An Open Letter to Fellow Believers Who Have Concerns About Online Polemics/Discernment Ministry - by David Morrill

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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"Discernment" ministries are nothing if not sensitive. They're in the business of criticizing pastors and churches, but they don't like being on the receiving end of criticism. 

And Protestia is no exception.

The thing about it is, "discernment" ministries are sometimes worthy of criticism. They are too often over-the-top, insulting, and, yes, down right wrong. In keeping with their hyperbolic tendencies, their response to criticism is also hyperbolic.

Here's a "discernment" ministry that claims that its brand of discernment is definitionally loving.

This is a "discernment" minister who was respectfully asked a question about the status of her heart when she writes about false teachers, and her response is truly astounding.

This same person does concede that some criticism is deserved, but spends the greater part of her article complaining about how difficult it is to be a "discernment" minister.

Here we have a person who believe that only false teachers are divisive, which apparently justifies any and all bad behavior of "discernment" ministers.

"Discernment" ministers can get really nasty. Here's some examples:

• Karen Swallow, an admittedly questionable Christian, was "discerned" (by Protestia!) as follows:

hideously ugly

post-menopausal woman 

bizarre wardrobe choices

a penchant for cackling

no personal charisma

a face that scares children

a voice that sounds like nails down a chalkboard

pugnacious

unladylike

uglier on the inside than she is on the outside

the personality of a Roomba 

 the personal charisma of fetid corpse

unpleasant and evil woman

• Here's a "discernment minister" (also from Protestia) who thinks it's appropriate to rank the worst Christian of the year.

• Here's one who accuses a person of committing the unforgiveable sin.

• T.D. Jakes might have some problems, but here's what a "discernment" minister wrote about him: TD Jakes deserves no honor among bible teaching, God-fearing men. Like you, he deserves nothing but our contempt and the working end of the shepherd's rod.

• Here's a fellow who seriously wants all charismatics to die of COVID (from Protestia's predecessor "Pulpit and Pen").

• This man says we don't have to pray for people who are false teachers.

• This man feels it's within the bounds of proper discourse to call someone an imbecile (also from Protestia's predecessor "Pulpit and Pen").

Also, the author seems to think that because Jesus was violent once and Paul was insulting once that it gives him carte blanche permission to do the same. This of course is ridiculous. Description is not prescription.

We don't want to suggest the above examples are typical, but they happen frequently enough that they're not aberrations. And thankfully, there are sane voices who carry a message of caution that is valuable for all of us.

As a final note, this long defense of the author's "ministry" doesn't contain a single quote from the Bible. There are many Bible references, but no verses. It's continually dismaying to us how these people think they can teach the Bible without quoting it.

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Note: This letter is intended to provide a biblical defense for the importance and Gospel focus of online polemics ministry, and answer many of the common objections presented to me over the last year or so.
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Brother or Sister in Christ,

It has come to our attention that you have some concerns about online polemics and discernment ministries, of which Protestia is one. Beyond any issues with the purpose and identity of this ministry and apart from our commitment to transparency and openness to correction, there are many believers who don’t agree with even the existence of ministries like this, and who have (I will contend) many false impressions about the nature and purpose of what we do. These impressions (as well as genuine concern and curiosity) result in the same questions and/or accusations being brought up regularly. Rather than attempt to answer these questions (or variations of them) repeatedly as they come up, I’d like to offer biblical answers to the most common questions here. I will add any additional reasonable questions as they arise.

Also, I would encourage you to see these answers not merely as a defense of us or other ministries that do this work, but as a defense of the thousands of brothers and sisters who support this ministry prayerfully and financially. This includes believers who report coming to true and saving faith in Christ as a result of the work done by online polemics/discernment ministries.

The Importance of Polemics

This ministry is primarily engaged in the theological practice known as polemics, which (in contrast to apologetics which is the defense of the faith to non-Christians) is the practice of challenging and refuting doctrinal errors, including errors advanced by false teachers. Michael Horton (prior to unfortunately veering woke) observed in his 1996 article “How to Be Polemical (Without Being A Downright Nasty Person)” that, “There was a time, of course, when every theologian, whether Protestant or Roman Catholic, was a polemicist. Later, polemics became merely a distinct position on a theological faculty. Finally, it disappeared altogether in a spirit of congenial tolerance.”

In 1970, Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote in Romans: An Exposition of Chapters 3.20-4.25: Atonement and Justification:

Disapproval of polemics in the Christian Church is a very serious matter. But that is the attitude of the age in which we live. The prevailing idea today in many circles is not to bother about these things. As long as we are all Christians, anyhow, somehow, all is well. Do not let us argue about doctrine, let us all be Christians together and talk about the love of God. That is really the whole basis of ecumenicity. Unfortunately, that same attitude is creeping into evangelical circles also and many say that we must not be too precise about these things. If you hold that view you are criticizing the Apostle Paul, you are saying that he was wrong, and at the same time you are criticizing the Scriptures. The Scriptures argue and debate and dispute; they are full of polemics.

At Protestia we actively protest the post-modern disappearance of polemics, and practice in the tradition of Paul (who famously told the legalists of his day to castrate themselves (Gal. 5:12), and Christ Himself who famously and publicly torched the Pharisees as children of hell (Matt. 23:15), a nest of snakes (Matt. 23:33), and white-washed tombs that appeared spotless on the surface but were full of hypocrisy and dead men’s bones (Matt. 23:27). Just as Jesus often answered his critics with scripture, we seek to answer our most common critiques below.

Questions and Answers

Where in the Bible does it teach that what you are doing is Christ-like?

Christ-likeness is defined by Jesus Himself, revealed to us in scripture (John 1:1). Scripture, as the inspired and revealed Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16–17), testifies to the person, work, and character of Jesus (John 1:14), and the complete revelation (Rom. 5:14) testifies to the nature (Rev. 15:4), character (Rev. 4:8), and will (Psalm 115:3) of God and therefore defines what is truly like Christ. As Christians, we are instructed to test everything (Thess. 5:21) to determine what is from God and what is not (1 John 4:1), knowing that false teachers and teaching are commonplace (2 Peter 2:1-3). We are similarly instructed to be ready to defend our beliefs with words (1 Peter 3:15) and to train our discernment with constant practice (Heb. 5:14) so that we might be skilled in the word of righteousness (Heb. 5:13). This skill manifests in refuting those who are in error, and polemics (argumentation) was practiced consistently (Acts 19:8) by the apostles and the early church as good and necessary.

Why do you have an entire ministry dedicated to the “negativity” of pointing out false teachers and teaching?

Much like other Christian ministries are focused on specific areas of faith and practice (mercy, missions, education, etc.), this ministry has a focus on an area of theological practice that is gifted and commissioned in scripture (1 Cor. 12:10). We encourage those who are blessed by this ministry to not make polemics their sole focus, and to engage with all areas of theological study (Matt. 4:4) through the work of other reputable ministries whose focus is in other areas. Primarily, all who support Protestia should be giving, loving, serving, and faithful members of a local New Testament church as defined scripturally (Acts 2:42, Phil 2:2, 1 Cor. 12:12–27). Information provided by this ministry is for the edification and defense of the church (Ephesians 4:15), not to equip “lone wolf” Christians or provide ammunition to attack faithful ministers of the Gospel.

Why can’t you balance the negative of what you are against with the positive of what you are for?

The nature of polemics (argumentation) is such that the primary lens through which we defend the truth is through identifying bad doctrine (Gal. 1:9) and false teachers (Matt. 7:15). Yet identifying falsehood is by its nature good (Psalm 119:104), as falsehood can only be determined by relating it to the truth (Jude 1:3). Those who complain about the “negativity” of this ministry are failing to see past the painful emotions that can result from conflict, but conflict in the interest of obedience to God is a positive, necessary thing (Matt. 5:11).

Isn’t it prideful or egotistical to always think you know better than everyone else?

Yes, it is. This is why we are constantly striving to speak and write not on our own authority but the truth of God’s Word (1 Cor. 2:1-5). It is our prayer that any opposition to what appears on this site will at its core be opposition to God’s Word (John 15:18) . We are generally unresponsive to hypocritical complaints about “tone” or being “unloving,” especially when the complainer merely wishes we hadn’t reported something true (John 7:24). Yet we are always open to correction and rebuke in the case we’ve reported incorrectly or misapplied scripture (Proverbs 11:2), have a firm policy against whitewashing our errors (unlike many other sites that “ghost correct” by editing or removing what they’ve written with no notification), and maintain a retractions page on our main menu to publicly repent and reconcile with those we’ve sinned against by getting something wrong (Ephesians 4:2).

Is it really Christian behavior to dig up and broadcast other people’s sins?

Sometimes. While it is truly a very small percentage of what we do, exposing secret sin (Numbers 32:23) can be necessary for the protection of the church and for confirming the identity of false teachers and false “Christian” movements (Matt. 24:24). Whistleblowers come to us because we are not beholden to “respectable” Christian institutions, and with a motivation to lovingly obey the Lord (Acts 5:29) will challenge anyone we believe is sinning or teaching falsely (even our friends) (Proverbs 27:6). This gets us left out of conferences, not credited by big names in Evangelicalism (even as they rely on us behind the scenes), and results in our ostracization even from those at our own churches (Matt. 5:11).

A perusal of the site shows that almost every article is reporting something that was done or taught publicly. We find it and report on it (from our biblically conservative framework), but we rarely provide facts that a reader wouldn’t be able to “dig up” by just being on the internet. Our ministerial work is not only in the reporting of the comings and goings of Christendom but in the discernment and doctrinal analysis brought to bear on the reported issues (Acts 17:11).

Why are you so quick to declare professing Christians to be false believers?

Simply, because the Bible demonstrates it. First, nowhere does the Bible teach that we are in any way compelled to believe someone is saved just because they claim to be (Matt. 7:22). Modern Christians are generally willing to accept someone as a Christian based on the thinnest claim to Jesus, and it takes a mountain of evidence to accept someone is a false convert. Yet Jesus taught that more people find the wide gate that leads to destruction than the narrow one (Matt. 7:13-14) and that there will be many who claim to be believers yet are not (Matt. 7:22). It stands to reason that many (if not most) who claim to be Christian are in fact false believers, and we simply follow the biblical prescription of looking to the spiritual fruit (Matt. 12:33) of a professing Christian (most especially what they profess and/or teach) (Matt. 7:15-16) to determine whether we are to treat them as lost or saved. In the case the lost person is teaching in the name of Jesus, we are commanded to publicly identify them and warn others (Rom. 16:17), expose their deeds of darkness (Eph. 5:11), and not associate with them (1 Cor. 5:11).

Wasn’t there a nicer way you could have made that correction?

Perhaps. Although outside of a clear scriptural error, “nicer” is simply defined by the subjective feelings of you as the reader. Many readers have uncritically thrown around Bible verses instructing Christians to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) or “correct with gentleness” (2 Tim. 2:23-26) without reconciling these commands next to clear scriptural examples of Jesus using insults (Matt. 23:16–17), sarcasm (John 10:31–32), and even physical violence (John 2:15) in his corrections. Clearly, instructions to be gentle and loving are not blanket prohibitions against arguing or using pointed, direct language as Jesus Himself defines true gentleness and love. Rather, gentleness implores us to continue to appeal with our words, not engage in the fool’s errand of trying to manage the emotions of the reader.

Why didn’t you take your issue to the person in private, as Matthew 18 instructs?

The sin described in Matthew 18:15-17 clearly refers to a personal sin between two believers (if your brother sins against you), not to public error. Sins necessitating the Matthew 18 process must be serious enough to warrant possible ex-communication upon non-repentance (verse 17), and also be within the realm of practicable disciplinability (can’t discipline a believer who is not a member of your church). Rather, public error is rebuked publicly (Galatians 2:11), and we are to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3) and mark and avoid (Romans 16:17) those who preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:8-9).

Why are you engaging in ministry apart from the accountability of a church?

Every believer is accountable first and foremost to God Himself (Acts 5:29), and our actions should be judged by the standard of scripture, yet we recognize the need for spiritual accountability from the brethren (2 Tim. 4:2). Everyone involved with Protestia is required to be a member of a local New Testament church, and we seek accountability for everything we write or say from our local churches (Galatians 6:1). We also encourage open, polemical dialog on any issue we address, and often engage with and are critiqued by brethren who disagree with us (Proverbs 27:17). Every good work performed by believers within or apart from the church is rightly understood to be worship (1 Cor. 10:31), and all believers should hold one another accountable for words and deeds (Col. 3:13).

You know everyone hates you guys, right? (Yes, I’ve been asked this.)

Some people do, and if we are being faithful to the truth of the Word we will be hated by those who hate God (John 15:18). All believers should rejoice when the enemies of God hate them (Matt. 5:11). We encourage believers who reflexively oppose this work to search their hearts and determine the reason. If they oppose this ministry for doctrinal reasons, we will happily continue to argue and appeal for biblical truth. If they oppose us because they are opposed to the work of polemics/discernment, they need to take that up with God Himself, who instructed all believers to do this work as they train in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Much like believers are to study the Bible (and are aided by the work of other believers who write Bible studies and books)(2 Tim. 2:15), believers are instructed to be discerning and contend for the faith (Jude 1:3) (and can similarly be aided by other believers who write articles and produce online content).