Saying Goodbye to John MacArthur
MacArthur and Eagles Tapes
John MacArthur was my father's favorite preacher. My dad, a retired Baptist preacher, used to order his sermon tapes, and I remember listening to MacArthur in the car with him. It was usually either MacArthur or the Eagles.
Sermon tapes eventually became sermon CDs, and MacArthur was even sometimes on the radio. My dad would give a little bit of money a month to Grace to You (MacAuthur's sermon audio business), and in return, he'd regularly get free books and sermons. To me, John MacArthur was bigger than Billy Graham.
When I was a freshman in High School, I started to devour Christian books. I was always a reader, but now I wanted theology. I craved it, and I loved learning more and more. So I dived into two authors, specifically CS Lewis and John MacArthur. Even though I had listened to hundreds if not thousands of hours of MacArthur, I hadn't ever really thought about Calvinism. My dad wasn't a Calvinist, despite MacArthur being his favorite preacher. So when I read MacArthur's Hard To Believe, I was intrigued. I didn't understand the Doctrines of Grace yet, but it certainly sparked an interest.
This interest was a huge turning point for me. I read more MacArthur books, borrowing (and stealing) liberally from my dad's bookshelves. Some of "my" books that I've had for over a decade are probably my dad's. My first study Bible was a John MacArthur Study Bible. It's still on my bookshelf, and I decided to take a picture of it for this article. It's full of notes and falling apart now. I shouldn't have gone with the cardboard binding. I used it until it fell apart and bought at least a few friends their own copies as gifts.
MacArthur led to Sproul, Piper, Packer, and so on. The floodgates were opening.
I was amazed by how many pastors there were for me to learn from. I would fill my iPod Nano up and listen to thousands of hours of sermons from men ranging from MacArthur, Piper, Driscoll, Sproul, Tchividjian, Chandler, Lawson, Begg, Platt, Wilson, Harris, Ravi, Mahaney, and more.
Like many young men, I eventually became a bit tired and jaded with the Young and Restless stuff. Naturally, I started reading the dead guys—Calvin, Hodge, Owen, Bavinck, Augustine, etc. I wanted something more historical and grounded. Not that all of the new stuff was bad, but you know.
And eventually, one by one, some of my former heroes had some troubles. Adultery, abusive and controlling pride, severely mishandling sexual abuse cases, apostasy, etc. Some, of course, stood the test of time. Many did not.
I think I became pretty cynical for a season. But I did learn a lot in this season.
Men are men at best.
Don't make them your heroes.
Learn from them, but don't venerate them.
Have affection for them, not adulation.
Don't make any man unquestionable.
These men make terrible and pathetic gods, even the best of them.
I later became very involved in anti-abortion ministry. I heard stories from some of the "old guard" about one of my all-time favorite pastors. Stories that were shocking to me as well as terribly disappointing.
Why Goodbye?
John MacArthur recommended and approved of what ended up being a vicious police action against abortion protesters. I know some of those activists, I know their hearts, and though we may not see eye to eye on everything (including their tactics), I also know many of them were sinfully brutalized. You can learn more about this brutality here, here, and here.
My faith in MacArthur was severely rocked.
At about the same time, I was having greater and greater concerns about MacArthur's dispensationalism and dispensationalism in general. While I still respected much of his preaching, I didn't consider MacArthur a "theologian" I'd recommend. At the same time, my guts were twisted up on the insides thinking about his involvement in police brutality against pro-life activists. It was weighing on me, especially as I became more and more involved in activism.
So I quietly disapproved of him, stopped reading him, and stopped recommending his books. But I didn't speak out. Not yet.
But then more came.
I heard about MacArthur-affiliated organizations leaving a ministry financial accountability group while not, for the sake of transparency, joining a different similar group.
I heard about his multiple houses. I heard about how the organizations he founded had their boards packed with his blood relatives and in-laws. I heard about one of John MacArthur's sons defrauding clients in a multi-million dollar scheme. That son was also on the Grace to You board of directors.
I heard about how Grace to You gave out a peculiar no-interest loan to a family member of his. Or how a Grace to You director also received a loan for personal use from the same organization he was leading. These loans were also never paid back. And then I recall that my family used to give money to this organization, but not so a relative of John MacArthur could buy a house without the cost of a downpayment, but because we wanted to support a ministry.
Then I learned that the college and seminary MacArthur founded (The Master's University and Seminary) was placed on probation by their accreditation agency due to financial and leadership failures. This probation was due, in part, to massive financial payouts to John MacArthur's son-in-law, Kory Welch. John MacArthur described this as an attack "orchestrated, if not by any humans, by Satan himself."
Then I heard about how ghostwriters author some of MacArthur's books and how actual authors were not attributed. And how John MacArthur's name was printed large on the front of as many resources as possible even if he had little to nothing to do with the actual work of producing it.
Over the years, I began to feel uncomfortable with men using their name as a ministry brand (RZIM, etc.). At about the same time, I found out that MacArthur used to have grave problems with the NIV translation of the Bible but then changed his mind when the publisher offered to publish an NIV John MacArthur Study Bible. And then I found out that MacArthur didn't even write much, if not most, of the notes in the study Bible with his name printed on the front. The very same study Bible that was my first.
Then I heard John MacArthur say that any "real true believer" will be on Trump's side. This comment was made only a few years after he previously strongly rebuked Trump's abject immorality and spoke on the importance of morality when voting for a civil leader.
Then I heard John MacArthur declare, from the pulpit, that "there is no pandemic." I heard this when my brother was in the hospital due to the pandemic. As it turns out, MacArthur and his wife had COVID-19 a few months later, as did several members of his church.
I had heard rumors about sexual and physical abuse problems at Grace Community Church (where MacArthur pastors), but this year was clarifying on this issue.
A woman was publicly shamed and excommunicated from Grace Community Church (GCC) for remaining unreconciled from an abusive husband. Through this ordeal, it's become public knowledge that GCC had (or has. It's unclear) a policy stating that it's up to the church's discretion to report crimes confessed to during counseling sessions. This policy includes crimes against children. In this case, the church was aware of the physical abuse of children (from perhaps both parents) but failed to notify the proper authorities. Later it was revealed that the husband was also sexually molesting the children. Though the husband is in prison for sex crimes, GCC continues to support him. Not the wife.
Now, it's unclear how much MacArthur personally knew about this case, but he publicly declared the excommunication. Claiming ignorance is not acceptable at that point. You take on that responsibility when you take on that authority. We can not and must not divorce authority from responsibility.
Next, we have a case of a GCC pastor sexually abusing his daughter. We know that John MacArthur was aware of this abuse, and we know that the abuse was not reported to the proper authorities. John MacArthur, however, did write a letter to the abused girl apologizing for the "problems" she had been through. MacArthur also wrote, concerning the child abuser, "He has been a faithful part of our staff and will continue to be in the future." The pastor remained at GCC for three more years before being caught kissing a church secretary.
Further, another case involves a GCC Sunday School teacher who kidnapped and sexually assaulted multiple children. The Sunday School teacher confessed to sex crimes against children to a GCC pastor years before surrendering police. He was found guilty of five counts of sexual assault and one of kidnapping. Before a plea bargain was made, the original charges included over thirty counts of sex crimes. During the time after confessing to a GGC pastor and before his arrest, he kidnapped at least one child and was seen cruising around an elementary school. He turned himself into police two years after confessing to a GCC pastor.
Goodbye & Hope
Theologically, the failure to report crime is a jurisdictional issue. Jesus reigns over all spheres of life, but the role of the civil magistrate is not the Church's role. The State should not administer the Lord's Supper or perform Church Discipline. Likewise, the Church should not usurp the duties of the civil magistrate by attempting to address criminal behavior on its own.
A failure to understand and practice these distinctions is not only a failure in theology but can directly lead to injustices. In one of the above cases, the failure to affirm and practice proper jurisdictional theology directly led to a kidnapping. There are tangible risks to real people.
I've publicly shared some of these concerns before, and I've even written about a few of them. Even this article pulls heavily from a recent Twitter thread of mine. I haven't been silent. But, at least previous to my Twitter thread, I have stopped short of this kind of statement.
So, though I personally and privately said goodbye to John MacArthur years ago, I'm saying goodbye yet again today. I have a very heavy heart writing this. In many ways, John MacArthur has positively influenced my life. He has absolutely contributed to the Kingdom of God, and I'm sure God has used his preaching to save souls and teach the sheep. He has been like a theological grandfather to me.
It would be a beautiful and glorious thing for the Kingdom of God for the Church to receive a clear display of humility regarding these matters. That is my hope. How glorious would it be to see repentance, transparency, correction, and a renewed commitment to truth, justice, and accountability? I yearn for that repentance, accountability, and transparency. I want MacAuthur's legacy to stand tall. I do not want John MacArthur to be the bad guy.
Yet, on the other hand, MacArthur's tarnished legacy is not the true victim. Yes, it's good to mourn having to say goodbye to a former giant in your life, but when women and children have been harmed by the policies and actions of MacArthur and his organizations, it is they we should have compassion for.
Most of all, the name of Jesus Christ is tarnished. The Living God will be and has been mocked and scorned because of these various issues. Paul was wise, as well as divinely inspired when he wrote “Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” (1 Timothy 3:7) Yes, the world can hate Christians because of our faithfulness, and there’s certainly some of that going on, but to be hated for unfaithfulness while being a representative of Christ is altogether another thing.
I do not wish for further evidence of shortcomings and sin. Seeing this near steady stream of testimonies and hard evidence brings me no joy. The hatred many show for MacArthur brings me no joy. The defenses of MacArthur that are nearing fanaticism (if not already there) also bring me no joy. I want the man I grew up listening to be the man I thought he was. I yearn for the days of sermon tapes and drives with my dad. That's what I want. I can't have that, but we can pray and hope for repentance and restitution. That’s how we show love and honor to John MacArthur, anyone harmed, but most of all, King Jesus.
I know there are other issues and examples I could have listed. Don't take this as me denying those things.
Do not use this article to spread scorn or hatred for John MacArthur. If you do, you’ve missed the point. Anger doesn’t have to be hateful.
On Julie Roys.