Met him once. I had really appreciated his commentaries. He came to my store to do a book signing and he was the most arrogant unlikable pastor I had ever met. I hope he gets to sit under the teaching of godly women for all eternity.
This piece hit like a gut punch. Not because it was harsh, but because it was honest in a way so few are willing to be.
I’ve lived through the fallout of MacArthur’s theology. I’ve seen it in the way churches interrogated my mental health instead of supporting it. In the way leaders cornered me about what I thought of him before they considered me for membership, in the coldness directed toward my wife’s profession (yes, she worked), and in the arrogance of pastors who thought their degree from his seminary made them fit to counsel but disqualified anyone with clinical training.
I’ve watched people weaponize his “Truth” as a cudgel instead of a comfort. And I’ve spent the past few days fending off men who claim to be shepherds but have used their platforms to invalidate my experience and gaslight my pain, all because I spoke honestly about a man who shaped the very system that harmed me and so many others.
There are survivors out here, still picking up the pieces. This isn’t bitterness, it’s bearing witness.
Wow. What a brilliant exposition of the ministry and legacy of someone widely considered to be the ultimate expositor.
This is everything I’ve been processing in my head over the last day or so, but written in a much more poignant and articulate way than I ever could.
Very grateful to you for writing the truth that will probably be ignored by many, but that is at the core of who and what MacArthur was, and what his legacy will always have to grapple with.
MacArthur never held much sway in my mind or in my life until I arrived at Bible College and began to engage with him. I was immediately struck by how unrelenting he was in insisting he was right about things that were very much open issues. The more I read the less I liked, and now at the end of his life I’ll remember him as a provocateur more than a pastor
1 Cor 3:12-13 is sort of emblematic of my feelings toward MacArthur now: he built a lot in his life, but when it all gets tested by fire I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll all see that he a lot more straw than he purported to use. Glad I’m not God and I don’t have to sus these things out
Very well said. Early in my ministry I subscribed to his tape library and read his books. Eventually I began to notice a strange similarity between the books and the recorded messages. But that's not what turned me off to him. The more I listened to MacArthur the more I perceived how stern and unchristlike his manner was. Frankly, I grew weary of his approach.
I find it ironic that a man who demonstrated so little grace to others would name his ministry "Grace to You."
His book TGA2J was a game changer for me. But when I heard him on the radio he did come off as way too harsh. So the pastor could be too sure of his own opinions, too judgmental. Not true of anyone here thank goodness.
I'll repeat it ad nauseum: this is why our usernames should be THE GREEK and not Latin. If you go the Greek, you'll see my point. It's a very sui generis approach.
Humor is the sine qua non of the human ability to make sense of difficult things. So, it's especially poignant that you departed from your modus operandi and put yourself out there, even when you might get stoned for it.
Theologically stoned.
"Theology stoners" sounds dangerously liberal if you ask me... but what do I know, I'm from Colorado, where unless you take shelter in the Focus on the Family bunker you might get high secondhand.
Met him once. I had really appreciated his commentaries. He came to my store to do a book signing and he was the most arrogant unlikable pastor I had ever met. I hope he gets to sit under the teaching of godly women for all eternity.
That last sentence is gold. Amen.
SAY IT LOUDER, BOBBY.
That last sentence made me laugh so hard. Sad to think he could write and preach but when you met him, he wasn’t even likable.
That last sentence is a killer 😂
You will know them by their fruit.
This piece hit like a gut punch. Not because it was harsh, but because it was honest in a way so few are willing to be.
I’ve lived through the fallout of MacArthur’s theology. I’ve seen it in the way churches interrogated my mental health instead of supporting it. In the way leaders cornered me about what I thought of him before they considered me for membership, in the coldness directed toward my wife’s profession (yes, she worked), and in the arrogance of pastors who thought their degree from his seminary made them fit to counsel but disqualified anyone with clinical training.
I’ve watched people weaponize his “Truth” as a cudgel instead of a comfort. And I’ve spent the past few days fending off men who claim to be shepherds but have used their platforms to invalidate my experience and gaslight my pain, all because I spoke honestly about a man who shaped the very system that harmed me and so many others.
There are survivors out here, still picking up the pieces. This isn’t bitterness, it’s bearing witness.
Thank you, Matthew, for not flinching.
Wow. What a brilliant exposition of the ministry and legacy of someone widely considered to be the ultimate expositor.
This is everything I’ve been processing in my head over the last day or so, but written in a much more poignant and articulate way than I ever could.
Very grateful to you for writing the truth that will probably be ignored by many, but that is at the core of who and what MacArthur was, and what his legacy will always have to grapple with.
More citations in this than in MacArthur's entire multi volume commentary
Thank you so, so much for these careful, humorous, and balanced words on a person who has done great harm but that many don't recognize as such.
MacArthur never held much sway in my mind or in my life until I arrived at Bible College and began to engage with him. I was immediately struck by how unrelenting he was in insisting he was right about things that were very much open issues. The more I read the less I liked, and now at the end of his life I’ll remember him as a provocateur more than a pastor
1 Cor 3:12-13 is sort of emblematic of my feelings toward MacArthur now: he built a lot in his life, but when it all gets tested by fire I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll all see that he a lot more straw than he purported to use. Glad I’m not God and I don’t have to sus these things out
Very well said. Early in my ministry I subscribed to his tape library and read his books. Eventually I began to notice a strange similarity between the books and the recorded messages. But that's not what turned me off to him. The more I listened to MacArthur the more I perceived how stern and unchristlike his manner was. Frankly, I grew weary of his approach.
I find it ironic that a man who demonstrated so little grace to others would name his ministry "Grace to You."
Yeah, that was always amusing to me
All of this. Thank you for writing this.
Holy smokes. And let us all be reminded that we, too, will die one day.
As a woman who reported a sexual attack at one of his ministries by an employee, I thought it was a rather measured piece.
A he frequently reminded us, we're all fallen. Strange how he was still elevated by his fans as though he was not as fallen as we are.
His book TGA2J was a game changer for me. But when I heard him on the radio he did come off as way too harsh. So the pastor could be too sure of his own opinions, too judgmental. Not true of anyone here thank goodness.
"...erupting into orgasmic joy over a random verse in Habakkuk" is too funny.☠️😂
So funny and so true 😂😂😂
Thank you for capturing the things I’ve been thinking but didn’t have the energy to cite. 👏🏻
“He was habitually un-Christlike.”
Your thesis is right on and you brought receipts. Bravo Matthew. 👏
I'll repeat it ad nauseum: this is why our usernames should be THE GREEK and not Latin. If you go the Greek, you'll see my point. It's a very sui generis approach.
Humor is the sine qua non of the human ability to make sense of difficult things. So, it's especially poignant that you departed from your modus operandi and put yourself out there, even when you might get stoned for it.
Theologically stoned.
"Theology stoners" sounds dangerously liberal if you ask me... but what do I know, I'm from Colorado, where unless you take shelter in the Focus on the Family bunker you might get high secondhand.
Thank you. Thank you for saying this out loud.
I bought a John MacArthur study Bible, became slowly - then quickly! - horrified by the study notes, and returned it to Amazon in pristine condition.