Take heed therefore unto yourselves

But ye shall not be so

(This article comes with trigger warnings.)

I came home from a meeting two weeks ago to the news that the great Kenny Baldwin has fallen.

If you’re unfamiliar with that name, you are probably not an Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB). He is (was) famous in our circles. The once-pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Fairfax County, Virginia, was known far and wide as a tremendous preacher as well as a talented musician. When he was invited to preach somewhere, he typically sang and accompanied himself on the piano. I have sat on the front row and seen the piano visibly shaking with his aggressive playing. He was a force.

I once chaperoned a large group of teens to Teen Extreme Camp at Pensacola Christian College where Mr. Baldwin was the speaker for the week, and what a week it was. I still have notes in the margins of my Bible from his powerful messages, including perfect alliteration and meaningful points. His booming voice was unforgettable. He was revered in our culture.

This is not the first time in my life I have been blindsided by the downfall of a man who we (I) thought was a godly influence.

I clearly remember when, in February 1988, Jimmy Swaggart's secret life was exposed when another preacher made public some photos of Swaggart with a prostitute at a hotel.

Ravi Zacharias’ own ministry launched an internal investigation surrounding him in 2021 that revealed decades of sexual abuse, rape, and spiritual misconduct. You can read the full report here.

Carl Lentz, pastor of Hillsong NYC, was fired after having an extramarital affair.

Bill Hybels stepped down from “his” church, Willow Creek Community Church, after being accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct.

There is also Mark Driscoll of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill fame, not to mention Bill Gothard and his Legacy of Abuse with IBLP. And of course there is our own Jerry Falwall, Jr and the pool boy scandal.

My point is that the Kenny Baldwin situation is not an unheard-of event in the IFB world. It’s just the most recent.

Because I’d heard him preach so many times in so many different venues and actually got to sit and converse with him once, my first thought was “What on earth?” But that only lasted a second. I already know what on earth and here are my thoughts on why this keeps happening.

We (the IFB community) create celebrities.

We do this. No one gets to celebrity status alone. There is no ladder to be climbed and nothing to work for. We—the common people, the religious peons, the ones with no stage, the average dudes and dudettes in the pews—we put these men on pedestals and keep them there. We broadcast far and wide what great preachers they are. We hold them up as examples to our young people (God forbid). We refer to them as “God’s man” and “the man of God” and how sick is that? Are we not all God’s men and women? Do we not all come to the Father the same way—through the shed blood of Jesus on our behalf (John 14:6)?

We gush over their giftedness, as if it is of their own doing. Do not all gifts come down from the Father of lights (James 1:17)? We give them special treatment. We hold them on high. We ask them to sign our Bibles. (For the record, I have never done this).

Paul says in 1 Timothy 5,

¹⁷ Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

When do we decide that an elder has ruled well? After ten years? Twenty? Five decades? Where is the cutoff? When does an elder qualify for “double honor”? And can we take it back when the truth comes out?

¹⁹ Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

²⁰ Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

²¹ I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

Paul warns us to observe these things (including double honor for the elders who labor in the word and doctrine) “without preferring one before another.” In other words, without lifting up one man above another. When we do that (make one more special than another), we encourage him to “think of himself more highly than he ought to think,” as Paul warned against in Romans 12.

When we think of a man more highly than we ought to—impart celebrity status to him—he will also think of himself that way. His ego swells and he believes he is above others, that he is a gift to us. The rules don’t apply to him. He can get away with things because who would question him?

Do you know what that is?

A narcissist.

According to the DSM-5 (the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals), narcissism has five main traits: “a grandiose sense of self-importance, a constant need for excessive admiration, a strong sense of entitlement, a lack of empathy, and exploitative behavior toward others” (WebMD.com).

He thinks highly of himself; he is above everyone else. He believes he is special. He craves the spotlight and adulation. Rules are for lower-status people. He deserves whatever he wants. He won’t get caught. He is manipulative and uses others for his own gain. He lies and then believes the words that come out of his own mouth. He is not the same man in public that he is in private.

Then he gets get caught and the excuses start.

We teach pubescent boys that they can’t control their lusts. The boys grow up to be men who grasp for excuses because we’ve already given them plenty. It’s my sin nature. This old flesh. My sex/porn addiction. My wife didn’t keep me satisfied. All those long nights on the road alone. It’s always someone else’s fault. They are masters at blame shifting.

Am I the only one who sees that we IFBs produce narcissists at an alarming rate? It is a disease in the conservative church that is more rampant than Co*vid.

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Every year in August my church does the 8-27 Challenge. That’s where we read through the New Testament in one month—the 8th month, 27 books in the New Testament. I started a few days early, so by now I have read through Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Here’s the one thing that caught my eye in all three accounts of Jesus’ life on earth.

In Matthew 20, Mark 10, and Luke 22, each writer records a conversation Jesus had with his disciples.

In Matthew 20, the mother of disciples James and John asks Jesus if, in his kingdom, her sons can sit on either side of him. In Mark 10, Marks records James and John asking this question themselves. Luke doesn’t say who asked, only that there was a dispute among the disciples regarding who should be the greatest. (Narcissistic tendencies are nothing new.)

But in all three cases, Jesus’ answer is the same:

Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of man [Jesus] came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:20–25)

Mark records it this way:

But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister. And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

Luke says this:

But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger [with less privilege, lower status]; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve . . . but I am among you as he that serveth.

These men are so concerned about being the greatest, the biggest name, the most well-known preacher, the most sought-after speaker. They want dominion and authority. Status. Celebrity. Esteem. Admiration.

Jesus says, “But ye shall not be so.”

“I am among you as he that serveth.”

Finally, in Acts 20:28–30 Paul gives this warning to the elders at Ephesus. He is speaking to the men who will be in charge of feeding his sheep, ministering the word of God.

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

You, elders of the church, take heed—pay special attention, beware—because I know—Paul knew how easy it was for men to seek fame—that after I leave, wolves—predators—will enter in among you, and they won’t care for the flock. They will prey on the sheep—us—and destroy them. And further, of your own selves shall men arise—the wolves will be from among you, the elders, the ones in charge of ministering—speaking perverse things. They will do this to draw away disciples after them. They want followers for themselves—groupies, people to give them praise.

A clearer warning could not be given.

Take heed. I know this. Grievous wolves speaking perverse things. Of your own selves shall men arise . . . to draw away disciples after them.

Jesus says, But ye shall not be so.