Who's Watching the Watchdogs III

The last Watchdog. OK, let's light this candle, because even I am getting bored with this. It has recently come to my attention that I am not the only one to become alarmed at the tone of the debate taking place within the Christian community, especially as it relates to taking sides on the issues of the emerging church and contemplative spirituality.

It was recently discussed as a concern on the Relevant Podcast, the audio companion to Relevant Magazine. Not so much the controversy itself, but the ugly turn the debate has taken. Then I recently read an article in my daily Christianity Today e-mail newsletter titled " The Attack Dogs of Christendom". I like that name even better than Watchdogs. More to the point. They discuss a different website than I did, but a similar modus operandi. An excerpt, then I will comment:


What disturbs me...is the extent to which some Christians have turned themselves into the self-appointed attack dogs of Christendom. They seem determined to savage not only opponents of Christianity, but also fellow believers of whose doctrinal positions they disapprove.

A troll through the Internet reveals websites so drenched in sarcasm and animosity that an agnostic, or a follower of another faith tradition interested in what it means to become a Christian, might be permanently disillusioned.

None of the major figures of American Protestantism in the past quarter-century have been spared from attack, from Billy Graham to Rick Warren, from Tim LaHaye to Robert Schuller. The attacks, moreover, are not reasoned or modestly couched criticism, but blasts of ire determined to discredit beyond redemption the targets of the criticism.

The angriest websites are those belonging to small, but disturbingly visible, fundamentalist Protestant groups outraged that fellow Protestants appear to be holding out a welcoming hand to Catholics or Orthodox Christians.

So I am not alone in decrying this disturbing trend. So why quit? Because when I read websites so drenched in sarcasm and animosity, I know that I am prone to attack this sarcasm and animosity through the use of much sarcasm and animosity. That is my nature. At what point do I become one of them? That is why I was of two minds in posting Watchdogs II at all. I knew that I was going to put the gloves down, but I wanted to get in one last punch. So I did eventually post it, but I actually edited out some of the sarcasm and animosity. It is not without an edge, but it is better than it was.

I got to the point where I came to realize that the more I talked about them, the more attention they would get. You know what they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity. So my new policy will be to avoid getting down in the mud with them. To more or less ignore them. To express my opposing views in more positive and uplifting ways.

This is not to be interpreted as me becoming one of those "doctrine divides, so let's all just get along" guys. I have strongly held beliefs, and I will defend them, but hopefully without the sarcasm and animosity for the other side.

I have read through the Gospels many times, in fact have memorized over half of them, and I do not recall even once Jesus saying "They will know you are my disciples by your utter contempt for one another". I guess that is what concerns me most. This is not an in-house debate. There is nothing more public than Internet blogs and websites, and the outside world is watching. How do we look?

I close, amazingly enough, with the Charles Spurgeon Morning & Evening devotional for this very evening, September 11th:

"Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies."—Psalms 5:8.

ERY bitter is the enmity of the world against the people of Christ. Men will forgive a thousand faults in others, but they will magnify the most trivial offence in the followers of Jesus. Instead of vainly regretting this, let us turn it to account, and since so many are watching for our halting, let this be a special motive for walking very carefully before God. If we live carelessly, the lynx-eyed world will soon see it, and with its hundred tongues, it will spread the story, exaggerated and emblazoned by the zeal of slander. They will shout triumphantly. "Aha! So would we have it! See how these Christians act! They are hypocrites to a man." Thus will much damage be done to the cause of Christ, and much insult offered to His name. The cross of Christ is in itself an offence to the world; let us take heed that we add no offence of our own. It is "to the Jews a stumblingblock": let us mind that we put no stumblingblocks where there are enough already. "To the Greeks it is foolishness": let us not add our folly to give point to the scorn with which the worldly-wise deride the gospel. How jealous should we be of ourselves! How rigid with our consciences! In the presence of adversaries who will misrepresent our best deeds, and impugn our motives where they cannot censure our actions, how circumspect should we be! Pilgrims travel as suspected persons through Vanity Fair. Not only are we under surveillance, but there are more spies than we reck of. The espionage is everywhere, at home and abroad. If we fall into the enemies' hands we may sooner expect generosity from a wolf, or mercy from a fiend, than anything like patience with our infirmities from men who spice their infidelity towards God with scandals against His people. O Lord, lead us ever, lest our enemies trip us up!