Reading about past Superintendents of a well-known Protestant denomination in another country recently, the writer described three men, each one in turn as: ‘Lifelong pedophile and homosexual’ ‘Serial adulterer’ and ‘Pedophile’. Combined, these men held the Superintendent’s position for a total of 37½ years! The writer’s post has been up for about 2½ years; he names the men, their photographs are printed, there’s no mention of a denial from the present Superintendent, so it would appear that what he’s written about these men is true. Whether they repented or not I don’t know.
This world-wide denomination places a greater emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit than it does the holiness of the Holy Spirit. How do we know? We know because sexual immorality is rampant within elsewhere across the globe, it’s not simply confined to the nation of those three men. Once before on this blog I quoted a former pastor, but it’s timely to do so again: “Holiness is not the prerequisite to flowing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, faith is.” The first time I heard that I was not greatly disturbed, but now when it comes to mind it grieves me! No wonder holiness is not really evident in many tongues speakers in the church today. Perhaps they are products of similar statements and beliefs coming from the pulpit.
If the church was to hear, Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord Hebrews 12:14 as much as it hears, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some Hebrews 10:25, how different things in Christianity might be. Instead of being mocked, we might be feared! Nobody feels uncomfortable in the presence of a tongues talker, but they surely do in the presence of a holiness talker. And no, I do not deny the Spiritual gift of speaking in other languages or any other gift of the Holy Spirit. But to function in them without holiness is to grieve the Holy Spirit immensely. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption Ephesians 4:30.
When I first went into the church a little over 30 years ago, I was often puzzled by the language and behavior of people whom I thought were mature Christians. Some of them had been there for years but sometimes they didn’t appear to be much different from what I had been up until two years earlier, prior to encountering the reality of Jesus. That glorious experience had a deeply profound effect on me; the last thing I expected to see was the ways of the devil’s people being expressed in God’s people. As time would reveal it, it could be rightly asked if they genuinely were God’s people. In those days I was not at all aware however, that 2 Timothy 3:1-5 speaks primarily of people who profess to be Christians. How easy it is for one in church to sing, “Jesus is Lord.”
On a You Tube video, Bible teacher and former businessman, Chuck Missler shares something I find disturbing: “One of the things that has puzzled me as I moved from 30 years in the Corporate boardroom to 30 years in “professional” Christianity is, I can never understand why it is that there isn’t the sanctity of a commitment that I took for granted in the boardrooms.” He says he couldn’t really find such commitment in the Christian Community. More: “Not that pastors aren’t good guys, but there’s no concept of what I call the sanctity of a commitment that drives Wall Street, for example.” Missler says it puzzled him for years until he meditated on 2 Peter 1:5, But also for this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue……. “
Brother Missler continues: “The meaning of virtue is ‘moral conduct’. I was stunned to realize that in general, the church doesn’t teach personal integrity. The rest of the world takes that for granted, even in the boardrooms. But in the Christian Community you don’t find that. It’s not that they’re bad people, they’re just untrained.” Whether or not ‘moral conduct’ is one of the meanings of virtue as it applies to that Scripture, it matters not for this post; personal integrity is what he was referring to. In any case, virtue in the English Dictionary means: moral excellence, righteousness, integrity, dignity, uprightness, honesty, honorable, incorruptible, trustworthy, irreproachable. When those attributes are not clearly visible in a group of Christians, the church is in deep trouble.
In fact, it can’t be called a church; a religious club is a more accurate name. But when sexual perverts are running the show and those in the know don’t call them out on it; what kind of a name would be appropriate for a place like that? A religious hell-hole perhaps? People ask how is it possible for 3 men, one following the other for a total of 37½ years, to get away with such diabolical and cruel behavior. The answer is simple when personal integrity is not taught in a church. Check out those English Dictionary meanings one more time. Where there’s a lack of those things, you can chisel in stone, holiness is not taught there and neither is it encouraged. That’s why the gifts of the Holy Spirit will often be misused and abused in a church.
I believe the reason for a great part of the personal integrity Chuck Missler witnessed in the boardrooms all those years ago was due to the fact that growing up, such members were heavily influenced by the personal integrity practiced by parents, grandparents, church people, school teachers, bosses, community elders and the like. There are not a lot of those people around today; not many of those boardroom members either! That’s the explanation for the corruption going on in big business, governments and other high places in our day. Unholiness in the church spreads out from the church much quicker than does holiness. Immorality that defiles the church defiles society. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 1 Corinthians 5:6.
Although it may be difficult to know what’s going on in the mind of a serial adulterer and pedophile, it is not difficult to know what’s going on in the mind of God about it all. Not only is the Bible the word of God, it is the mind of God. Church members who say they believe the word of God and who claim to be flowing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, what’s going on in their mind? Of one of those Superintendents, it’s claimed he practiced pedophilia his entire 16 years. So what happened to the Holy Spirit’s gifts of revelation to these people in all that time: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, discerning of spirits? Those who are quick to say, “I have a word from the Lord for you, brother.” Where was the word for the Superintendents?
Certainly great harm is being done to people in the church by those coming to them with, “a word from the Lord for you, brother/sister.” But what about the harm done when someone doesn’t go to these perverts with a word? Harm done to their spouses, harm done to their families, harm done to church members, but above all harm done to the victims – what about these people? Then there’s the harm these perverts do to themselves. But it gets worse! What about the harm done to God and His reputation? God is cursed by multitudes today because of sexual perverts in charge of churches; He gets the blame when He plays no part in it whatsoever. People ask, “Well why then doesn’t He intervene – put a stop to it?” That’s our job. “Why don’t we intervene?
So why don’t we intervene? An opinion only: If you possess faith to function in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but you are not holy, you’ll keep your mouth shut if God reveals a sexual pervert to you. Why? You’re a people-pleaser, not a God pleaser. Especially will you shut it if your man is a Superintendent. His spirit will control you, not the Holy Spirit. Something else: Many who claim to function in the Spirit’s gifts, do not function in them. Not only are they not holy, they don’t have faith. What they call faith is simply human emotion; they’re caught up in the peer pressure of it all and feel they must act. Often they’re told to practice their gift, “because that’s the only way to learn.” They would be better to practice on themselves first, not on others who can be harmed.
Something I’ve noticed about a leader lacking personal integrity but flowing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit: He believes he’s God’s right-hand man! Whereas the one who possess both doesn’t believe that and shudders that anyone should believe it. The first man thinks he’s God’s favorite, the second man knows God has no favorites. The first man doesn’t fear God; the second man does fear God. The first man thinks of Jesus as Savior only; the second man thinks of Jesus as Savior and Lord. The first man thinks he knows Jesus; the second man knows he knows Jesus! Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your Name?’ And I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:22-23.