Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, recently wrote several posts about me, Do Not Let Unbelievers Define You and Why Mention Us? What follows is my response to some of the things he said.
What is missing is the author’s [Bruce Gerencser] understanding of the Christian life, which he says otherwise. He fails to take into account that Christians are at all stages of sanctification and that Christians are still human and use human responses at different times.
Supposedly, Evangelicals are filled with the Holy Ghost. God literally lives inside of every believer, teaching them everything that pertains to life and godliness. Yet, when we look at their behavior, it looks like many Christians — including Thiessen — ignore the teachings of the Bible and the instruction of the Holy Spirit.
Thiessen justifies his “sin” by saying he is just human and God is presently sanctifying him. Thiessen has been a Christian for at least sixty years, yet his behavior suggests he is a neophyte who doesn’t practice what he preaches. If Thiessen is going to judge and condemn the behavior of unbelievers, he shouldn’t be surprised when judgment and condemnation are returned in kind.
Surely, Thiessen hasn’t forgotten that I was a Christian for decades; that I was an Evangelical pastor for twenty-five years. I am quite familiar with what Thiessen calls the “Christian life.”
We wish we were perfect so that all of our responses would be viewed in a better light, but like all Christians, sometimes outside influences get the better of us all, and we say things in a way we should not.
Thiessen says he wishes he could be a better Christian, but, hey, no one is perfect, right? Fair enough, but when you repeatedly preach AT unbelievers, you shouldn’t be surprised when you reap what you sow.
Besides, doesn’t the Bible say, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world?” Did not Paul say, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me?” Thiessen has everything he needs to be a humble, kind, thoughtful Christian, yet he, instead, presents himself as a weak, immature believer prone to the machinations of the flesh.
Instead of being condemnatory, unbelievers should apply a modicum of grace and understanding as Christians face a long, hard road, one that BG could not complete. He should not stand in judgment of others, but be humbled by the fact that millions of Christians are still walking the straight and narrow, a path he could not walk to the end.
I will show Thiessen as much grace and understanding as he shows towards me and the readers of this blog. Thiessen has long claimed that the Christian life is a long, hard road. He provides no evidence for this claim. Christians are human, just like the rest of us. The difference, however, is that Evangelicals think they are morally and ethically superior to the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world.
Thiessen continues to lie about why I deconverted. And he knows he is lying when he says I quit Christianity because I found it to be too hard. This is patently untrue. I deconverted because I no longer believed the central claims of Christianity.
But that is what unbelievers do. They use the scripture to condemn believers and ridicule them. Then write posts trying to humiliate them. Christians need to ignore such inflammatory words and condemnations.
I am not in the habit of condemning people. Thiessen evidently doesn’t understand the difference between critique and condemnation. Have I ever condemned Thiessen? Sure, but not often. I do my best to challenge and critique his assertions. When Thiessen starts attacking my character, I can, at times, respond in anger to him. An anger, by the way, that is often justified.
Thiessen says, “Christians need to ignore such inflammatory words and condemnations.” If Thiessen really believes this, why has he written two posts about me in recent days? I know Thiessen doesn’t like me labeling him as a “bad Christian,” but I call them like I see them. If Theissen had been a member of the churches I pastored, he would have been excommunicated for his boorish, un-Christian behavior. Much like Revival Fires, there’s nothing I can say to Thiessen that forces him to practice self-reflection.
Unbelievers do not understand what is entailed in the Christian life, nor do they allow for Christians to make mistakes. They want to see perfection from imperfect people. We do not need to make the Christian life any more difficult than it really is by letting unbelievers define our actions and words.
Does Thissen really believe that I don’t understand what God requires and demands from Christians? The issue isn’t Christians making mistakes. None of us is perfect. However, Evangelicals think they are morally superior to unbelievers. They demand non-Christians conform to and obey the teachings of the Bible — even though they don’t do so themselves.
I don’t define how Christians should live. I let the Bible do the defining. What better way to show the bankruptcy of Evangelical Christianity than pointing out that their works don’t match their words; that their behavior is contrary to the teachings of the Bible.
They do not know what God instructs Christians to say or do, and since they are not walking in the faith, they have no say about a Christian’s actions or words. Yes, some people do go too far, but rebuking them is up to their fellow Christians.
Is Thiessen kidding? Does he seriously believe that I don’t know what the Bible says about how Christians are to live their lives? The issue is that Thiessen doesn’t like it when I use the Bible to condemn Evangelical misbehavior, including his.
Only Jesus defines Christians and Christian behavior, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome those faults that plague our lives. Sanctification is not an easy road, as examples by the many pastors, missionaries, and Christians who have left the faith.
No one should expect perfection from Christians when the world is still full of evil that is very active in seeking to destroy believers. That is another reason why we do not listen to unbelievers about our conduct. Their words can lead to our destruction as they misuse the truth to change Christians and how they interact with others.
Evil is not a thing. Evil is what people do, and Christians do a lot of it. Do I think Thiessen is “evil?” I don’t know him well enough to make such a determination, but I do know enough about his past to suggest that he has, at times, been a terrible Christian.
Thiessen wrongly judges unbelievers solely based on their lack of faith. However, all that matters is truth. All that matters is whether someone is speaking the truth, regardless of their personality and demeanor. One thing I have noticed from my interactions with Thiessen is this: he rarely, if ever, responds to my critiques. Instead, he attacks my character and, without evidence, says I’m wrong. Why am I wrong? I am an unbeliever, and unbelievers are always wrong in Thiessen’s alternate reality. Thiessen is a young-earth creationist. He believes the universe is 6,000 years old. He believes Adam and Eve were the first two humans, and God destroyed the earth with a flood, saving only Noah and his family. None of these claims are scientifically true, yet Thiessen thinks most scientists are wrong about, well, almost everything. Thiessen has very little science training, yet he passes himself off as an expert, complete with a fake PhD.
They are not there seeking what is best for us. They are seeking what is best for them and what they want to see. But we serve God and strive to please him even when we fail. That is the great thing about God. He uses grace and forgiveness, along with discipline, to help us get back on and stay on the right track.
We look to God for our correction when we do wrong and not unbelievers. Jesus defines us and helps us get to the truth of how we should live.
Blah, blah, blah. This is just a repeat of what he said previously.
The words in italics [Evangelical-pastor-turned-atheist] tell us that he should know better than to write the content that he does. He is supposed to know all of this, yet excludes that knowledge when he rants against Christians. He doesn’t realize how much of a traitor he is in the eyes of many believers.
Let me stop laughing for a moment so I can respond to Thiessen.
Poor, ignorant, Bruce, right?
He should also know that what he sows, he shall reap. He can be very abusive, immoral, and other negatives in his writing about believers, so he should not expect to be treated with kid gloves by many Christians.
No, we don’t always reap what we sow. Just because the Bible says this doesn’t mean its true.
I have never expected people to treat me with “kid gloves.” However, the awful treatment I receive from people who are supposedly filled with the Holy Ghost is beyond the pale. Thiessen is trying to justify his bad behavior. In his mind, “I make him mad, so he has a right to treat me like shit.” Really, where does the Bible say this? Come on, Derrick, show me one verse that justifies your abhorrent behavior. I can quote a dozen or more verses that directly condemn your behavior. It’s not sin, Satan, or the flesh that keeps me from faith in Christ. It’s Christians like you who stand in the way of sinners coming to Jesus. Your behavior suggests that Christianity is not transformative; that there is no “new life in Christ.” If you think I am wrong, Derrick, prove it with your actions. At the end of the day, how we live is all that matters.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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It’s a day ending in Y, so it’s a day for Derrick to be dishonest. He has one note, which he has played as nauseam, and he has nothing else to offer. His swipes are cowardly, his points misleading, as we know.
Derek Thiessen’s response:
“On a side note, there was a response to a couple of articles we wrote. But the content was not worth rebutting or spending time going through. It is more written diarrhea from someone who is a lost cause.”
🤣🤣
He’s such a disgusting hypocrite. His whinge about the Tea App is because he resents the idea that women should have a safe harbour to warn one another about potentially dangerous or inappropriate men. He would probably find himself mentioned as one of those men, if the app had existed when he was threatening his partner.
Blah blah blah, Mr. Tee is making excuses for himself again. He holds other people to higher standards than he holds himself.
Sanctification . . . there’s a word I use to hear all the time. Good ol’ sanctification. The old get of jail free card. You can’t hold me accountable. Jesus is still working on me. sigh
Tee Hee harps about being held to account for his behavior,as well as other Christians, who are called to be ambassadors for Jesus,after all. He forgets that believers are held to the higher standard! Killing or molesting people is forbidden, period ! So, none of the letters regarding conduct in the New Testament don’t mean anything all of a sudden?? Non- Americans have a better grasp of the above than Tee does !
Meaningless drivel deleted.
Right back at ya, Reviled and Fired!! The truth actually hurts, doesn’t it, lol!!
I take issue with so-called Dr. Tee’s assertion that Christians should not be judged for their behavior by the world at large. In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly compares the disciples to “salt” and “light”. Am I imperfect? Yep, damn straight! Am I ashamed of my behavior both past and present? Definitely. That makes me human. It also makes me very reluctant to “preach” to anyone about how I am somehow wiser than they are.
Unlike Tee, Bruce has helped countless people who are working through religious trauma, to and including outright abuse. I highly doubt True Christian ®️ Tee can say he has actually helped anyone in this regard. I also think he lost the standing to lecture anyone based on what Ben disclosed, that he fled Canada to avoid taking care of his family.
To my knowledge, neither Bruce nor Ben have ever intentionally provoked the good so-called Dr. Tee. I could be wrong, but I have been reading this page for a while, and most of the time Bruce is reacting to the defamatory things Tee wrote about him.
Both Bruce and Ben provoke Tee simply by having their blogs. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The time Tee spends writing his screeds is time not spent making problems for other people, who might potentially be far less immune to his nonsense. Google “sacrificial anode”.
I see he knows the word sanctification.
He needs to look up sanctimonious. What an asshole.