Epstein's Island and Effeminate Christianity

Sometimes the Gospel is best presented in 9mm.

There is much discussion over whether or not the American church has become too feminine. Sometimes I think those concerns are overblown – as if the presence of any emotion is proof that all testosterone has left the building. However, in other situations – like this one – the accusation is completely justified.

When something like Epstein‘s Island is exposed, there is a natural reaction in the heart of most good men that is – how shall I say this – volcanic. There is a sudden desire to crack some skulls. A deep wish to be given the opportunity to pound some bad guys into powder and deliver some innocent kids from a living nightmare. A ferocious daydream that perhaps one day he would get a chance to give one of those monsters the kind of high five in the face that they so richly deserve.

Now here’s the rub. Years of indoctrination in the American Christian Church have taught men to feel hesitant- even guilty about this. We have been taught that this is bad. Vengeance is God’s – we are supposed to turn the other cheek - “make sure that anger and pride aren’t taking over your heart.”

This is exemplified nowhere better than in John Piper‘s lengthy article that implicitly, if not explicitly, argues that it is more Godly to stand idly by and watch someone violate your wife than it is to pull out your sidearm and liberate them from their mortal bonds.

I’m here to tell you that this is garbage. The fact that we even need to have this conversation is insane. This is a perfect example of how the masculinity of the American church has been gutted.

David heard a giant blaspheming the living God and he promptly cut off his head. Phineas saw wickedness in the temple court and he immediately put a stop to it. Jesus saw an infested temple and He de-infested it.

Martyrdom is a glorious calling. But it’s high time the American church learned to distinguish between martyrdom and a mugging.

If you’re a red-blooded man who hears about Epstein‘s Island and looks down to find two clenched fists and veins bulging out of your arms, I’m here to tell you that that is something to be proud of. God made you this way. You are supposed to be a smasher of bad guys. There is nothing unholy about righteous indignation – Jesus showed us that in the temple, and He showed us that when He spoke to the Pharisees, and He will show us that one day when He returns from heaven and brings justice on all of these wicked men who thought that they got away with it all.

“Do not take your own revenge” is indeed a Christian message. And that message applies to the poor child trapped in Epstein‘s hell on earth. They need Gospel truth to take root in their hearts so that they do not become bitter, or mentally destroyed, or despairing. They, through the power of Christ, can learn to forgive. To be whole and live free. To overcome evil with good. To turn the other cheek.

But for the good man who finds himself on the island, or witnessing the kidnapping, or facing the thug at his front door, those are the wrong Bible verses to be applying. And for him to go straight to throwing a punch or drawing a gun in defense of the innocent, rather than giving way before the wicked like a trampled spring and a polluted well – this is a good and godly impulse. This is, indeed, overcoming evil with good.

Of course, none of this takes away from the truth that any and all of our emotions should be held in light of the Gospel – we recognize that we are all sinners, and we all need the blood of Christ to make us righteous. An immature love for or glorification of violence is not a fruit of the Spirit, vigilanteism is not virtue, and self-righteous indignation is not the same thing as righteous indignation.

Nevertheless, it is wrong for the church to take the noblest of the natural masculine instincts and to hamstring it in the trappings of piety. The same church that preaches the fruits of the Spirit should also sing the imprecatory Psalms. Righteousness is better than religiosity. And righteousness has muscle. You can’t save the kids without first stopping the bad guys.

So to return to Epstein, my prayer for every one of these perverts is that they would repent and find salvation in Jesus Christ. But, unless and until they do, I pray that God exposes them, that He breaks their teeth, that He confuses their plans, that He pours out the kind of wrath and judgment upon them that would make the ears of all who hear it tingle. The wrath of God is an inherent part of the Gospel. It represents Him wrongly if we fail to hate wickedness- and, yes, the wicked- like He does. (Ps. 139:22)

So yes. If Providence gave me the opportunity to rescue a victim in distress, I would happily deliver a faithful Christian message at 3000 feet per second.