David French, co-host of the Good Faith podcast, tweeted this response to Wax’s blog: “If you see a sermon clip, verify context. Sometimes the clip is fair, sometimes not. For example, clips circulated of John MacArthur comparing religious liberty to ‘idolatry.’ Were the clips fair? I read the sermons, and yes, sadly, they were.”
And Pastor Costi Hinn responded that although gotcha clips are “sometimes” bad for the church, “it’s a digital world” now. “Calling out ‘aberrant’ theology is good for the church,” he writes, emphasizing that “false teachers aren’t the ‘church.’”
Wax says he wants no part in the gotcha-clip mentality. “I’m committing instead to pray that God will give grace and discernment to pastors as they seek to divide rightly his Word,” he writes. “And I’m going to pray that in those times when we fall short in our preaching, he will give grace and will work despite our weakness, to build up his people.”
