April 22, 2017 06:30
Friends of Padre Steve’s World,
As I mentioned yesterday things have been quite busy and unsettled around here so I won’t be writing a lot today. That being said, I want to mention a comment that a fundamentalist Christian come to my Facebook page and send me a direct message excoriating me for a very considered article that I wrote about the death of the Reverend David Wilkerson a number of years ago after he drove his car into an oncoming truck.
It was a difficult article to write. As someone who admired David Wilkerson yet did not idolize him I took the time to read his blog posts, and then obtain the State Police accident reports, accident photos, and autopsy results. My conclusion based on the evidence, and my experience doing accident investigation when I was in the Army was that Wilkerson had to have intentionally driven into the oncoming truck. The police reports, the photos, and his own words all pointed to it. Honesty, I would have preferred to have discovered that the car had a mechanical issue, or that he had a medical event that caused him to veer into the oncoming truck, but the evidence did not show that. Instead, it showed that on a clear day, on a strait road, that he drove directly into an oncoming tractor-trailer rig, ending his life and fatally injuring his terminally ill wife.
Over the years I have had quite a few Evangelical Christians come to this site as well as my Facebook page to attack me, condemn me to Hell, and do everything but to dispassionately examine the evidence and come to a conclusion. The problem is that I took down the idol that they made of a good man, a man who did many good things, but who also had feet of clay, who like his wife was suffering from serious medical issues, and who had recently suffered the betrayal of the people that he had helped to promote to senior leadership at Times Square Church, people who would have not reached their positions without his help and assistance.
The problem is that David was a fundamentalist, and he had written a small polemic book about suicide being an unforgivable sin. I have the book, I read it before I wrote the article. Personally I don’t think that God will condemn to Hell a suffering person who makes a tragic choice such as suicide. There were many things that I admired David for and others that I disagreed with him, suicide was one of them.
Yesterday I got a personal message from another of his idolators who blasted me every which way but loose. Instead of responding like I have done in the past I realized that no words of mine would change this person’s opinion, so I simply deleted it without comment. To me it is no longer worth debating people who refuse to even entertain possibilities that are at odds with their beliefs about the men they turn into idols.
That is a problem for many Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians. I have seen too many deny and defends the real crimes of preachers who they have turned into idols. I saw it when I worked for a very well known Fundamentalist televangelist when I was in seminary in the late 1980s and early 1990s and throughout my ministry since then. It doesn’t matter what they do: defraud their followers, be caught in horrendous marital infidelity, abuse of children, and even murder, their followers will defend them to their dying day and then condemn anyone who dares point out inconvenient truths. Pardon me, but that is not Christian, it is idolatry.
To his credit, David Wilkerson did not defraud his flock, he did not cheat on his wife, he did not abuse children, or murder anyone. He appears to have been caught in the terrible throws of depression, hopelessness, and succumbed to the impulse to end his life. There are many people who have also contacted me over the years to share the good things about David and ministry, as well as how he touched their lives who also empathized with the suffering that led him to take his life. I think that demonstrates an appropriate response to the tragic death of someone who did many good things.
Anyway. That’s more than I intended to write and I had no idea how much something that happened almost seven years ago still inspires people to hate and condemn those who however reluctantly destroy their idolatrous image of good but flawed and suffering people. However, I continue to learn that as Lord Dumbledore said: “The truth.” Dumbledore sighed. “It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”
It is, and some people cannot handle it.
Have a great Saturday.
Peace
Padre Steve+
Posted by padresteve
Categories: faith, leadership, ministry, Pastoral Care, suicide
Tags: david wilkerson, david wilkerson followers, fundamentalism, idolatry
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By Vincent S Artale Jr on April 22, 2017 at 07:45
He died of hypocrisy, ‘fatally injuring his terminally ill, wife’
That is indeed a miracle, and you don’t know his life. Who are you to judge him for methodology?
By Ellie on June 24, 2017 at 08:49
You are a terribly disturbed individual to twist that article in this manner. Future comments from you will be blocked.
By padresteve on June 24, 2017 at 10:24
I sincerely respect your opinion of Mr Wilkerson s death. ESPECIALLY with your experience as an investigator. I personally have enjoyed his teachings available online for a while and never even knew how he died until I found your article from 2011 last nite. As a faithful and loyal servant to our Lord Jesus Christ, who carries my cross daily and earnestly contends for the,faith against a worls full of sleep walking “dead people” living life like there is absolutely nothing “OFF” IN today”s,society. I did find it interesting that one of my other favorite teachers in the last 50 years, Dr Walter Martin died “rather unexpectedly” from a feast attack just 30 days after his interview on TBN where he criticized the church system and ‘named name’s ‘ on Broadcast television. He was really gathering a following and putting a dent in the pockets of powerful men. Mr Wilkerson had also stepped up his,criticism of “the,church” leaders all over America. Not just the famous ones, but leaders of small churches all across the country,. His following by “the common folk” all over the world was gaining steam, especially in the age of Technology where people CAN find TRUTH IF they deligently search for it. In the past 7 years, since his,death, there have been may “car accidents” of famous,people,whose knowledge was becoming a thorn in the side of very Powerful People. I mean toward the idea of a,sabotage of,his car right now..but have an open mind.,
By Heather on November 23, 2018 at 20:10
Dear Padre Steve,
I just found your site while looking for opinions about the absence of empathy that appears to be prevalent among Christian fundamentalists. Consequently, I also ran into your articles about David Wilkerson. What a refreshing read you are! Yes. There is no point debating those who do not want truth. I am a Catholic, however, and I see idolatry as taught and practiced most toward the priests. The evil of Catholic “clericalism” is the very root of the current scandal in that area of Christianity.
By Karen Kinsch on July 5, 2019 at 07:43
Thank you for your kind words. You are right about how many Catholics treat their priests, but the same is true in many of the Evangelical mega-churches where people form personality cults around their pastors. While not Catholic it is part of the same disease. Again, thank you for your comments and have a wonderful and blessed weekend!
By padresteve on July 5, 2019 at 09:58
Hi. I thought David was trying to put his seatbelt on while driving and lost control. Egad, if I could tell you the times my 70+ husband has almost killed me doing this it would amaze you. Life happens even if you’re well known and a pastor, author etc. old people make mistakes. I’m 68 and am not at all suicidal and while trying to get my change purse out of the car door pocket almost hit a tree on a country road. I doubt if Wilkerson tried to kill himself, his wife & other driver regardless of his life situation or mental depression. He was just skinny, frail, old and wrestling with his seatbelt. Everything is not a conspiracy, or big plan to end it all – some bad accidents are just that – accidents. I find all this discussion about “the Wilkerson suicide” pitiful and a bit funny. If you read all his sermons he sent out each month over the years you’ll find he was funny, practical, and pragmatic, as well as (in the end) old. As we age we see how the battle is really always the same. We just change & accept it differently. But massive auto accident murder/suicide… it’s too ridiculous to imagine. If I die in a wreck I hope they don’t say I tried to kill myself & everyone involved because I was old. It’ll just be because I was old and had an accident.
By Mary Barnard on December 22, 2020 at 13:17
Mary,
Thank you for your considered comments. Believe me I wish that I could agree with you. I admired David, and one of his children personally contacted me to thank me for this article. Those closest too him knew what he was going through and still loved him. Likewise I know what happened to him behind the scenes at Times Square Church. He was betrayed and basically banished by the men who he mentored, disciples and promoted to leadership did all they could to destroy him.
Even so, that is just the beginning and my eyes fill with tears as I write this. He was also abandoned by many nationally known preachers who had been his friends. I do not know if you know what that is like it is terrible. Other ministers are usually the least faithful friends. I know this for a fact. Men you believed would be your friends and confidants all of your life and ministry are the first to abandon you when times get tough, and David between the banishment, abandonment his wife’s terminal illness and his own was beaten up. That being said I learned those things after I wrote the initial article about his suicide.
I wish I could chalk his death up to old age, forgetfulness or something like that. Sadly, I know too much. First, before I went into ministry I was a trained automobile accident investigator as a young Army officer. Second, because after I was shocked by news of his death and read his last blog post, because I followed his writing decided to try to make sense of something so senseless. I used the Freedom of Information Act to get the accident report, statements and all photos from the Texas Highway Patrol. I did the same for the official autopsy report. If anything had shown that this was something caused medically I would have said so. The autopsy showed no other medical cause. Likewise the accident report and photos showed that David steered a direct course for the truck in clear weather without showing any signs of a loss of control or any attempt to avoid the crash. The pictures are horrible to look at. The diagrams of the investigators and those photos demonstrated this to a degree of certainty. Likewise, the statement of the truck driver and other witnesses verify what I wrote. Unfortunately his wife was too badly injured to give a statement, but then I would have hated to see her being asked what happened that terrible morning in Texas. He drove directly into the truck and made no effort to avoid. Believe me, if the evidence did not lead me there I would have written differently, because I really admired David. But I have to be truthful.
The reason I am responding to you is because you were kind and gracious in what you wrote. I really do get tired of people calling me all but the “spawn of Satan” for being truthful. I know that you want to not believe my conclusions, and I understand that. This was no “hit piece” on David. I am now 60 years old myself, I suffer maladies that I never expected and know that age and illness can sometimes be a cause in automobile crashes.
All that being said I know far too many wonderful pastors and military chaplains who have taken their lives for very similar reasons to David. Some were friends. Likewise, since I deal with the terrible after effects of PTSD from being in combat and the moral injury of being abandoned by those closest to me in ministry I understand what he was going through. There were many nights that I was ready to drive my car into a tree during the dark years after coming home from Iraq, I understand.
I know that David had written against suicide believing it to be a sin. I still have his book. That being said what ministers write and preach about can also be what kills them. It is part of being human, something that Jesus understands, probably more than us because he was fully human as well as fully God.
Whether you agree with me or not does not matter, so long as I tell the truth. Too many American Christians treat pastors, the great and the small like they don’t experience what they do. They hold ministers up to impossible standards and when they fail either abandon them or deny what happened. David was no criminal, what he did was not a sin. He loved Jesus, he loved his wife and family, and those who he served. What happened was tragic, and I wish I had known him in person so maybe I could have been there for him. But I know that he and his wife are with the Lord.
Thank you for your gracious note and I pray that the Lord bless you and your family and keep you safe during this terrible Pandemic.
Peace, blessings, and Merry Christmas,
Padre Steve+
By padresteve on December 22, 2020 at 23:28
Padre Steve. Hi. Almost 10 years after David Wilkerson’s death, I would like to know your opinion … there was some distraction, bad suddenness or really suicide. David and Gwen were sick? What did the family, the autopsy say? What happened between him and Times Square, Carter Conlon?
By Gustavo on March 30, 2021 at 09:25
Gustavo, from the Texas Highway Patrol report, witness statements and many photos and diagrams it appears that he made a strait run at the truck. The cause of death was Blunt Force Trauma to the chest which caused massive internal bleeding, and injuries to his ribs, sternum, heart and lungs. The autopsy report suggested no underlying medical reason that could have caused the crash. I do not remember the names that my friend told me who were involved in deposing him from his ministry at Times Square. His wife was terminally ill the son who contacted me by email thanked me for writing the article. He believed that my analysis was corrected. Sadly I no longer have that email as it was from so long ago. If I knew the abiding interest in David’s death I would have at least archived it or printed a hard copy. The accident report, CD with photos and the autopsy report are in a box of files in my storage space. I will be unloading and purging what is in it during the next couple of weeks as we are preparing to move next month. I admired David since my teenage years, and even when I disagreed with some of his teachings it never affected my respect and admiration for him. When I saw the report of his death I was shocked. When I read the news reports I was bothered enough to request the accident and autopsy reports. I truly hoped that my suspicion of suicide was wrong, that there would be something in either that would show some other cause. Since most of the news reports were sketchy I decided to take what I learned public, in no way to diminish him or his ministry, but to show just how difficult the life and ministry of a man idolized by millions, and betrayed by those he taught and promoted into leadership were. Trust me, I still deal with the rejection of a denomination I had served faithfully for years after returning from Iraq with severe PTSD, Moral Injury, and TBI. I no longer am suicidal, but there were many days for several years where I wanted to end my life by driving into a tree or river. I know too many wonderful ministers, including military chaplains who took their lives based on things like happened to David at Times Square. I have the greatest empathy for him and what he went through, and I do believe that he is with Jesus. Ministers are as human as anyone. They hurt as bad as anyone else, no matter how great or small their ministry.
Thank you for your comment. I am sorry that it took so long to respond but I have been overwhelmed with my transition from the Navy to the civilian world, a new teaching job, preparing our home for sell and buying what will be our forever home.
Peace and blessings,
Steve+
By padresteve on April 8, 2021 at 23:54