Read a bunch of reviews of a book of rank feminist heresy deconstructing God the Father yesterday. All the reviews discussed the heresy in carefully modulated terms and were disgustingly obsequious toward the female author.
Avoid these hirelings. Such men are everywhere in the Reformed church today. Their refusal to warn, but always and everywhere to merely join the conversation, is just as destructive to souls as the heretics they’re reviewing. The man who cares more about how his peers view him and whether he’ll be seen as part of the conversation bears no resemblance to any prophet or reformer of the past. He doesn’t warn. He discusses. He is a dog who refuses to bark, promising to guard but turning tail when the wolf comes for the sheep.
Which is worse, histrionic discernment or dispassionate disquisition?
Both are equally insidious because both lull us to sleep, innoculating us against the pastoral warnings that should characterize the care of true shepherds guarding their sheep. Remember the Apostle Paul characterized his ministry: “Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears” (Acts 20:31).
Read and trust men like this to pastor you. Men who don’t cry and don’t even start admonishing their flock (or limit their warnings to politics and culture) are hirelings. Run.