Wednesday, March 19, 2008
We Have Got To Get Smarter About Stuff Like This
MMI carries the sad story of some congregants litigating against a pastor and a ruling board.
This is purely an abuse of spiritual authority. Just tell the people what they want to know and get on with life.
It's not the sin it's the cover-up.
Sadly, I must urge the plaintiffs to continue to pursue their litigation, even if it means their expulsion from the congregation. Christian authority can not be permitted to be this high-handed. It sends precisely the wrong lesson for spiritual formation. It is sad that litigation is necessary to bring humility to bear, but alas, it is clear that the plaintiffs had no choice.
When the church forces its members to the civil courts through stone-walling and high-handed appeals to spiritual authority, they are speaking with a forked tongue to accuse the litigants of disingenuousness.
Shame on this church's leaders - Shame.
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The 74 church members filed suit in September to get access to church financial records and to have Sutton and other church leaders removed. They believed Sutton, who has served as the church’s pastor for more than 20 years, had misused church funds to pay for personal trips. They were also angered that the church paid some of the cost of a wedding reception for Sutton’s daughter.So, how did the church respond to this charge?
A group of members at Two Rivers Baptist Church who sued Pastor Jerry Sutton have been told to repent of their sins, apologize in writing, drop present and future lawsuits, and stop meeting together or risk expulsion from the church.Can you say, "spiritual bully"? Can you say "changing the subject"? Based solely on the response I am betting the charges are true. It would be too easy to just open the books and allay all suspicion, for there not to be a problem of some sort in there. Now, it may not be financial malfeasance on the part of the pastor or the board, it may just be too much ego expressing itself as an unwillingness to be called to account, but you can bet your last dollar that the plaintiffs in the litigation are not the only malefactors in this little set-to.
[...]
The letter from Sutton and Cobos cites the scripture Matthew 18:12-17 as a model for resolving church disputes.
“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you,” the passage reads in the New International Version. “If he listens to you, you have won the brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or tax collector.”
[...]
One of the key steps was this: “Stop causing disharmony among our Church Membership by being a party to malicious gossip, rumor spreading, defaming conversations, and the spreading of unfounded accusations against our Pastor, our Church Leadership, and our Church.”
This is purely an abuse of spiritual authority. Just tell the people what they want to know and get on with life.
It's not the sin it's the cover-up.
Sadly, I must urge the plaintiffs to continue to pursue their litigation, even if it means their expulsion from the congregation. Christian authority can not be permitted to be this high-handed. It sends precisely the wrong lesson for spiritual formation. It is sad that litigation is necessary to bring humility to bear, but alas, it is clear that the plaintiffs had no choice.
When the church forces its members to the civil courts through stone-walling and high-handed appeals to spiritual authority, they are speaking with a forked tongue to accuse the litigants of disingenuousness.
Shame on this church's leaders - Shame.
Technorati Tags:church discipline, leadershipo, humility, civil authority
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