Vindicating the Honor of Christ

Brad Anderson

Back in the early 2000s, Dashboard Confessionals released the song “Vindicated” which was the main theme for Spiderman 2 and the band’s upcoming album. The song is a self-evaluatory anthem which emphasizing reflections of one’s fault and virtues leading to some sense of personal redemption and vindication.

We live in a world of self-redemption and vindication—understand your flaws, come to your own terms about yourself and find a tribe to make you feel better about yourself. Listening to a recent interview with “canceled” actor Kevin Spacey he reflects that Hollywood has become a zero-sum community where it’s difficult to come back from devastating rejection. When asked, “Do you hope the world forgives you?” he responds:

People go to church every week to be forgiven, and I believe that forgiveness, and I believe that redemption are beautiful things. …I live in an industry in which there is a tremendous amount of conversation about redemption… We see so many people saying, “Let’s find a path for that person, let’s help that person rejoin society.” But there is an odd situation if you’re in the entertainment industry, you’re not offered that kind of a path. And I hope that the fear that people are experiencing will eventually subside and common sense will get back to the table”

In the church we have that “path” that Spacy is looking for. It’s called discipline, not mob cancelation. As matters have risen over the years concerning abuse in Christ’s church people have tended towards self-justification and the cherry picking of debatable passages to deflect or even reject their own guilt. It’s easy to manipulate power when that’s all that disciplinary proceedings seem to center upon.

I want to quickly emphasize one aspect of discipline in the denomination in which I serve, and it comes from Chapter 1, paragraph 3, subpoint D, in our Book of Discipline. The purpose of church discipline is to promote the peace, purity, prosperity, and unity of the Church by… vindicating the honor of Jesus Christ. The given Biblical text for this purpose is 1 Peter 1:7:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Yes, there are other purposes for discipline but we must consider vindicating the honor of Jesus Christ for the Gospel is at stake. The charged must ask themselves “have my actions which brought us to this point served to vindicate the honor of Jesus Christ? Has my defense desired vindicating the honor of Christ?” Have the accusers sought vindicating the honor of Jesus Christ in their charges? Have the courts sought the vindicating of the honor of Jesus Christ to be utmost in their procedures? Are we making the Gospel clear to those in the midst of the trial? Are we seeking to honor God or honor man? In the end, when all is said and done, can each person in the midst of the trial say the honor of Jesus Christ has been upheld and the Gospel has prevailed?

Proverbs call us to disciplinary action:
If you faint in the day of adversity,
your strength is small.
Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:10-12, ESV)

Eugene Petersen’s Message versions sums it up this way:

Rescue the perishing;
    don’t hesitate to step in and help.
If you say, “Hey, that’s none of my business,”
    will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know—
    Someone not impressed with weak excuses.

Vindicating the honor of Christ is about rescuing the perishing beyond just hearing charges. It’s about stepping up to help, doing difficult things when Christ has been dishonored. Realizing that dishonor to Christ and fellow believers IS OUR BUSINESS to take care of. The Keeper of souls will repay those who seek not the vindication of the honor of Jesus Christ.

I pray that Kevin Spacey will come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and not just tip his hat to church attendance and redemption in general. I hope he will never be satisfied with a self-vindication. I pray, even more so, that the church will seek to vindicate the honor of Jesus Christ in all she does, especially discipline. We are a redeemed people who love to see redemption in Christ and should not tolerate self-vindication. May the genuineness of our faith result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ!