True Discernment

from Gay Christian Movement Watch:

Reports have surfaced that Bishop Eddie Long no longer wants to “fight” the lawsuits against him in court. Rather, he is taking a mediation route which some say is all but an admission of guilt.

If you aren’t aware of the controversy which broke in June, you can review our commentary here,  here and here. If you want more, exercise your right to google.

With media cameras fixed, Long vowed that he would fight the charges against him.  In a terse speech given to an audience of cheering church members, Long had cast himself as David and the four young black men who filed the lawsuits as Goliath locked in a modern day epic battle. The bishop said he had five stones and he hadn’t thrown any of them at the time of his speech. But not anymore. The five stones have been dropped and unlike David, Long is set to negotiate with Goliath. Perhaps that a smarter way to slay one’s manufactured giants.

In court depositions, Long (or his lawyers) used tight technical language to deny the allegations of sexual abuse, manipulation and a host of other charges.

Entertainment writer Morris  “Mo” Kelley’s explanation about the reality of  Long’s out of court settlements and mediation is the best so far. Kelley points out that the bold statements of fighting and such have vanished and are the signs of a guilty man.

Bishop Eddie Long agreeing to mediation of sexual coercion charges is an end-run around the universally accepted moral and ethical responsibilities of any ecumenical leader. Mediation of sexual allegation grievances is tantamount to an admission of “some” guilt, “some” form of ministerial misconduct. Innocent folk don’t make deals if the claims against them are baseless and untrue. Mediation for the accused is a forfeiture of the right to ever claim innocence, and readers should be absolutely clear on this point.

Did you hear that?

That was the sound of Long publicly admitting to some degree of guilt when he agreed to mediation. The public wanted Long to thoroughly address the allegations. Well, there you have it. He said it all, you just had to have been paying attention to hear it.

Long has said that he is “not a perfect man,” outlandishly compared his plight to that of David when confronting Goliath. We all remember Long admonishing his congregation and news media, “I’ve got five rocks and I haven’t thrown one yet.”

If mediation is his first “rock,” then a complete admission of guilt must be the next. There’s just nowhere else to go. Instead of opting for the opportunity to clear his name for the sake of his congregation and legacy; Long has chosen to quietly, secretly, address the allegations of sexual coercion; presumably with a sealed “mutual agreement.”

Even if the lawsuit is settled out of court and Eddie Long continues his religious charade and sexual proclivities (whatever they might be at any given time), you cant afford to have a short memory. Even before this sordid series of events broke, we were sounding the alarm that Long was flirting with the gay christian movement. His embrace of such apostasy now leads us to say that he may have viewed himself as one of them.

And to put things in perspective Bishop Long is a symptom, not a cause.  Its just like a fever and a cough are symptoms of the flu. The church has drifted so far away from God and his word, the symptoms are many, but the only cure is a radical return to holiness.

We are living in an age of great deception and many people will suffer because they have taken their eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and instead invested themselves in men who do not follow Christ. Like pied pipers these men are playing music which appeals to the itching ear but the end of the dance is death.

Bishop Eddie Long’s troubling history with homosexuality should give any believer serious about their relationship with Christ cause to keep their distance and not have any association, support or defense of this man or his enterprises until we have seen true fruit of repentance. That is for your protection and that’s the bible way.