Letter
Apology?
Dear Sir,
The Bishop’s response to Lambeth has been published along with some responses, for example, Church Society and CEEC. There is much to criticise in the deplorable, blasphemous, verbose and vacuous Bishop’s paper. To pick up on one point which all three papers mentioned have in common: I am weary with all this self-flagellation of apology. I would like to know what was said by those who are supposed to have caused offence. If sin has been pointed out then that’s as it ought to be – it will cause offence! If some form of church discipline has been imposed – quite right! We cannot accept those wilfully practicing sin into a fellowship when God does not accept them.
The manner of expression might not have been judiciously expressed against the various sexual sins but sin will do what it can to refuse responsibility and crying offence is an easy way out for it to become another excuse for keeping evil practices.
Moreover, now that apologies have been rolling in for quite some time, are those practicing their sexual deviancy now willing to express thanks for the apologies, come to repentance and abandon their wickedness? Not a bit of it! Further, once one expresses an apology what follows? The sin still needs pointing out and repentance must still be applied. An alternative, of course, is to take an ameliorating stance in order to try and accommodate the sin in case such folk are offended again – the bishop’s report is a master-class of this latter approach, hence its double wickedness. The question is simple – what does the Bible say? Begin here and then let the offence be in the sinner at the denial of the sin which God hates.
Determined sinners will always take offence with what God says.
As a final complaint and observation, where are those so-called evangelical bishops who should have broken rank?
I’m looking for one apology in the Scriptures for causing an offence for preaching the truth and the necessity of holiness. The Gospel is a stumbling block and sin will be judged. Simple truth.
Yours, sincerely
John Dunn
IoW
