JK, QSY, Prabhu...
Grace and peace to you in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I write this letter with a heavy heart, but also with real love for you. I have prayed over these words for many days, and I send them not as an enemy but as an older brother who wants to see you finish well. You have told others that you labour for the glory of God. I do not doubt that you believe it. But I must ask you, in the fear of the Lord, whether the fruit of your labour agrees with your claim.
Our Lord taught us that a tree is known by its fruit. When I look at what has grown in the places you have ministered, I see a church divided, pastors driven out for disagreeing with you, and young believers left confused and fearful about whether the Bible in their hands can be trusted. I do not take pleasure in saying this. I say it because Scripture tells us that zeal is not the same as faithfulness, and Paul bore witness of his own people that they had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Let me speak plainly about three things.
First, the division you have caused. Scripture is severe about those who divide the body of Christ. Paul tells Titus to warn a divisive person, and then to have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a man is warped and sinful. Solomon lists among the things the Lord hates the one who sows discord among brothers. You have driven out pastors whose only offence was disagreeing with you. A shepherd is called to feed the flock and to bear with those who differ on secondary matters, not to clear the fold of everyone who will not echo him. Diotrephes, who loved to be first and cast brothers out of the church, is held up in the third letter of John as a warning, not an example.
Second, the lawsuits. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for taking their brothers to civil court before unbelievers. He said it was already a defeat for them, and that it would be better to be wronged than to bring public shame upon the name of Christ. When a preacher sues fellow believers, the watching world does not see a defender of truth. It sees the gospel made a laughing stock. If you have a grievance, Matthew 18 gives the path, and it leads through private conversation and the counsel of the church, not the courtroom.
Third, the doctrine itself. I want to be careful and fair here. The King James Version is a noble translation that God has used richly for four centuries, and a man may love it and read it all his life with my blessing. I have no quarrel with that. My concern is the claim that the KJV is the only acceptable Bible, or that it is itself the perfectly preserved and inspired text, so that other translations are corrupt and those who use them are suspect. Scripture never teaches this. The KJV translators themselves made no such claim; in their own preface they defended the work of translation into the common tongue and acknowledged that even the humblest rendering contains the word of God. The doctrine you promote is a tradition of men, born in the last century, and not the teaching of the apostles or the historic church. When you bind the consciences of young believers to it, telling them their English Bible is not God's word or that their salvation or sanctification is in doubt for reading it, you place a burden on them that Christ never laid. Some of them will lose confidence in Scripture altogether. Jesus warned that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around the neck of the one who causes a little one to stumble. That should make every teacher tremble, and it makes me tremble for you.
You have said you serve God. I must tell you, with more sorrow than I can express, that when a man teaches what Scripture does not teach, splits the church that Christ bought with his blood, and wounds the weak, he is not advancing the Lord's kingdom, whatever his intentions. He is doing the work the accuser of the brethren delights in. Satan does not mind zeal. He minds only that it is turned against the unity and trust of God's people. I say this not to condemn you but to wake you, as Nathan woke David with the words, "You are the man." Nathan's rebuke was not cruelty. It was the kindest thing anyone did for David that year, because it led him to repentance.
And that is my hope for you. The door is open. Peter denied his Lord and was restored. Paul persecuted the church and became its apostle. If you will humble yourself, there is a path back. I would urge you to:
1. Put down your pride and ask the Lord to search your heart, as David prayed in Psalm 139.
2. Seek out the brothers you have driven away, confess your sin to them plainly, and ask their forgiveness.
3. Be ashamed with your lawsuits and seek reconciliation through the church, as Scripture directs.
4. Retract the teaching that binds believers to a single translation as the only pure word of God, and tell those you have troubled that you spoke beyond what Scripture says.
5. Place yourself under the counsel of godly, mature elders who can walk with you, test your teaching, and hold you accountable in love.
I do not write as one who has never erred. I have my own sins and failures, and I am only standing where I stand by grace. That is why I can write to you without contempt. If you receive this in the spirit in which it is sent, I would gladly sit with you, pray with you, and walk with you through whatever it takes to make things right. If you will not hear me, I beg you to hear the Lord, who says, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first."
The Lord is patient, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. That includes you, and it includes the people whose faith has been shaken. May the God of all grace grant you repentance, restore what has been broken, and make you a faithful servant who builds up the church rather than tearing it down.
Your brother and fellow servant in Christ,
Your Pastor and Friend
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