A Terminal Case of Ingratitude

In a previous article I said how disillusionment had led to various divisions in evangelicalism. Some folks have abandoned evangelical confession, others have abandoned evangelical politics.

When abandonment happens there can be a lot of bitterness.

• Bitterness due to ill treatment.

• Bitterness due to betrayal.

Though there are often prior causes which have led to estrangement, there can be something else going on too: a terminal case of ingratitude.

The Ingratitude of Critics

Those who abandon evangelical confession are keen critics of every sin that that evangelicals may commit. They can slice and dice those sins with precise scrutiny. But if you were to ask them to count the many blessings of the evangelical communion, they tend toward silence. Their ingratitude won’t admit such confessions.

There are those who have felt betrayed by evangelical leaders. Often they see what they deem to be a lack of courage or a profound naivete. But no love could cover such multitude of sins. Rather the weakness and foolishness are rendered as traitorous and premeditated. The good that such leaders wrought for them is forgotten in a moment because they blew the strategy or failed to spot danger.

A terminal case of ingratitude causes people to turn quickly on those who have invested in and sacrificed for their upbuilding. I’ve seen a well-known pastor promote a young pastor, getting him book contracts and extensive opportunities, only to have that younger man turn and reject the mentor and the rising tide that had lifted his boat.

So there are books by obscure men, who are obscure again, that were raised up for a season because of the condescension of a great pastor, and his sense of the mission of Christ in making disciples. I don’t hear the thanksgivings and panegyrics for those sacrificial leaders. All that we hear are the hectoring and chirping of lesser men who felt slighted for not being made much of.[1]

A Terminal Case of Ingratitude in the Church

The terminal case of ingratitude comes to churches when we forget what people have done for us, or rather, how God has orchestrated the sacrifices of others to give us what we have. So as the Puritans recognized, the dissatisfaction we may have toward men and movements, is simply a complaint against God.

Time and distance can change things. When we are ungrateful for what we have, we can get gratitude longing for what we had. Many mentors, like fathers, have seen young men spurn them, only to come back round after many years, and many scars to admit that the older man knew what he was doing.[2] Other young men never gain that wisdom with age, and they remain ungrateful with a terminal case that they take to the grave.

Evangelicalism, which is at heart, actual men and women in local churches, has a terminal case of ingratitude infecting us more deeply than symptoms indicate. We toss the truths of the Reformation because we wish to punch back at paganism, but using Roman Catholic integralism. Or we ignore the deeper piety of the Reformed Orthodox when we see the passions of the charismatics and think we’ve been cheated. Evangelicals are so blessed, that they feel entitled to heaven on earth. When they find out that even the best of men are men at best, they feel slighted and duped. They sulk away into the broad way that leads to destruction (Matt 7:13), carrying their undiagnosed terminal ingratitude to a sudden cardiac arrest.

Personal Examination

I had to test my thesis.

Was I grateful for John Armstrong who left conservative evangelicalism after leading a brilliant parachurch ministry? He gave me books, introduced me to Reformed evangelical leaders, gave me counsel when I needed it. He also moved away from being a Reformed Baptist during a time when he could have pulled me with him. I do not thank Armstrong for that. It was a betrayal, though he would say that he is following his conscience. Nevertheless, under God, such a betrayal is a lesson which I needed to learn, to trust God rather than men. For that lesson, taught of God I am thankful.

Was I grateful for Art Azurdia who betrayed his marriage vows and revealed a darkness and manipulation which left acquaintances shocked, even after developing the preaching of a generation of men? He had spoken at my little conferences and shared valuable insights about ministry and men. His book on preaching was one of the best. But Azurdia’s double-life made my wife and I question many things he said in the past. We were shocked and disillusioned. But again, his own preaching condemned him with its testimony. I do not thank Azurdia for this fall into disqualification for ministry (1 Tim 3:2). I thank God for the lesson that he taught me. The lesson is that when accomplished men give assurances that strange choices are within their liberty, you must be wary, and trust that the truth will come out if it is being hidden. For that lesson, taught of God I am thankful.

What about myself? People who have come and gone from my church may have been disappointed with me, possibly disillusioned. My hope is that they will look to Jesus Christ despite my failures (1 Cor 15:10; 2 Cor 4:3). And I would hope that the measure of faithfulness I had ministered to them would be a true, enduring blessing, even if mixed with dross on this side of heaven. I am very grateful for the blood of Jesus Christ that covers over my sins. For any pastor it is good to remember that the blood of the Lamb and the power of Christ’s healing hands are able to comfort sheep who have been bruised by clumsy shepherds.

Investments That Didn’t Turn Out

Returning to the terminal case of ingratitude, for all of the betrayals and disqualifications, there are still too many people who are simply ungrateful for the good investment of others in their lives. They remain ungrateful for the investment and ungrateful to God. The investments either didn’t produce the return they expected (the mentorship was not as good as Pastor X offers), or it included correction that was not received well (your investment doesn’t give you the right to call out my cherished sin).

The terminal case of ingratitude marks the church more broadly too. I’m seeing it more now, as leaders whom I have respected have welcomed the ‘death of Bible Belt Christianity’.[3] As a Canadian, living in presumably conservative Alberta, I can only hope for a more Bible-Belt culture that I find when I cross the US border to Kalispell, Montana. The terminal ingratitude toward the faithful efforts of people who went before us is a post-modern, anti-history view of the world.

Remember that even the apostles went to the culturally similar synagogues first (Acts 17:2-4).[4] We can lament that cultural Christians are nominal and unsaved. But we also must note the possibility of institutions, churches and people having cultural memory of days when the gospel was preached, confessions made, and converts won.

My own church owns a former Lutheran building. We still call one of the rooms, Luther Hall, as they did. They had long ago decided to be ashamed of Luther and his gospel. But I’m grateful that the people long ago built that building so that we didn’t have to.

As John MacArthur summarized, “Thankfulness is one of the distinguishing traits of humanity. We sense the need to say thanks, and we realize we ought to be more grateful than we are. Moreover, we perceive that we are indebted to (and accountable to) a higher power than ourselves—the God who made us.[5]

Let us pursue gratitude, even when we are disillusioned with our leaders, our friends, and our churches. Under God and his providence, he has blessed us in innumerable ways, and even blessed us using men with feet of clay.

ACTIONS

1. Count Your Blessings. Recognize the overflowing gratuity of God toward you in the churches, resources and people God has put in your life. Consider the blessing of being in a Christian family that is distinctive and special.

2. Let Sins Revealed Make You Grateful for Godliness. When we find out that heroes are sinners, that the wise can be foolish, that the godly must still reap the wages of sin in death, then it is a good reminder to be grateful for godliness.

3. Recognize God Uses Flawed Means For His Glory. Just look at Simon Peter. Sinners are a platform of God’s grace. When we see people doing things that are godly and out of the ordinary from their natural character and temperament, we can thank God for that exclusively. When the Martin Luther-like leader tramples on our sensibilities, we can denounce him totally, or we can be grateful for God using him in a certain way at a certain time.

[1] See John 13:21.

[2] See 2 Tim 4:11.

[3] Ray Ortlund, posted to Twitter on April 12, 2021, as quoted by Ben Dunson, First Things. 2021

[4] Jim Elliff, How Should We Get a Crowd For the Gospel?

[5] MacArthur, “All Dressed Up and No One to Thank”, Tabletalk, November 2014, 28.