Avoiding a Great Crash
This is written with a very heavy heart, because there’s no denying that the devil is very much alive and well in our churches today, which is the result of our failure to heed the stern warning found in Hosea 4:6, which says my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. Just by reading that in the context of Hosea 4:1-2, it’s easy to see how relevant and applicable it is to exactly what’s going on in the lives and ministries of many high profile Christian leaders’ today and how it’s contributing to the total destruction of the very fabric of society, which is the family and the institution of marriage.
This morning, as I checked out some of the blog sites to see how other Christians were reacting to the news of Paula and Randy Whites pending divorce; I discovered even more disturbing news, which truly grieves my heart and spirit. As detailed here, Paula White apparently began a very close association with Rick and Dustin Hawkins of the Family Praise Center in San Antonio, Texas in November 2005, and then on February 17, 2007 (the same month he and his son were divorced from their wives), Rick Hawkins (using the same Florida address) was included as one of the Directors for a non-profit entity registered by Paula White in the state of Florida, PWM Life Center, Inc.. But even more disturbing is the frequent response to the situation with the Whites and other high profile church leaders; such as Thomas Weeks III, who returned to the pulpit just days after being arrested for assaulting his wife, Juanita Bynum, where he was greeted with a roar of applause and approval. And it’s totally astounding to see how many well meaning, yet totally ignorant Christians, keep repeating the falsehood that the Bible says we’re not supposed to judge others when anyone tries to point out some of the issues that should concern ALL of us as Christians! It’s statements and attitudes like that which prove and bear witness to the fact that God’s people are being destroyed from lack of knowledge, because 1 Corinthians 5 makes it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that we ARE NOT supposed to turn a blind eye to immoral or inappropriate behavior within the church and that we are to deal with it as follows:
Expel the Immoral Brother!
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,
5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?
7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—
10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
Obviously that’s the exact opposite of saying that we’re not to judge and hold accountable Christian leaders who have fallen far from the mark of their high calling as pastors and preachers, as set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, which says:
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
5 (if anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
With few exceptions, the Bible cautions us when it comes to judging others; warning that we will be judged by the same measure we use to judge others; but that’s not at all the same thing as saying we’re not to judge the deeds and actions of others according to the Word of God. We see that in Matthew 7:1-6, which says:
1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
So instead of telling us NOT to ever judge others, this passage actually tells us to FIRST take care of our own sin issues so we CAN help our Christian brothers and sisters deal with the sin in their lives.
And in Matthew 7:15-23, we are VERY SPECIFICALLY warned to beware of FALSE PROPHETS who will appear like lambs, but who are in fact wolves, and again VERY SPECIFICALLY told TO JUDGE THEM as follows:
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
And it is not at all insignificant that the following verses in Matthew 7:24-27 come right after the above warning about false prophets, and make it clear that the ONLY way to build a solid foundation that will withstand the storms is to put into PRACTICE what our Bibles teach us:
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Sadly, our churches, society and families are all falling with a great crash, because Christians no longer feel bound to put the Word of God into practice, and we are indeed being destroyed by a lack of knowledge. However, if more Christians read and studied their Bibles, without relying on the false teachings and doctrines now coming from the pulpits all across the land, we would surely see great revival and change among God’s people. Because anyone diligently reading and studying the Bible knows that the grace and mercy now presumed to justify and excuse the rampant sin in our churches and church leaders today is not biblically sound. The same author who taught most of what we know about God’s grace and mercy is the very same author that gave us the above instructions in 1 Corinthians 5, and NOTHING has happened since Paul penned those instructions to change them in any way. Jesus had already shed His blood for the remission of our sin and everything we needed to know about the grace and mercy afforded to REPENTENT sinners by His shed blood was already known. Yet, being very well versed and very personally familiar with the amazing grace of God, Paul still instructed us to deal with and not ignore or gloss over sin in our churches. And Jesus gave us a very graphic picture of the destruction that occurs when we hear His Words and DON’T put them into practice…we’re going to come down with a GREAT CRASH and BE DESTROYED!
So I can’t help wondering when God’s people are going to take a stand for righteousness by putting God’s Word into practice instead of totally ignoring it! When will the people who are now so grieved by the news of Paula and Randy White’s divorce be equally grieved by the two divorces that took place to make their marriage possible; if not even more so since they left four children to grow up without their father and mother in the home? When are the people who are so concerned about the message this divorce sends about marriage and divorce going to really take a stand for the sanctity of marriage and start putting God’s Word into practice by refusing to accept in their pulpits men who support and promote divorce and remarriage; especially those who have actually committed adultery, divorced their wives, abandoned their children, and married their adulterous partners? When are those who believe that God’s grace enables such men (or women) to be effective church leaders going to start believing the Word of God and that He WILL NOT receive or bless their offerings or worship (Malachi 2) and He will not hear or answer their prayers (1 Peter 3:7); thus making them rather ineffective leaders? When are those who are so deceived by having their itching ears tickled by hearing what they want to hear going to realize that they are building their foundation on sinking sand? Perhaps that time is very near at hand as God starts bringing those things done in darkness to light and causing churches and ministries built on sinking sand to come down with a great crash. Yet, those of us who don’t reject knowledge and ignore God’s Word need not be afraid; for we are, and will remain blessed and encouraged, because no matter what comes against us, our marriages and our families, our foundation is built upon the solid Rock of Jesus Christ and His Word, and He will never leave us or forsake us!