Can you dismiss WL's ministry because of his sins?

[Cal]

To go back to the original title of the thread, I think whether people receive or reject another's ministry is entirely up to them and their consciences.

And I think what OBW is saying is that according to his assessment he can reject WL's ministry because he sees so many faults with both it and the way WL operated that for him he sees no way to reconcile the whole mess. That's his recommendation of the situation to readers of this board.

(And, by the way, people have the right to reject OBW's ministry for the very same reasons.)

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The argument which some are making that OBW rejects WL's ministry therefore OBW must be rejecting things like justification by faith is simply a stupid argument. I wouldn't register for the board either if that's the best I had to offer.

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The idea that any Christian can have the attitude of "Hey, I have a ministry, and the rest of you have to receive it" is false. No one has the right, including WL, to expect anyone to receive his or her ministry.

I would hope what I share in a ministerial fashion is acceptable by other believers. But whether they accept it or not is not something I should expect. For example, I might have a lot of good teachings to share, but I might be proud. Others might detect that and be less receptive of me because of that. It's my job to work on myself to be a good presenter of my ministry. But I can't go around being indignant because I'm not received. That's just the wrong approach. It doesn't mean I accept wholesale people's assessment of me, but it does mean I at least consider it as possible constructive criticism.

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The whole "not a true servant of the Lord" argument is pointless because it all depends on what one means by a "true servant of the Lord." We throw around these phrases and we never define what they mean.

We say things like "so-and-so is a true servant of the Lord" as kind of general compliment. That's probably as far as we should take the use of that label. We say someone is a "really good Christian," and the like. But we probably shouldn't say someone is a "really bad Christian," should we? I wouldn't think so.