The following excerpts are taken from Stacy's blog where she originally posted it back in November 2007. It has been updated to include a link to the McDonald's family testimony. As you can see, this has been going on a while:
Slander even affected the life of the Apostle Paul. He was forced to clarify his message because of “slanderous charges.” Paul said, “And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just” (Romans 3:8, NKJV). Even Paul was misrepresented!
Matthew Henry pointed out that even Jesus was slandered (Matthew 12:24):
It is no new thing for the best of God’s people and ministers to be charged with holding and teaching such things as they do most detest and abhor; and it is not to be thought strange, when our Master himself was said to be in league with Beelzebub. Many have been reproached as if they had said that the contrary of which they maintain: it is an old artifice of Satan thus to cast dirt upon Christ’s ministers.
In Mark 2:16, rather than questioning Jesus directly, the Pharisees gossiped about Him. They could have asked Jesus why he was eating with publicans and sinners, yet the Scribes and Pharisees instead asked His disciples. But Jesus heard and answered them directly.
Moses experienced slander as he attempted to live and teach God’s message (Numbers 14:36) to the Israelites. The ten spies made the entire congregation to murmur against Moses; Scripture tells us they brought a “slander upon the land.” Matthew Henry again comments this way:
Those that represent the service of God as mean and despicable, melancholy and uncomfortable, hard and impracticable, needless and unprofitable, bring up an evil report upon the good land, pervert the right ways of the Lord, and in effect give him the lie. They made Israel to sin. They designedly made all the congregation murmur against God. Note, Ring-leaders in sin may expect to fall under particular marks of the wrath of God, who will severely reckon for the blood of souls, which is thus spilt.
As you may have guessed, our ministry and our family, as well as other brothers and sisters in the Lord, have been the target of malicious gossip and yes—slander. There is a small band of incendiary bloggers who have taken our words and our teachings and twisted and misrepresented them—all in the name of “critique, discussion, and debate.”
In addition to personal assaults against our character and intentions, our teachings and ministry have been misrepresented with claims of “hyper-patriarchy,” legalism, and assertions that we believe all women who work outside the home are in sin. This is absolutely false.
Let me be clear, I don't believe that an honest critique, or a godly debate or discussion, is an act of slander, libel, or gossip. Book reviews (that actually review a book—not the personal opinions the reviewer has about the author), discussions on email lists and blogs regarding a specific teaching or biblical truth, and even respectful debates can be fruitful. Iron sharpens iron and we can all learn a lot in these settings.
But let’s stick to the facts. When a critic makes a statement that purposely misrepresents his/her neighbor (public figure or not), then that’s called slander (or libel). It’s bearing false witness, it’s a violation of the Ninth Commandment, and it is sin. This is especially true when the critic has been corrected and still insists on continuing with what she knows to be a misrepresentation of what her neighbor has stated, done, or believes.
I spend most of my blog posts attempting to share with you what I do believe, but today I would like to once again clarify what I do not believe:
- I do not believe "that family life centers around the father of the home, rather than Jesus Christ." I do believe that Scripture teaches that the father is the head of the wife, thus the head of the family - not the center of it (as if the father is to be worshipped).
- I do not believe that every instance of a woman working outside the home is sinful.
- I neither believe that girls who go to college are harlots (this one was so offensive that I had a hard time typing it!) nor that they are automatically in sin because of it.
- I do not want anyone to think we are “perfect” or “have a perfect family.” In fact, I assure you that we are not and that we don't. CLICK HERE for our family's testimony of God's mercy and restoration.
- I have never called any individual a “whitewashed feminist.” In our book, Passionate Housewives, I have defined the term, “whitewashed feminism,” according to the definition of “evangelical feminism,” but I have never labeled any private individual this way.
We are trying very hard to avoid vain arguments (Proverbs 26:4). Our desire is to earnestly proclaim what we believe and to respectfully refute false rumors and slander. So if you hear some strange doctrine that James and Stacy McDonald (supposedly) believe, check it out. Unless you’ve read [our] words for yourself, printed in context, then don’t automatically believe it.
And please extend the same courtesy to others. If you “hear” something about another Believer and it just doesn’t sound like something a Christian would say or do, then treat it as suspect until you have proof. Don’t accept the words of a talebearer (Proverbs 18:8; Proverbs 26:20).
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into the inmost body.
Fervent lips with a wicked heart Are like earthenware covered with silver dross.
He who hates, disguises it with his lips, And lays up deceit within himself; When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart; Though his hatred is covered by deceit, His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.
Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, And a flattering mouth works ruin. (Proverbs 26:20-28, NKJV)
[If you are interested in the McDonald's theological beliefs, you can click HERE to read their Statement of Faith. They also ascribe to the Westminster Standards.]
