*
A woman wrote to me saying:
Dear Mr. White:
A pastor from our town has left the ministry and is living in a homosexual relationship with another man. This ex-minister preached a message of evangelical Christianity. I have heard him give strong sermons on repentance, salvation, judgment and the second coming of Christ. Now look at him! He is living in the sin he once so fervently denounced.
I am confused because I was actually helped under his ministry. Now I don't know what to believe. Sometimes when I think about this situation I can't help myself from judging the whole Christian scene by this pastor's actions and I find myself thinking, "Maybe the whole thing is a fake!"
Signed . . . Hurt By A Hypocrite.
My reply was:
Dear Child of God:
You have been hurt by someone you trusted. This is always painful, but it is especially difficult to bear when it happens regarding a spiritual matter. Human nature reacts violently toward fraudulence. Being seriously defrauded or cheated can change a person's whole attitude toward life.
The result is often the creation of a cynical shell around our hearts. In effect, we are saying, "I will not be so gullible again. No one is going to hurt me that way anymore." We become guarded, defensive and ultra suspicious of anything good. We begin to suspect evil motives in people and we may even come to regard God's truth as subtle platitudes used by self-willed individuals to manipulate others for their own advantage. Our eyes are blinded to God's goodness by the scandalous behavior of one we loved and trusted as His representative. When the actions of a man loom larger than the reality of God, we are in a category the Bible calls "offended."
Jesus said, "Offenses will come" (Mat.18:7). This word "offenses" in the original Greek is skandalon. It is the source of the word "scandal" which we use today. It is derived from a word meaning "trap-stick" or "snare."
When a Christian is "offended" by another's actions, this means he has been stumbled or snared by the scandal on another's life.
The three most common "offenses" are sexual, financial and conversational. You have seen how offense has come through the first when a man you trusted to be holy turned out to be a homosexual. Adultery is also a tragically common cause of offense in the area of sex. But I believe finances cause more problems and stumbling blocks than sex. Recently a man said to me, "I can't get over something terrible that happened to me. It has struck a big blow at my faith." "What happened?" I asked. He said, "I lent a brother in Christ $500. He promised to repay it in full at the end of that month." He shook his head and went on to say, "That was over six months ago and the man just evades me. He has made no attempt to pay me, or even to explain his failure to pay. When I mention it he just promises to pay up soon. He looks me in the eye and assures me the money will be forthcoming . . . but it never is!" The troubled man frowned and said, "He says he is a Christian. Well, if that's what being a Christian does for someone, I am beginning to wonder if I want anything to do with it!"
Many are perplexed and stumbled, like this man, over a cause involving money.
The third most common cause of offense happens in the area of "idle words." I remember Sara. She came out of a drug habit that had all but ruined her life, but faith in Christ made her a new girl. Her face shone with that radiant glow of a spirit newly awakened to God, and her eyes were starry with love for Jesus. She was vibrant, enthusiastic and totally alive! One woman who had been a Christian for years said, "It does my heart good to have that girl around. She is like a breath of fresh air!" Every Christian who knew Sara felt that way. But something happened.
I hadn't seen Sara for several months. Then I met her at one of our services in Boston. The glow was gone. Her face was long and dour. Her eyes were sad. I knew at once she was deeply disturbed. "Sara, what has happened?" She began to cry. "Oh Mr. White, I am so confused. I was turned on to Jesus. I was sure this was the way . . . but now I can't believe it. I thought I really had something. When I first met Christians they seemed kind and loving. But the more I was around Christians the more I heard gossip, criticism and religious arguments." She sobbed more intensely, and between those sobs she told me, "Some of the Christians I trusted most and held up the highest turned out to be gossipers and criticizers. Oh, they were sweet and pious about it, and they didn't call it fault-finding. But it was. They told stories about pastors, evangelists and people who don't believe their doctrines. Then they would go into church and sing about Jesus as if they were the holiest, best people in the world. One Sunday I got almost sick to my stomach. I said, "I will never go to church again; I think they are all hypocrites."
She narrowed her eyes and her voice grew hard as she said, "I don't think this 'Jesus deal' is what it's cracked up to be!"
From a warm love for a personal Savior to a cold dismissal of her experience as the "Jesus deal" . . . certainly, Sara had been badly stumbled. I am sure the Christians who were to blame for wounding Sara have no idea how offensive their un-Christlike conversation seemed to a new born believer.
However, there is something we must understand about being stumbled. Only immature believers, and those with misdirected faith can be stumbled.
It is not possible for a mature believer with perfectly centered faith to be seriously stumbled by the behavior of another Christian.
New Christians, or older believers with misdirected faith are often ensnared and offended by other believers because their faith is not totally centered on Jesus. They think it is, but in reality it is not, or they wouldn't become stumbled by another's weakness.
If your faith rests on your pastor's walk with God, then if your pastor falls, you will fall with him.
Don't ever let your faith or relationship with God rest on another human's ability to believe, or to live a holy, perfect life.
Put your faith in something that has already happened, something unchanging and sure . . . the Word of God and the cross!
Suppose your pastor did fall into sin, does that change the fact of the cross? Nothing your pastor does can change the fact that Jesus died to make us right with God. Jesus said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!" (John 3:16). Did your pastor's sinful behavior somehow reach back through time and annul those words? Has that great promise of God been canceled out because your pastor sinned? Of course not!
Think about this! Jesus claimed to be the Savior. Is Jesus no longer who He claimed to be just because your pastor wasn't what he claimed to be?
If a man becomes a liar, does that make God a liar? No! The Bible says, "God is truth though every man be a liar" (Rom.3:4).
If you trust a believer and he fails you, does that mean God will fail you?
If an acclaimed spiritual leader falls into sin today, does that mean Jesus really didn't rise from the dead? No! Nothing any man does now can erase the fact that the stone rolled away from that tomb nearly two thousand years ago! Let your faith rest on what God has done to save you, not on the current behavior pattern of a weak man.
Suppose a great king said, "I will give one ton of gold to everyone who will follow my son on a march to another nation." You started on the march along with thousands of others . . . your parents, your brothers and sisters, your friends and neighbors, all marching because of the king's promise. But suppose people started dropping out saying, "I don't believe the king will give us the gold." Suppose your own mother and father dropped out. Would you follow them, or the king's son? Would you be influenced by those who gave up? What if everyone gave up but you, would that cancel out the king's promise? No, of course not.
Is this just a fairy tale? Not really, because the King's Son has come. His name is Jesus. He has said, "Follow me!" The King's word is true. You can believe Him! So follow His Son no matter who drops out along the way. Keep your eyes on Him!
| Return to Main Page | Return to Single Slices |