Sorting out the church scandals - Wrong reactions that make it worse

The newspaper headlines the last few months have not been flattering for the church. They certainly haven't helped the church invite those outside the fold to join it's ranks. 

It's not that there have never been church scandals before. Conflict, compromise and con men and not new. What is new is the scale of the problem - Some may end up fearing to enter any church at all! We seem to be sowing the seeds of a skeptical next generation. We were told to expect wolves in sheep's clothing, but we now seem to have more wolves than sheep. You expect to elbow the sheep next to you and find the canines a bit longer than they supposed to be. What are some wrong attitudes?

1) Keep quiet and everyone will forget: This is not the best approach. We need to look at the issue head on and ask, why is there so much mess? If we ignore it, it will just keep repeating itself. The problem will not go away.

2) It's in another denomination, so it doesn't concern me: Remember, people don't see denominations, they see Christians. What is bad in one group affects how others view you. It is your concern, as an ambassador of Christ, that His name is not dragged through the mud. We must all be concerned!

3) Explain it as a result of temptation: Yes, sometimes there is temptation. But temptation is the allure to divert from the right path. Some seem to have lived the wrong lifestyle for a long time before police catch us with their criminal activity. It is not temptation if someone has lived that way all along! The real question is, why didn't we notice?

4) We must not judge: The Bible also says 'test the spirits' (1 John 4:1). The Bible also says 'watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers' (Acts 20:28). If our 'sheep' are feasted on by the wolves, we may not be doing all that we should. We are busy 'not judging' while others are being swindled and abused. There is a right way to judge and a wrong way.

^"Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!" 
(1 Corinthians 6:2, 3)

There must be a better approach than the four mentioned above! In my next installment I will look at the root cause of this poison in the church, and what we are all responsible to do about it.