Christian Living

---

Part 1 was posted 01/10/2011

The Roman Catholic Church has foolishly foisted on its presbyters and episcopates the indefensible concept of mandatory celibacy. Voluntary celibacy for the gospel's sake is an honourable and biblical concept and we respect those so committed. Mandatory celibacy is a papal concept finally established in that church by Pope Siricius believing that it would enhance dedication and devotion to God by its priests and bishops. Incidentally Pope Siricius was himself married and had children. This concept is not theological (many popes, beside Pope Siricius, and presbyters were married including Apostle Peter, who some refer to as the first pope) and the Pope and the Magisterium can change it through canon law.

The Anglican Church has just as foolishly snookered its spiritual and evangelical development by ordaining practicing homosexual priest and have gone one step further and ordained homosexual bishops. This has caused a mighty rift between the conservatives on the one hand and the so-called progressives/liberals on the other. In truth the rift is not between conservatives and liberals, but between committed Christians who accept and live by the teachings of the Bible and nominal Christians who do not.

Both of these issues, with respect to the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, are important because they are headlining issues much debated in the mass media, but they are the tip of the iceberg and beneath the surface they are vastly more troubling issues. The church is the only organization on earth that has supernatural origins for it was created by God himself through the person of Jesus Christ and it cannot be destroyed. Jesus affirmed this when he addressed Peter and said, "That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). Too many people interpret this to mean that everything in the church is all right and whatever happens things will turn out just fine. This is patently not the case for whilst it is true that the true church will endure until Jesus comes again the question must surely be asked - what kind of church?

Jesus brought this thought forcefully to mind when he asked, "When the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). And we know that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus was perhaps seeing a time when the fog and uncertainty surrounding the Christian faith was so dense and pervasive that true seekers were in jeopardy of not getting it. More, those who possessed faith were so unsure and tentative in its exaltation and efficacy that their possession of it was questionable. This then is the crossroads challenge, the point of crossing the Rubicon and the pivotal moment that may well define the kind of church Jesus will find on his return.

It is my contention that we are in for turgid times the likes of which we have not experienced in our lifetime and for which few churches are fully prepared. Make no mistake, we are brought to this crossroads troubled, perplexed, persecuted and cast down just as Paul described in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 and we are here because of one thing primarily - poor leadership throughout the Christian church.

One of the things the church has been blessed with throughout its history is its God-centric leadership. No organization on earth can match the integrity, devotion, commitment, objectivity, selflessness, honesty and compassion of the called and anointed leadership of the church from its birth right up to the present. And this is true for Catholics and Protestants alike regardless of their liturgy and faith tradition. Many Protestants do great disservice to the faith when they fail to recognize the excellent character and sterling contribution of many Catholic leaders and their mighty defense and propagation of the gospel across the world. We should never downplay or disparage the contribution of others simply because we do not assent to their theology as long as they are part of mainstream Christianity.

Today, however leaders with wrong motives, hidden agendas and lacking divine qualifications, and hence not approved by God, are being recruited, trained and given ministerial office throughout the church. Too often the established guidelines for the recruitment of leaders are ignored or twisted and has more to do with the social class of the person on the one hand or who knows who on the other. Choices are being made on the basis of erudition and oratory and neglectful of divine graces and spiritual commitment. Many leaders have never been converted and so have no experience of Spirit baptism. In many cases, some of these leaders are self-appointed and driven by pride and naked ambition start their own assemblies or create havoc within established assemblies and so grab the lead.

Corruption and nepotism, endemic in the secular world, are known to raise their ugly heads in the churches and a process that was meant to be transparent, unifying and fraternal emerges as anything but.

There is a Russian proverb that says, "A fish rots from the head" and if this is applied to the contemporary church then this august body is in grave trouble. The infusion of the wrong leaders in the church and the lack of accountability and proper discipline has always been a major apostolic concern and dealt with by the apostles with due gravity.

All the apostles were concerned and dealt with issues of church leadership and church discipline during their ministry because they understood the enormous harm sin and the wrong people could cause in the fledgling assembly. Jesus dealt with it in Matthew 18:15-17; the Apostle John dealt with it in many passages of scripture, especially 2 John 1:9-11 and the Apostle James dealt with this issue in James 5:19-20. The Apostle Paul dealt with it more intensely throughout his epistles, especially in Galatians 6:1-5 and 1 Corinthians 5. However the scripture most outstanding with reference to apostolic fears for the church's leadership is found in Acts.

Here is how Acts 20: 28-31 puts it. 28Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Read again verse 29: "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." Paul was precise, prophetic and pained and the fact that he was speaking to elders whom he had converted and installed on his first missionary journey to Asia Minor, and was not likely to see again, made his pronouncements all the more substantial. Paul's admonition was for watchful and dedicated leadership to identify and prevent predators from ravishing the assembly and looking at the current situation it is evident that the leadership has completely and unmistakably failed.

Throughout churches today predators are everywhere, in the clergy as well as the laity, some known to be so and others more secretive and church authorities conceal them and at times prevent their exposure or expulsion and even obstruct the civil authorities in pursuing criminal investigations. When church authorities have to admit that their entire membership in some countries, not just a few churches, have been overrun (as the Roman Catholic church did recently) then it is high time for serious action to be taken. The spiritual toxicology has been done, the results are in and they are indisputable and demand that action must now be taken.

Whenever decisive action is required for change in any organization there is always the countervailing resistance caused by inertia. Within the church this apathy is even more prominent because incompetent, bogus leadership tends to hide behind scriptures like "Touch not the Lord's anointed and do his prophet no harm" and "rebuke not an elder" and the laity on the whole becomes complacent and cannot be bothered with such matters. The salient question here is this. Will you suffer in silence and do nothing other than moan, complain, whine and pray and hope matters will resolve themselves? It matters not what assembly you belong to if you choose not to take full personal responsibility for improving your own parochial circumstances then you by default become part of the problem. Note carefully that Paul calls on "those who are spiritual" (Galatians 6:1) to act. We believe it's right to be indignant and upset about someone who would commit such atrocities as molesting and murdering our children and yet some of us also think that we should be kind, tolerant and understanding of those who are corrupting and violating the children of God. Remember that we are our brother’s keeper and abuse to one is abusive to all since we are all part of the same body. Jesus Christ reminded us of the gravity of offending even a child, when he said, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it was better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18: 6)

So what can be done? What action can be taken in particular to save the church leadership from itself and restore the church to the dignified place it once occupied and restore trust and confidence in its leadership, its membership and its organizations?

First and foremost church members must understand and educate themselves as to their duties and responsibilities as members of the body of Christ. The lay members of the church are the real church and not the clergy by whatever name it is called. The moment you are converted you are baptized by the Holy Spirit and become "kings and priest to God" (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 5:10) as part of the priesthood of believers. Even the Roman Catholic church after years of denial and obfuscation now accepts the priesthood of believers and informs its members that they can now perform a range of activities once performed exclusively by the clergy. It needs to be emphasized that God has not given to the clergy one single grace that he has not given to every born again Christian. Because of this, every Christian has unfettered and direct access to the throne of God; he/she has divine anointing to appropriate, understand and interpret the Holy Scriptures for these are facilitated by the Holy Spirit; he/she can lead souls to accept Jesus Christ and become established in the faith and use divine gifts to minister for God without limit. This should not be confused with performing in a specific ministry or office (for order and discipline are essential) which is done in the name of and on the behalf of the membership.

There then needs to be the most careful and prayerful analysis of who and what is causing the problems on an assembly by assembly basis. This is not a spiritual witch hunt or trying to find scapegoats to blame for failure. This is more akin to a medical prognosis where you are dealing with the specifics without which no meaningful action can be taken. The Apostle Paul got caught up in just such a situation that arose in the church in Corinth and I strongly recommend that you read 1 Corinthians 5 now so that you will get the context and understand clearly what the Apostle Paul was saying.

Let me summarize 1 Corinthians 5 which is the apostolic guidelines for how the church is to proceed with discipline in its ranks. This is not the only example of a church discipline procedure, but since Paul was the apostle to the gentiles it is considered a foundational instruction in this regard.

There was a brother in the Corinthian church who was a fornicator and everybody inside the church knew it. Even the people outside the church knew what this brother was doing and Paul got to learn about it and then he established the culpability of the man. What the man was doing was having sexual relations with his father's wife and the Corinthian church was not interested in the man's transgressions and some of the cliques even applauded this man as he ministered in the church. Paul was more than angry because the unconverted gentiles outside the church, even they detested and abhorred the practice which was something done but rarely even among them. Paul brought the matter to the church's attention, pointed out to them the nature of the sin, castigated them for their apathy and puffed up attitude, pointed out that sin could not be tolerated in the church and instructed them to hold a congregational meeting and dismiss the brother from their ranks. Paul pointed out to the Corinthians that "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" Sin in the church is like one rotten apple in a barrel. If left unchecked, it will eventually lead to the spoiling of the whole church and after expelling the brother there was to be no spiritual fellowship with him. All of this was done so the brother would realize the seriousness of his offence, experience the full consequences and should he repent his soul in due time will be saved.

People are reluctant to take action when wrongdoing is discovered under the misguided notion that "we are all sinners saved by grace" and who are we to judge. It is this attitude that Paul condemns for even the unconverted, secular world has procedures that are often used to purge itself of unsuitable members and leaders - disbarred judges, expelled lawyers, banned doctors are common examples of this.

The spiritual health of the church, its mission and message must not be compromised by anyone and church members need to be extremely vigilant over each other and over its leadership to make sure the church is functioning as God requires.

Failure to take responsibility and act as instructed by Paul and the other apostles runs the risk that the sword of Damocles will not just hang there, dangling menacingly, but strike a mighty blow for the warning has been given. "I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works" (Revelation 2:19-23).

Enough said. We are now at the crossroads and the time to act is now. So take courage and in the name of Jesus Christ, and following the instruction given by the apostles, clean up this mess and pass on to the next generation a church worthy of its calling.

Enough said.

Books by this author you may wish to read.

THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (e-book)
Volume 1 – Five tough facts to be faced
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YX5NSI

STAND UP TO THE DEVIL (e-book)
Volume 1 – You must first identify him
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BQVLSS

BASTARD: A STORY OF REDEMPTION(e-book fiction)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OF3SD6

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD’S CLOCK (Hard copy)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002X78D16

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD’S CLOCK (e-book)
http://tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60799-630-9

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE