Conversations: Steve Lawson, Retirement Reformation, CEO Pay

Readers share their thoughts on Ministry Watch stories.

EDITOR’S NOTE: From time to time we will publish letters and emails we get from readers, sometimes with a response, sometimes without comment. If you would like to share your thoughts about any of our stories or podcasts, please email us: [email protected]

Steve Lawson: Rush to Judgment

As a 76-year-old Christian and devout follower of John MacArthur, The Masters Seminary, R.C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries, Spurgeon, Martin Luther and the reformers, I am severely disappointed in the action of the above and other organizations in a popular jump to judgment of Steve Lawson.

They all seem to have forgotten the apostle Paul, the Mount of Transfiguration, the woman at the well, and most severely the basic fundamentals of Christ and His Father our God of Glory in whom we serve.

Which one of us males have not committed adultery by looking upon a woman of beauty let alone a young lady seeking a male father figure that might be lacking in her walk to Christ? Robert Morris, Tony Evans and a whole host of other good men devastated by a mistake in judgment, but not even a murderer as the Apostle Paul was forgiven by Christ. Should these good men not be afforded our forgiveness also?

Our nation is gone if this is the path we choose to follow. Does this remind us of the priesthood mafia of Christ day? Such does to myself.

Ron Zerby, Oklahoma

Warren Smith responds:

I appreciate your concerns and agree with them. However, the Bible also says: “Have no fellowship with the evil deeds of darkness; instead, expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11) I agree with you that a “jump to judgment” is wrong. But it is also wrong to ignore the egregious and public wrongdoing of our Christian leaders.

You mention Paul, and rightly so. He was an evil man before he met Jesus. But after he met Jesus, he was a transformed man. He went away, withdrew from public life, not for days, weeks or months, but years before re-emerging as a leader of the Christian church. His restoration was slow and deliberate.

So I don’t want to judge too harshly men like Lawson, but we can’t just say “Whoopsie! Stuff happens!” This is a man your age, with a national media platform, who had an affair with a woman in her 20s. He is disqualified from ministry by any reasonable and biblical standard. To say otherwise would be to dishonor scripture.

Grace and peace to you.

Retirement Reformation

I’m honestly not on a sudden move to bombard you with feedback. But this article about a retirement reformation struck a nerve with me (in several good ways), so I wanted to touch base again.

Two things jumped out to me. First, the theme of not retiring in the traditional sense fully resonated with my own thinking.

To celebrate my 60th birthday two years ago, Rachael and I went on a camping trip to ask ourselves, “What does God want us to do for the next decade?” We met a couple at the community campfire named Bo and Suzie from Banner Elk, N.C. I thought I was looking in a mirror. He had a silver beard like me. He was my build. We talked about grandkids. Then he mentioned great-grandkids.

When he talked about something else that made him sound older than he looked, I stopped the conversation and asked him a direct question. “Bo, how old are you? It sounds like you could be 85.” He answered by saying he just celebrated his 86th birthday and is about to retire from 60 years of ministry.”

I left that camping trip wanting to be like Bo. We drove home changing our mentality and asking God what He wants us to do for the next 20 years. Soon after this trip I read the book The New Retirementality by Mitch Anthony. I was already sold on the concept, but the book contained some additional food for thought on the subject.

The second thing that jumped out to me about your MinistryWatch article was that Steve Verleye “retired” to be a C12 chair. After two years of asking God what He wants me to do for the next 20 years, I officially accepted to be a C12 chair starting April of next year. I will transition from being a member since 2012 to leading one or more tables, depending on how well I am at recruiting.

Thanks, and may you continue pumping out these informative articles via MinistryWatch. You can count on my support this Dec. 3 on Giving Tuesday.

Blessings,

Davis Carman, president, Apologia

Thanks for your Work

I just want to appreciate all the good work at Ministry Watch which is very useful for believers like me.

I have one request. Please have the list of shining lights and questionable missionaries available in one click. It is so hard to find these lists. It is buried deep inside some news page. I think it used to be easily available a few years ago but not anymore.

Joseph Raj, via email

Warren Smith responds:

Thanks, Joseph, for this feedback. We are currently “re-engineering our “Monthly Lists” landing page to make it easier to find what you are looking for. Thanks for this suggestion. We should have it done in a few weeks.

How Much Should a Christian Charity Pay its CEO?

Efficiency and transparency are important to me for donating my hard-earned money to Christian institutions. However, I also peruse the compensation for leaders of these institutions and am appalled at the exorbitant level of compensation for some of these charities. I realize that CEOs of large corporations often have huge compensation in the form of salary and profit incentives.

However, I expect more sacrifice on the part of the leaders of Christian charities who receive income from the generosity of Christian donors. Am I viewing this properly or is there another way to look at this situation?

Thanks and best regards,

Jay Taylor, via email

Warren Smith responds:

Jay:

I think you are right to be concerned about the compensation levels of ministry executives. That’s why we report them.

That said, it is not always clear or obvious what the right compensation level is. Leading a large and complex ministry requires real executive skills, and if you are not willing to pay these executives what they are worth, you could easily end up with people who are not competent. Incompetence has its costs.

My advice is to check what executives make. Ministries should be transparent with that information. If you can’t find that information, don’t give to that ministry.

Secondly, once you know that information, don’t give to any ministry you think is paying its executives too much. I can’t answer that question for you, but answering that question for yourself is both your right and your duty as a donor.