Perhaps rather than letting her walk out the door. The pastor may have offered to pray with her, for her protection. This was a moment of vulnerability for this young lady of the night. She faces danger every day and night. Financial problems driving her to the street. She’s trying to feed her child and pay the rent. Maybe an offer of an open door whenever she wants to come and join. A cup of coffee and share some humanity with her. A different kind of friend. Let her know that there’s human beings here who share the weakness of mankind. We meet these people every day. In the street, and in the church too. People who are broken. People who need help. Those who are in need of a word of kindness. These are the people that we’re called to reach. If you trust god, then you can watch the miracle happen as the stony human heart is melted by the power of the spirit that was introduced into her life. Be humbled, because not a small part of this miracle was wrought by the intervention of your prayer and kindness. What kind of reward is that.
That’s thoughtful isn’t it?
I’m not opposed to any of those things. I’ve been a part of Christ-centered recovery programs that take the type of approach you suggest.
However, I’d also suggest that MacArthur deserves no blame here. It’s easy to armchair quarterback. Doing the job is much harder than critiquing it.
Look at how Christ dealt with the woman caught in adultery, the rich young ruler, or those pretending to be sincere seekers while trying to trap him in His words.
Christ sent the adulteress away with a simple instruction: Go and sin no more.
When the rich young ruler went away sorrowful, without surrendering to Christ’s Lordship, it was not because Jesus failed him in some way.
I’ll suggest something else here as well. Influential pastors are targets of the Devil and his emissaries. Many pastors have fallen into temptation themselves. Perhaps men like Jimmy Swaggart fell into sin while trying to show compassion to women like this one who weren’t ready to surrender to Christ. Instead of him converting them, they converted him.
People like stories with happy endings. This wasn’t one. Maybe there is more to the woman’s story that we don’t know. Maybe this planted a seed that later produced fruit. But I suggest the instinct to second guess the pastor is the wrong one. It is the woman who made the wrong choice. She could have taken the risk of trusting God to take care of her, but she chose to cling to the false security of what was familiar. And it was the very thing that had caused her so much grief and harm.