By the time we reach chapter three of Philip Gulley’s book If the Church were more Christian, the procedure is becoming rather predictable: tell a story or two illustrating how bad ‘they’ (other Christians) are, and then tell a story or two showing how ‘we’ get it right.  Throw in one or two references to the Bible (don’t take too much trouble about how you select, interpret, or apply them).  Job done.  Next chapter please.

Gulley tells how, as a seven-year-old Roman Catholic, he attended weekly Confession.  He came, eventually, to wonder if God was really that interested in his spats with his brothers, given worldwide wars, floods, and famines.  He concluded that the ‘vertical’ aspect of confession (God’s forgiveness) was less important that the ‘horizontal’ aspect (reconciliation with my neighbour).  If the church were ‘more Christian’, ‘reconciliation would be valued over judgment’.

With Michael Kruger, we can agree that Gulley’s goal here is commendable:-

1. To say that we should never declare an action or attitude to be ‘wrong’ is unbiblical.  Jesus did it.  So did Paul (and Gulley has to pronounce Paul ‘wrong’ in Galatians 5:12!).  And we may need to do so also (see Matthew 18:15).  True, we should do so in full awareness that we are sinners too.  But what God call’s ‘sin’, we should call ‘sin’.

2. To say that we should never declare an action or attitude to be ‘wrong’ is self-defeating.  To call others out for judging is to judge them.  At best, it’s inconsistent.  At worst, it’s hypocritical.

3.  To say that we should never declare an action or attitude to be ‘wrong’ is ultimately selective.  Gulley and others don’t want us to say that certain sexual behaviours are wrong.  But they wouldn’t wish us to be silent in other areas: racism, environmentalism, child abuse, and so on.

4. To say that we should never declare an action or attitude to be ‘wrong’ undermines the process of reconciliation.  Reconciliation can only happen when wrongs are acknowledged and repented of.

Kruger concludes:-