Of course this hurts any minister of the Gospel however
removed he is from such scandalous activities.
I am not writing this to defend him as he is indefensible.
Nor am I vilifying him as he has enough people in his circles to properly
rebuke him.
I want to explain why a minister can sink that low by
stating that probably he has not sunk anywhere; he has just displayed what was
in his heart.
Christ said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaks.
Let me illustrate it in another way. Pressing an orange
releases orange juice; Pressing a lemon will release lemon juice; and pressing
an apple will of course release apple juice.
In short, the makeup of the heart will release its overflow
very accurately under pressure.
We are surprised when the overflow of his heart is not
pleasant in our sight. Some are even defending him by saying it was his moment
of insanity but I differ.
Enough pressure was applied to his heart that it was able to
extract the dregs of its makeup. The apple gave up its juice. Then we were
shocked when we discovered it was not an apple after all.
Under normal circumstances pastors are reverent and sober.
It is under pressure and crushing that the real person comes out.
How do we as ministers avoid that stupidity?
We must immerse ourselves in God’s word. We must make that
word the thing we most ingest. Then, and only then, will we be so full of Him
that crushing us will release it. Pressure, even crushing will only release
what will be beneficial to the Gospel.
Thy word have I hid in
my heart that I might not sin against Thee (Psalm 119: 11)
That is the grace that God has released to us through His
Spirit.
But it goes deeper and farther.
Many ministers do not know any better. And I blame the quick
fix quick fame craving our generation adores.
What do I mean?
Look at this scenario as it is replicated enough times as to
be treated as normal.
A very famous sinner (thief or prostitute or drug dealer or
entertainer) receives Christ.
The church then treats him as its prime catch. But that
alone does not cause the problems we are seeing.
They start ‘preparing’ him for ministry immediately. His
former status in darkness causes him to overtake people who have been deep in
the things of God all their lives because they believe his conversion weighs
better than twenty people who have served God faithfully since their youth.
He therefore becomes a pastor before he understands what his
new faith is like. In other words, we have not detoxified the world and devil
he was serving from his new faith. We have not allowed him the time to tune out
the world from his spirit, let alone mind.
How do we expect him to minister?
He will use the standards and strategies that he used to
gain fame or infamy in darkness for the Gospel, as if the Gospel was in want
for new things.
Under normal circumstances very few notice any difference.
In fact only the spiritual can see it as his success in the worldly and demonic
starts producing results in the ‘spiritual’ without any realizing that it is
the devil reproducing in church.
Of course those who can see will question these things. But
they will either be silenced or kicked out of the church for it, leaving the
church only with the blind being led by the demonic trained.
And the devil will now fill the church, as he now runs it,
with all manner of success, from money to extensive development to crowds.
Have you ever wondered why no scandal can make people mad
enough to desert these pastors? The truth is that they may not be seeing
anything inherently wrong with those scandals. They do not use the spiritual
standard to test their man as they have all along been following his former
successes in the world to lead the church. Sin is therefore not a major issue,
unless for the image.
That is why the said bishop is safe, insults, threats,
blasphemy and all as his flock is just like him. They are fast growing
disciples like mushrooms. But they lack spiritual fibre to enable them to stand
on the strength of God’s word or the character consistent with it.
What do you expect from someone who was taken on the express
lane from the depths of Satan to the limelight in God’s kingdom?
We can be sure to see more of this from such pastors when
they are under pressure or when they go through hardship or persecution.
Until we take God seriously enough to take this little verse
in consideration when thinking anything spiritual leadership.
Not a novice, lest
being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
(1Timuthy 3:6)
And that is what most churches are doing nowadays. In fact
they have been doing it for generations. And they are surprised when they have
to put out one fire after another.
In fact there is a denomination that does not employ a
pastor who has no experience with mammon. You are disqualified from being a
pastor in any of their churches if your first degree is in Theology or Bible.
This of course means that to qualify as a pastor there you must have served the
devil (he is the god of the world) before seeing the light to serve God.
This trashes a huge bulk of the Bible we teach. Imagine John
the Baptist is disqualified as is Samuel. Even the priests and Levites would
not be allowed to serve as pastors in that denomination.
The world can NEVER qualify a minister. A past in sin is no
qualification to serve as a minister. And that is the reality of the faith we
practice.
I am convinced that is the source of the drama we continue
to see in ministry.
Therefore, instead of simply blaming these ministers for
their error, we should point the blame where it really lies. And that is to the
people who qualified them and encouraged them to be pastors in a hurry before
completely detoxifying their pasts out of their faith through thorough and
intentional discipleship.
I am not saying that they cannot be pastors. I am just
trashing the speed at which they are made pastors or even given any leadership
in the church.
A family conglomerate will not make someone they just picked
from the Ivy League university to be their CEO however good his grades are.
They will train their son to take that responsibility.
And the church is a family, God’s family. Why are we doing
it differently, especially as God has expressly given His direction of it?
Churches must start raising pastors. It is sad to see a mega
church outsourcing for a pastor when they have thousands of diligent young men
yearning to serve God who are getting frustrated for lacking opportunities to
serve God in the same churches.
Will we disciple the way Christ did it?
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