unrepentant and uncommunicative, but the young woman’s reported repentance is encouraging and should cause believers not to seek to expose her identity.
Reports from GCC staff had revealed a genuine possibility that Steve Lawson would have been tapped to fill in for John MacArthur when he no longer was preaching at Grace Community Church (while a permanent replacement was sought), so it appears providence protected the church from being led – even temporarily – by a disqualified false shepherd.
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