“He has not resisted any counsel that has been offered,” Archer added. “Any allegation of being unrepentant, or of being under church discipline for unrepentance, is unfounded.
Archer explained:
To be clear, the reason Lawson is not under church discipline by TBC or the church he is attending, is not just because he isn’t a member (as implied by the pastor who spoke to the press), but because he is not in a state of unrepentance (as per Matthew 18:15-18). Rather, the repentance of this type of sin takes time to be fully convincing to observers. The TBC elders did the right thing to rebuke him publicly and remove him from teaching duties (from which he willingly resigned anyway), as per 1 Timothy 5:20. But they are also under no obligation to maintain church discipline, since he has not refused to repent. Their role in the process of his repentance is currently to oversee and support those counselors who are experienced in dealing with this extraordinary intensity of a public figure’s disqualification from ministry.
Archer explained that the reason Lawson hasn’t released a “personal statement of repentance and remorse” is because he has been instructed by his counselors, who believe it would be “premature” to do so. “Maybe they know something we don’t,” Archer said. “Or maybe they are erring on the side of ‘the proof is in the pudding.’”
Archer concluded by sharing his hope that Lawson’s counselors will grant him permission to be interviewed. “I have offered to interview him, not on behalf of any institution or church,” he said. “But just as a friend and as one of many, many younger men in ministry who looked up to him and who feel like we are owed some sort of explanation.”
“I suppose I am not entitled to anything,” said Archer, “But I feel like a personal statement would go a long way in bringing closure to an experience that left me reeling.”
