Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Dealing With Sin- A Problem For The Church
One of the things that I find most problematic in the church today is our unwillingness to look sin in the eye, declare it as such, and then deal with it. The gang at Together for the Gospel has been talking about the issue a bit with regards to baptism and membership at Saddleback.
But the post that really got me thinking about this was this one at Sheep's Crib wherein John does exactly what I wish I saw more of - a bit by bit analysis and refutation of sin in the midst of church leadership. John is finishing he 3-part examination of the horrible sins of the brothers Paulk in a charismatic church in Georgia.
Cross-posted at How To Be A Christian And Still Go To Church
Related Tags: sin, church leadership, accountability, academic training, sexual impurity, excommunication
But the post that really got me thinking about this was this one at Sheep's Crib wherein John does exactly what I wish I saw more of - a bit by bit analysis and refutation of sin in the midst of church leadership. John is finishing he 3-part examination of the horrible sins of the brothers Paulk in a charismatic church in Georgia.
The entire cost of infidelity in ministry leadership is known by God alone ... remember, He's infinite. But the devastation to families, churches, friends, and our witness is enormous at best but beyond measure at worst. There are so many others damaged by the abuses of these servants of the flesh and their minions from hell that one doesn't know where to begin when speaking of the cost.I especially like John's take on how inexcusable the Pastor's behavior is and how disingenuous it is to attempt to discredit the women involved.
How do we get to places like this? Several reasons:
- We confuse the grace we offer sinners with the condemnation necessary for those in the fold. In other words, we tend not to demand any more from Christian leaders than we do from Joe Pewsitter.
- We have an extremely limited view of what God's grace can accomplish in us. We have an expectation of personal failure. In other words, we lack faith.
- We emphasize worldly success (numbers, growth, etc) over Godly success. We fail to view the world from God's perspective
- We fail to rely on God's power and instead rely on our own.
I could go on. Jollyblogger looked last week at the necessity of theological training among the clergy. He concluded
My take is that theological education is essential to ministry, but it is only one of many things that are essential to ministry, and that academic credentials do not necessarily qualify one for ministry.David's right and if you ask me what one of the core problems facing the church today is, it's our reliance on academic standards and our failure to develop training programs that grow the person, not the scholar.
Cross-posted at How To Be A Christian And Still Go To Church
Related Tags: sin, church leadership, accountability, academic training, sexual impurity, excommunication
