Jesus said,
“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.” (Mt. 18:8-9).
Now we don’t take that statement literally, because we know that handless men can still steal and blind men can still covet. The imperative is to be radical and abrupt and decisive in your battle against sin. Do those things that will keep both your heart and hand from sinning. And be unafraid to be absurdly drastic in your attack against sin.
It is easy to affirm those last three sentences with a nod of the head and a verbal affirmation — “that’s right.” It is much more difficult to take such drastic action against sin, or even the possibility of sin, especially if you are a public figure.
So thank you to John Piper who is demonstrating for his church what it means to cut off a hand in the battle against sin, or even the threat of sin.
And thank you for demonstrating the priority of marriage above ministry, for being careful to cultivate and care for the relationships at home so that he might continue to be qualified to care for the relationships at church
Last Sunday, he announced that beginning May 1 he is taking an 8-month leave of absence from the church and ministry — no preaching at his church, no outside preaching engagements (with four exceptions), no writing, blogging, twittering, article writing, or even sermon preparation. Why take such drastic action? As he wrote to his congregation on Sunday,
I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, I love my Lord, my wife, my five children and their families first and foremost; and I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. I hope the Lord gives me at least five more years as the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem.
But on the other hand, I see several species of pride in my soul that, while they may not rise to the level of disqualifying me for ministry, grieve me, and have taken a toll on my relationship with Noël and others who are dear to me. How do I apologize to you, not for a specific deed, but for ongoing character flaws, and their effects on everybody? I’ll say it now, and no doubt will say it again, I’m sorry. Since I don’t have just one deed to point to, I simply ask for a spirit of forgiveness; and I give you as much assurance as I can that I am not making peace, but war, with my own sins.
In addition, he included two statements in his verbal remarks that seemed to me to be particularly compelling, enlightening, and encouraging in my own battle against sin:
Noël and I are rock solid in our commitment to each other, and there is no whiff of unfaithfulness on either side. But, as I told the elders, “rock solid” is not always an emotionally satisfying metaphor, especially to a woman. A rock is not the best image of a woman’s tender companion. In other words, the precious garden of my home needs tending.…I want Noël to feel precious — precious above the ministry.…The way that best says this to her is an 8-month total breakaway from ministry.…
…What will happen to John Piper’s soul — and to my marriage, and to my family, and to my future — when, to use the words a very sober, old, wise colleague of mine on staff, when “there will be no prideful sipping from the poisonous cup of international fame and notoriety?” I need to find that out, and I don’t know any other way to do it.
This leave is a radical step and action — but one that is helpful in demonstrating what it means to cut off a hand or foot in the battle against sin. He has spoken often about the mortification of sin. Now he is demonstrating what mortification looks like in his own life. Thank you, John Piper, for such a bold action and illustration of living Biblically and loving wife and family.
Words of Grace 