The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. (Psalm 145:8)
We looked at the progression from
sin to perversion the other day.
As is usual with me I leave open
ended questions for the reader to consider so that they can benefit from
further study and scripture application.
But I felt that the post left out
a key fact, the minister, the man of God, the anointed of The Lord.
That is what I want us to look at
today.
How does a person in ministry get
to being abominable? What is his process like?
You have of late heard of pastors
who left their wife of decades to marry a fellow man. Or an influential
Christian writer confessing to be gay. Or even a worship leader confessing that
he has his faith all mixed up.
How does it get to that point?
The progression for the minister
is not much different though it has some unique characteristics. And they are
driven by the fact that this person has had a ‘dealing’ relationship with God.
He knows God beyond what he has heard since he has in the process of ministry
encountered Him much more than the people he ministered to as he was many times
the link.
Let us look at David.
As king, he did not need to cover
up for anything as kings took whatever and whoever they wanted. Remember
Abraham with Pharaoh and Abimelech? Remember Herod? Remember Saul took David’s
wife and gave her to another man? In many kingdoms a man would feel very
blessed if the king took his wife.
But as a man of God he knew
adultery was wrong. That was the reason he tried to cover up, because it was
sin. And he killed Uriah for the same reason, not because he could have done
anything had he known that David had taken his wife anyway.
That is where our verse takes us.
Suppose David was not confronted
by Nathan? Probably the right question is, suppose his heart had not been
crushed by conviction when the prophet came?
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day
long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into
the drought of summer. (Psalm 32: 3, 4)
Chances are that his sin would
have been completely covered up.
Next is that his propensity to
sin could have increased due to that.
But he could have continued
serving God, albeit not on God’s terms.
As with the rest, his theology
would have faced a battering because the fact that God judges sin would appear
not to apply to him.
This then introduces a virus
worse than the worst, the feeling that God needs him so much that He must
excuse his sin.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. (2Peter 3:9)
Now imagine imagining that God
must have you in His service irrespective of your character?
The other verse I find as scary
as Matthew 7: 21 – 23 is this.
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. (Romans
11:29)
The devil then amplifies that
rotten theology by giving the rebel ‘success’ in ‘ministry’ so that he can
continue being his captive.
Sadly, very few will think to
confront such a minister as his rebellion has brought the devil and his system
in his ranks; meaning that his ‘ministry’ meets the bill of very successful in
human and worldly terms. Chances are that his borders will be expanded due to
the success rebellion brings because the devil is in his corner.
But it is also very hard, almost
impossible, for someone with that mindset to receive a rebuke. Remember Joash
and Amaziah?
This success further emboldens
him to stretch the limits of his rebellion. And that is the devil’s interest. In
fact, if he can be able to shift your theology before you sin, then the better
because with you at the centre of your theology you have fallen way below where
sin could take you because remorse and guilt would be in the periphery.
God needs me and must use me is
the reasoning that takes a minister to perversion. I call it entitlement.
Another side of entitlement is
when someone feels that they have done so much for God that they deserve a
break. Surely God should cut them some slack in appreciation to all they have
done for Him!
That is how Hezekiah and Uzziah
fell.
And it is not only in ministry
that this happens.
The Prosperity unGospel teaches
that we deserve the best if we especially give right.
A giver can therefore very easily
feel entitled to do some off things because they support ministry, getting into
the poisoned rut that is entitlement that leads to abomination.
God is holy does not simply mean
that He is sinless and without sin, though He is. It basically means that He is
not like us. He does not think like us. He does not look at us like we do. He
does not behave like we do. His outcomes are not like ours.
We will therefore get spiritually
lost when we expect God to reason like us.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55: 8, 9)
That is why scripture intake is
so important. It enables us to understand who God is, and His values.
Only then can we be able to
relate with Him on His terms, or terms consistent with His revelation.
Do you feel entitled? Then watch
out.
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