John Piippo: 2025

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #4: Never Insult a Brother or Sister

(New York City)

When Linda and I were campus pastors at Michigan State University, we were teaching Matthew 5:21-24 to our students. In the midst of the discussion, one of our students, Naomi, who was from Malawi, said: "If we followed the words of Jesus here very few of us would be worshiping today. We would all get up and leave, go to the brothers and sisters we were demeaning, and ask for forgiveness."

²¹“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,

and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’

²²But I tell you that anyone who is angry

with a brother or sister

will be subject to judgment.

Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister,

‘Raca,’

is answerable to the court.

And anyone who says, ‘

You fool!’

will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³“Therefore,

if you are offering your gift at the altar

and there remember

that your brother or sister

has something against you,

²⁴leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go

and be reconciled to them;

then come and offer your gift.

"Raca" is an Aramaic term of abuse. It means "idiot." (See R.T. France, The Gospel According to Matthew, p. 120)

Anyone who calls a brother or sister in Christ an idiot is answerable to the Sanhedrin. (Greek synedrion.) France writes: "Jesus here threatens ultimate divine judgment on anger, even as expressed in everyday insults." (Ib.)

If I call someone an idiot am I really relegated to the garbage heap where Israel's rubbish was burned? No. Jesus is using exaggeration, as he often does, to make a point. (This is called Semitic hyperbole.) But the point is important. This is "an injunction to submit our thoughts about other people, as well as the words they give rise to, to God's penetrating scrutiny... We cannot worship God with grudges unsettled."

Anger is no excuse for insulting people. It is non-redemptive and alienating.

If you are a Jesus-follower, and you ridicule a brother or sister, your worship is inauthentic, and unacceptable to God.

***
See...

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #2 - Never Mock People

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #3: The Other Is Not Your Enemy

Monday, September 15, 2025

“Healing a Church from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse”

A 2-hour Zoom seminar (Register HERE.)

October 11, 2025

10 AM (EST)

“Healing a Church from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse”

- John Piippo, PhD

In this seminar we will: take a close look at narcissism and entitlement, not only in ministry leaders but also in church systems; offer compassion and hope for those affected by its destructive power; and impart wise counsel for churches looking to heal from its systemic effects.

I'll especially draw from these books.

When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community From Emotional and Spiritual Abuse: DeGroat, Chuck: 9781514005095: Amazon.com: Books

The Emotionally Healthy Church, Updated and Expanded Edition: A Strategy for Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives: Scazzero, Peter, Bird, Warren, Leighton Ford: 9780310520757: Amazon.com: Books

The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It: Goggin, Jamin, Strobel, Kyle: 9781400225231: Amazon.com: Books

Amazon.com: The Entitlement Cure: Finding Success at Work and in Relationships in a Shortcut World (Audible Audio Edition): Dr. John Townsend, Dr. John Townsend, Zondervan: Books

The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church: Woodward, JR, Fitch, David, Yong, Amos: 9781955142243: Amazon.com: Books

The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corerupt Politicians - and How We Can Survive Them

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #3: The Other Is Not Your Enemy

(Linda, reading a book to our grandson Levi.)

The apostle Paul writes:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the powers of this dark world

and against the spiritual forces of evil

in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

So, if it has flesh and blood, it is not our real enemy.

Our real enemies are "the powers of this dark world" and the "spiritual forces of evil." These are the spiritual forces Jesus came to defeat.

Jesus did not come to defeat people. He came to rescue them. In the rescue, the powers of darkness are defeated.

If you are a follower of Jesus you must not demonize others. Even if they anger you. To do that is to wrestle with the wrong adversaries.

Discuss? Yes. Agree, or disagree? Of course. Wrestle with? That would be like leaving your true opponent on the wrestling mat and climbing into the bleachers and trying to pin the captive onlookers.

If we view and treat one another as enemies, we are engaged in vain warfare.

If an army starts to shoot its own, waging war within itself, this is not only a pseudo-battle, it's going to lead to defeat by the real enemy. If the actual enemy can get us to self-destroy, it has won.

You and I are not enemies, because we are flesh and blood. If something has flesh and blood it cannot be our enemy.

Sadly, Christians can be tempted, deceived, and even used by the dark powers. (see Eph. 2:2; 4:14) As Ben Witherington writes: “It is all too easy to mistake the human vessel of evil for evil itself.” Pray that we never make that mistake, for if we do the days of hating and hurting and hiding from one another have arrived.

Our struggle is essentially a spiritual one.

Wage war on that level.

Wage peace with one another.

***
See...

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #2 - Never Mock People

Sunday, September 14, 2025

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #2 - Never Mock People

(Lake Erie - Monroe, MI)

(I don't read what people post on social media. I don't have time to do this. I am on Facebook, but I unfollow everyone except my family and our church staff.

I'm not on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler, Snapchat, or Whatsapp. Or anything.

I post this blog to Facebook. Some respond to my blog, and I often interact with them. Thank you.

I have always been a culture-watcher. I am very interested in human behavior. I study moral behavior and its sources like a madman. I am supremely interested in how we Jesus-followers should live and act and have our being.

I have much personal experience with humans abusing each other verbally. Even among Christians. Even, sadly, at times, me.

This post is about how someone who claims to follow Jesus should conduct themselves, in any medium, in all human interaction.)

Followers of Jesus are never to mock or ridicule other people.

Never. Ever.

Mockery and ridicule are opponents of agape love. They reside in the camp of conditional love. ("If you agreed with my position, then I would not show my disgust towards you.")

Every person is made in the imago dei, the image of God. To mock and ridicule a person, no matter who they are or what they believe or disbelieve, is to mock that person's Maker. If you mock someone's children, you also mock them. This is how it is in tribal communities.

Slow-cook in the book of Proverbs and apply.

How long will you who are simple

love your simple ways?

How long will mockers delight in mockery

and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 1:22

He mocks proud mockers

but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Proverbs 3:34

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;

if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Proverbs 9:12

The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,

but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

Proverbs 14:6

Penalties are prepared for mockers,

and beatings for the backs of fools.

Proverbs 19:29

The proud and arrogant person

—“Mocker” is his name—

behaves with insolent fury.

Proverbs 21:24

Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;

quarrels and insults are ended.

Proverbs 22:10

Mockers stir up a city,

but the wise turn away anger.

Proverbs 29:8

How shall we live the command to love our neighbor? By mocking them?

How shall we give witness to the sign that we belong to Jesus? By mocking one another?

How shall we be blessed as peacemakers? By ridiculing those who disagree with us?

Is mockery among the fruit of the Spirit?

Shall we build up the body of Christ using the spiritual gift of ridicule?

Is not any fellowship with the company of mockers called wickedness? (Psalm 1:1)

To mock and ridicule others that do not think like you is non-redemptive, only causing existing divisions to separate further.

(In logic, mockery and ridicule are types of informal fallacies, called ad hominem abusives. To verbally abuse someone not only adds nothing to an argument, it diminishes the argument.)

***

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others

Saturday, September 13, 2025

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others

Flicker, in my back yard

(I don't read what people post on social media. I don't have time to do this. I am on Facebook, but I unfollow everyone except my family and our church staff.

I'm not on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler, Snapchat, or Whatsapp. Or anything.

I post this blog to Facebook. Some respond to my blog, and I often interact with them. Thank you.

I have always been a culture-watcher. I am interested in human behavior. I study moral behavior and its sources like a madman. I am interested in how we Jesus-followers should live and act and have our being.

I have personal experience with humans abusing each other verbally. Even among Christians. Even, sadly, at times, me.

This post is about how someone who claims to follow Jesus should conduct themselves, in any medium, in all human interaction.)

***

If you are a follower of Jesus, this is for us.

Though the world fails in civility, we must engage in civil discourse.

Our foundation for civil discourse is love. We are to love others, in our behaviors. With the love of God, exemplified in Jesus. We must love like Jesus loves.

This includes those who disagree with us. It encompasses our enemies. They are among our "neighbors."

Love is the sign, the mark, that we are what we declare we are; viz., Christians. If we don't love, we have nothing. (See 1 Corinthians 13) If we don't love, we don't have our identity, at least in the eyes of others.

Jesus affirms the call to love in John 13:34-35:

“A new command I give you:

Love one another.

As I have loved you,

so you must love one another.

By this everyone will know

that you are my disciples,

if you love one another.”

People will know that you and I are with Jesus as we love one another. If we fail to do this, we will be considered to be far from Jesus. Or, people will think of Jesus through the lens of our rudeness and uncivility.

When Christians hate one another on social media, they fail to display what is supposed to be their distinguishing mark; viz., love. When we get disgusted, show irritation, demean, mock, slander, ridicule, or bully, we dishonor people made in God's image. And bring shame upon our Lord.

Francis Schaeffer, in his classic The Mark of the Christian, writes:

"We are to love our fellowmen, to love all men, in fact, as neighbors.
All men bear the image of God. They have value, not because they are redeemed, but because they are God’s creation in God’s image. Modern man, who has rejected this, has no clue as to who he is, and because of this he can find no real value for himself or for other men. Hence, he downgrades the value of other men and produces the horrible thing we face today—a sick culture in which men treat men as inhuman, as machines. As Christians, however, we know the value of men.
All men are our neighbors, and we are to love them as ourselves. We are to do this on the basis of creation, even if they are not redeemed, for all men have value because they are made in the image of God. Therefore they are to be loved even at great cost." (Schaeffer, pp. 15-16)

It is clear, is it not, that in all our discourse with people we are to love them. This is the higher ground, where Jesus was suspended on a cross.

The love principle applies even when in sharp disagreement with others. Remember that to love is not equivalent to affirmation, and that disagreement is not a justification for hatred.

***
My books are:

Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God

Leading the Presence-Driven Church

Encounters with the Holy Spirit (co-edited with Janice Trigg)

Deconstructing Progressive Christianity

31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship

31 Letters to the Church on Praying

The Great Invasion: 31 Days of Christmas

Friday, September 12, 2025

Progressivist Myths About Sex and Gender

Every ideology has its myths. So it is with progressive ideologues. Especially when it comes to sex and gender.

I've been reading neuroscientist Debra Soh's The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Gender In Our Society.

Before I tell you what the myths are, allow me to anticipate those who will argue against my post by employing the genetic fallacy. Soh is non-religious. Her book has been applauded by atheists. He are three of them.

“By far the best I’ve read on this topic.”
—Michael Shermer, PhD, Presidential Fellow at Chapman University and New York Times bestselling author of Giving the Devil His Due

“Very, very good. Quite feminist, very liberal, highly compassionate, thoroughly evidence-based, utterly reasonable.”
—Helen Pluckrose, editor in chief of Areo Magazine and author of Cynical Theories

"Sex and gender are always gripping topics, and The End of Gender does not disappoint. Debra Soh has given us a lucid explanation of the latest science and politics of men and women. And she fearlessly pushes back against the notion that the only way to advance equality is to scramble biology, language, and common sense, and to intimidate anyone who doesn’t go along."
—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and the author of The Blank Slate and Enlightenment Now

Soh knows that mythicist progressives will try to intimidate her and shut her down. So, take note that Soh is an actual scientist, and not a postmodernist. She writes, "research challenging progressive narratives has become increasingly precarious territory."

Soh dedicates her book "For everyone who blocked me on Twitter."

The myths are...

Myth #1 - Biological Sex Is a Spectrum

Myth #2 - Gender Is a Social Construction

Myth #3 - There Are More Than Two Genders

Myth $4 - Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Are Unrelated

Myth #5 - Children with Gender Dysphoria Should Transition

Myth #6 - No Differences Exist Between Trans Women and Women Who Were Born Women

Myth #7 - Women Should Behave Like Men in Sex and Dating

Myth #8 - Gender-Neutral Parenting Works

Myth #9 - Ideology and Social Justice Make Good Bedfellows

(See Preston Sprinkle's review HERE.)

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Old Testament Law Is Not Antithetical to Grace (Craig Keener)

A nice video by my friend Craig Keener.

The Secret of Jesus' Ministry

(Monroe, in the days when snow fell during winter

)

Why did Jesus pray? He prayed to find out what the Father wanted him to do. He prayed to receive strength and comfort. He and the Father were on a redemptive mission together. In times of prayer, Jesus received his marching orders.

Prayer brings us into the control room of the kingdom of heaven. In Scripture the "kingdom" means: the rule, or reign, of God. A praying person engages in God's kingdom activity. In prayer we gain discernment. We discern the important from the mundane. In praying we become relevant doers of the will of God.

I like this quote from Henri Nouwen, as he describes the place of prayer in Jesus' life.

"In the midst of a busy schedule of activities—healing suffering people, casting out devils, responding to impatient disciples, traveling from town to town, and preaching from synagogue to synagogue—we find these quiet words: “In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.” The more I read this nearly silent sentence locked in between the loud words of action, the more I have the sense that the secret of Jesus’s ministry is hidden in that lonely place where he went to pray, early in the morning, long before dawn." (Nouwen, Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit, pp. 20-21)

Monday, September 08, 2025

The Moral Argument for God's Existence: Some Resources

(Redeemer Church in Monroe)

The moral argument for God's existence is my favorite among arguments for the existence of God. People have not stopped making moral judgments and pronouncements. But if these judgments are not grounded in the reality of a transcendent command-giver, and we are left with atheism, then they are mere subjective tastes.

To understand the moral argument, begin by reading "The Indispensability of Theological Meta-Ethical Foundations for Morality," by William Lane Craig.

Here are posts I have written on the moral argument for God's existence, and on moral-ethical issues in general related to this argument...