Ever heard about a scandal involving a 'man of God'? How did you react???
Indeed, there has probably been no greater time during which the Church as an entity have come under attacks in diverse forms, sometimes due to the intermittent news of unexpected misconducts or scandals involving preachers (popularly called 'Men of God')...
In this piece, I would be targeting my thoughts towards the believers primarily, so as to know how best to protect their Faith-life, irrespective of the present-day challenges and the more trying times which are certain to come against the Church and believers, just as Jesus stated clearly about the End-Times:
📖"...Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold..." Matthew 24:9-12 (NKJV)
Indeed, it is gradually becoming common-place to hear or read criticisms and castigations against preachers or men of God for one reason or another, especially in this social media Age...
And unfortunately, we would discover that when such negative news spreads, those who tend to attack the 'man of God' the most are actually people who claim to be 'Christians'; with many actually believing that they are doing God's work by so doing...
And it becomes even more disturbing when you discover that many of those 'Christians' who participate in such attacks or protests especially on social media would hardly participate in evanglism or in any cause to propagate the Gospel, nor do they boldly share their Faith with unbelievers...
I am definitely not insinuating that the errors of 'men of God' (especially false ones) should not be pointed out or corrected... But I am saying that that is not the Christian's primary job description; And the best person in the position to correct or discipline a 'man of God' is the God Who called the man (especially for true men of God), because truly not everyone is qualified to criticize a man truly called of God (especially those who are elderly and have a long track record with God)...
Also I am saying that our efforts towards propagating the Gospel as the good news it is, should be greater and given the highest priority than our efforts in pointing fingers to expose the faults and failures in the Church, or to fish out the wolves in sheep clothing among the fold...
And in all our conversations or actions, we should endeavour to ask ourselves:
Is what I am saying or doing now helping me or the unbelievers around me to draw closer to God? OR
Am I rather helping to even discourage those who are trying to grow their spiritual lives, thereby impeding the overall progress of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
So the question is:
What should the reaction or action of the true believer be on hearing/reading of such unpleasant news about a 'man of God'?
Maybe taking a bearing from Jesus' own ministry work on Earth would help...
We recall that Jesus had 12 Disciples He selected by Himself... But one of them (Judas) was in it for a selfish purpose... And guess what!... Even Jesus Who was fully aware of Judas' heart allowed him to stay on in the team; And Jesus even sent him along with others when He sent the 12 out to do God's work, as the below Scripture says:
📖"...Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick... So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere." Luke 9:1-2,6 (NKJV)
My guess is that many may have even followed Judas with the belief that he was a true Disciple and follower of Jesus; And Judas probably may have even preached good sermons too and came back with great testimonies like the rest...
The next question is:
What do you think would have been the reaction of those who probably sincerely followed Judas briefly, on hearing later of all his 'evil' deeds?
My guess would be that they would probably look for some other Disciple to follow, or better still follow Jesus Himself...
It was not also recorded that the remaining Disciples spent all their time discussing and announcing about 'The Fall of Judas'; but rather they prioritised and focused on 'The Call of the Master' - carrying out His Great Commission...
From the above analogy, we can then tell what is expected of the true believer...
Rather than participating in spreading the news of the great error or great fall of a 'man of God', it would surely do Heaven and the believer a greater good if such energy is channelled towards propagating the true Gospel, keeping the focus on Christ, knowing that the spread of evil can only be conquered by spreading good...
The great Apostle Paul said:
📖"Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah)." 1 Corinthians 11:1 (AMP)... In other words, Paul, even with all his great revelations and knowledge of Christ, instructed that his followers should only follow him as long as he is following the ways of Christ...
So, the true believers' primary goal is to keep following the ways of Christ, and not focusing their energy on exposing those who are not following Christ... To focus on such is to fall for one of the greatest distractions of the Enemy in this End-Time, because many more false preachers of the Gospel will arise as the End approaches...
📖"...Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]..." Hebrews 12:2 (AMP)
The believer must also keep in mind the obvious reality that all men are made up of flesh and blood, and that includes 'men of God', so they are not 'super-men' immuned to making mistakes, failing, or facing challenges, and the Church as a Body will only attain full perfection when Jesus returns...
Therefore the necessity of always remembering God's ministers and preachers of the Gospel in our prayers cannot be overemphasized, knowing that they are always the Enemy's priority targets...
However, the only way to stay safe is to cultivate a growing personal and intimate relationship with God and Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, as that is the only way to avoid falling for the deceptions and distractions of this Age...
Also! Beware of hyping any man more than you hype God; Beware of the trap of human worship... Some have had their faith wrecked because their 'Almighty man of God' failed; And some have fallen out of their race because their 'Great oracle of God' fell from grace...
The greatest of men is still a man; And the only perfect Man Who ever lived is still Jesus... Honour men, but beware of idols in human form; Beware of ascribing to mortals that which belongs only to the Immortal...
And in all our conversations or actions, we should endeavour to ask ourselves:
Is what I am saying or doing now helping me or the unbelievers around me to draw closer to God? OR
Am I rather helping to even discourage those who are trying to grow their spiritual lives, thereby impeding the overall progress of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share!
#JesusChristIsLORD
#GODisStillinCharge
