Are You a 3 Monkeys Christian?

Posted on by Jeff Crippen

Three Monkeys (Image)
Is this old oriental proverb biblical truth? Hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. From what we see in the typical evangelical church today, you would think that it is. “If you can’t say something good about a person, then don’t say anything at all. Surely you misunderstood what you heard? No, your eyes are deceiving you – he is a fine Christian man!”

Sin absolutely loves this proverb. Satan loves it. Abusers who masquerade as Christians love it. Morphing and twisting it to his own evil ends, the wolf hiding among the flock insists that the love of Jesus forbids us from ever hearing a bad report about someone, or seeing them as evil, and certainly it demands that we keep our mouths shut, never saying anything negative about someone.

There is nothing biblical about the three monkeys. They are the three demons that lurk in our churches, working to hide the evil that is there. Oh sure, I should avoid listening to evil things. I should turn my eyes away from evil temptation. I should not use my mouth to do evil to others. But the common “take” on this proverb among Christians is — “Plug your ears whenever you hear something unpleasant, cover your eyes when you see something unpleasant, and shut your mouth instead of speaking out against evil.” Talk about a sweet deal for the wolf! Hear him howling? “Cover your ears.” See him ripping the throat out of a lamb? “Cover your eyes.” Shouldn’t we sound the alarm to the rest of the flock? “No! Cover your mouth!”

The three monkeys picture should be posted in most pastors’ offices. Ouch.  I’m sorry. I really do hate to say that, but it’s the truth (and I don’t buy into the 3 monkeys school of thought). Abuse victims who have gone to their pastors and churches for help will attest to this. They got the “3 monkeys” treatment. Deaf. Blind. Dumb. Real dumb.

Anyone with any knowledge of Scripture at all knows full well that the 3 monkeys do not depict Christ’s truth. When Christ heard evil, when He saw evil, He announced it from the rooftops. And He has told every one of His people to do the same thing. It is waaaaay past time for Christians to come out of their little fantasy worlds where evil supposedly doesn’t exist, take their hands off all the openings in their heads, and do battle with the evil around them. In this case, with the evil of abuse. The abuser does a good enough job of hiding without our help.

Don’t be a “3 monkeys” Christian. It will just make you a spiritual Moe, Larry, or Curly. And abusers love it when we are Stooges.

[October 9, 2022: Editors’ notes:

—For some comments made prior to October 9, 2022 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be an exact match.
—For some comments made prior to October 9, 2022 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be found in the post.
If you would like to compare the text in the comments made prior to October 9, 2022 that quoted from the post to the post as it is now (October 9, 2022), click here [Internet Archive link] for the most recent Internet Archive copy of the post.]

***

UPDATE Sept 2021: I have come to believe that Jeff Crippen does not practise what he preaches. He vilely persecuted an abuse victim and spiritually abused many other people in the Tillamook congregation. Go here to read the evidence. Jeff has not gone to the people that he spiritually and emotionally abused. He has not apologised to them, let alone asked for their forgiveness.

7 thoughts on “Are You a 3 Monkeys Christian?”

  1. Thank you for the clear explanation, a friend of ours has those monkeys in their home and every time I go over, something about those monkeys didn’t feel right. I was born into Christian family, and raised by true Christian parents. Having Christ in you and walking with the Holy Spirit, you feel evil when it’s near. When I saw those monkeys, I knew right then IT’S DEMONIC, but before I say anything to her I want to know what it is all about, what’s behind it. After doing a bit of a research, I got my answer. So thank you for your great explanations.

    1. Hi Kshusa,
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  2. Thanks. The concept hit my brain a few months ago so I Googled and here it is.
    Now get every pastor to get a copy.
    So sick of the self-righteous “monkey” mentality.
    Thanks.

  3. This!!!

    “Plug your ears whenever you hear something unpleasant, cover your eyes when you see something unpleasant, and shut your mouth instead of speaking out against evil.” Talk about a sweet deal for the wolf! Hear him howling? “Cover your ears.” See him ripping the throat out of a lamb? “Cover your eyes.” Shouldn’t we sound the alarm to the rest of the flock? “No! Cover your mouth!”

    And if a person grows up super-sheltered in a family that does this, the person emerges dumb as a doorknob because the person has not been allowed to learn about much of anything criminal, sinful, wicked, evil.

    A lot of people think being white as snow and as innocent as doves is the end-all, do-all. But it also says to be wise as serpents and [since] we Christians are already being sent out as sheep among wolves, we might as well study evil as we lambs are choice treats for the predators of the world.

  4. From the original post:

    Is this old oriental proverb biblical truth?

    Me being me, I decided to check Wikipedia (knowing Wikipedia is not always accurate, but also knowing Wikipedia can sometimes be a good starting point) and read what was in Wikipedia about what Jeff refers to as the 3 Monkeys.

    From the beginning of the Wikipedia entry on the Three Wise Monkeys (what Jeff refers to as the 3 Monkeys):

    The three wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.[1] The three monkeys are

    —Mizaru, who sees no evil, covering his eyes
    —Kikazaru, who hears no evil, covering his ears, and
    —Iwazaru, who speaks no evil, covering his mouth.[2]

    Lafcadio Hearn refers to them as the three mystic apes.[3]

    There are various meanings ascribed to the monkeys and the proverb including associations with being of good mind, speech and action. The phrase is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye.[4]

    Outside Japan the monkeys’ names are sometimes given as Mizaru, Mikazaru[5] and Mazaru,[6] as the last two names were corrupted from the Japanese originals.[7][8] The monkeys are Japanese macaques, a common species in Japan.
    (Three wise monkeys [Internet Archive link])

    I wanted to add my comment because (to me, anyway), Jeff’s post might sound slightly denigrating or offensive (and many people use and intend the Three Wise Monkeys maxim / proverb in a negative way) about someone else’s culture and / or religion.

    I understand where Jeff is coming from in the content of his post….I’d have preferred if Jeff had added some clarification about the origin of what he called the 3 Monkeys, and, perhaps included one (or more) links to possible sources of information.

    Maybe no one (except possibly Barb and / or Reaching Out 🙂 ) will read this comment of mine, but, to me, the way Jeff wrote his 3 Monkeys post, it could come across as though he was slighting someone else’s culture and / or religion and I wanted to, um, rebuke Jeff (even though he is no longer a co-leader of the blog)….and, who knows, I might have even rebuked Jeff if he was still a co-leader of the blog. 🙂

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