I sat in service shocked and numb. The former pastor’s son had been convicted of molestation. Some of the families and some of those boys were in the congregation. The new pastor was preaching about forgiving and moving on. God would miraculously heal wounded hearts. Just come forward and pray and God will take care of whatever it is. It sounded too eerily familiar. It sounded too much like what the former pastor had preached, about how God would just take care of anything that he or his family was doing wrong, IF there was anything wrong at all. Don’t talk about it. Don’t do anything. Definitely don’t involve authorities. Just pray, and God will fix it.
God does fix some things. But God also made people with brains and hands and feet. He didn’t create puppets and he didn’t make us so that he could drag us around, doing everything for us. He wants us to think and to act. He never told people to remain silent in the face of injustice or wickedness. He never suggested that people should sit by and let sin continue while they waited for Him to miraculously save them from something they should have long since saved themselves from. And he never asked us to sacrifice our children – or ourselves, or HIM – by our silence.
1 Cor 5:1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. … 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers…. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people…..
I’ve had that passage used against me. I was convinced for about a year that if I ate with anyone from my church, I’d be causing them to sin, tainting them with some unknown sin in my life. But when I take out the parts that we heard emphasized in the preaching and look at the rest of the verses in the passage, and especially when I look at it in another version than King James, the words surprise me. Don’t keep company with abusive people? Did Paul reprimand anyone for talking about what the man in this passage was doing? No, he only told them they should not have boasted.
How many church leaders fit the description in verse 11? And should we remain silent?
Yes, there are good pastors. There are good church leaders. But there are also bad ones, and pretending they aren’t there will not make them go away. Someone needs to speak.
When churches silence, part 1
When churches silence, part 2
When churches silence, part 3
When churches silence, part 4
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