17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
—The words from Hebrews 13:17
22 “‘When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the Lord his God, he is guilty. 23 When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect. 24 He is to lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord. It is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 26 He shall burn all the fat on the altar as he burned the fat of the fellowship offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.’’
—The words of Law of God through Moses from Leviticus 4:22-25
15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious.—The words of God through the Prophet Hosea from Hosea 9:15
17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” 19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
—The words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Timothy 5:17-21
I grew up in the period of time that spanned the end of the 1940s and extended into the mid-1960s. During this time, I spent literally thousands of hours in church. My parents were both intensely involved in the leadership and ministry of the church. My father served as church treasurer for over 25 years. He took over that position when the previous treasurer was caught with his hand in the till.
In my teenage years, I became a leader in Youth for Christ and worked with dozens of local pastors and the leaders of the various churches. I sooned learned that church pastors and leaders come in all varieties.
In many cases, pastors and leaders consist of truly dedicated individuals who love the Lord Jesus Christ and consider it a sincere privilege to serve the Kingdom of God. Most of these leaders came to their leadership positions because they met the requirements laid out by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:6-9.
For the first time, while attending Board of Directors’ meetings for Youth for Christ, I encountered behavior on the part of pastors and church leaders that did not seem to coincide with the requirements laid out in Scripture. I approached a pastor for whom I had deep respect and asked him about what I had observed.
“One of the hardest tasks you will have throughout your Christian life will be to balance what Scripture says about church leaders when you observe them acting in ways that defy Scriptural principles,” he told me. “You will do well to balance what Scripture says about respecting leaders, but also not tolerating their sin.”
If you examine very carefully the several Scripture passages at the beginning of this blog post, you will see a span of exhortation regarding leaders in the church. In the Old Testatment passages, the Law offers some very specific requirements regarding the handling of unintentional sin. By implication, one could conclude that intentional sin was wholly unacceptable. In the New Testament passages, you can begin to see the pattern of balance that my pastor friend urged me to follow, lo those many years ago.
Give the leaders in your church all the respect that they are due. But, if you observe any of your leaders behaving in a sinful way—whether in their personal lives or in the leadership decisions that they make in the church—I urge you to follow Scripture. Do not tolerate sin. Call them to confession and repentance. To do anything less will allow the sinful leaders to plant seeds that could blossom in such a way that the unconfessed and unrepented sins might well destroy the effectiveness of your church.
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God for loving us. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to be our Savior. Thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit to guide us in all our relationships, including the relationships we have with the leaders in our churches.
Please grant us the wisdom to maintain a balance between honor due those who lead and intolerance for their sins. Help us to obey Your Word and live purposefully and intentionally for You each day. Thank You for Your watchful care over us, as You guard our hearts and minds. Protect us from leaders who would take us in a direction of disobedience to Your Word and Your will. We pray, with thanksgiving, in the powerful and protective Name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment