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.

Sorting out the church scandals - 3 important things

Recently we have seen a number of headlines revealing scandalous behaviour of clergy; pastors, bishops and others within church circles. Yesterday, the above headline revealed how police raided two churches and caught an incredibly large number of illegal immigrants. Last week we read a story revealing a pastor that abused young girls in the name of exorcising demons. How can the church fix this miss? How did so many con-men and counterfeit clergy get into the church to begin with?

I would like to suggest three things to fix this mess. They are not all, but they will certainly help.

1) Churches and church bodies must speak out against these atrocities. When the churches remain silent, it makes us seem either indifferent (don't care) or sympathetic to the perpetrators! We should say how, in no uncertain terms, that we do not condone these illegal and immoral activities. The church should distance itself from such, and expel any such members from its rank. Even the Bible says that our patience must have limits. We are to expel this person from our ranks. Anyone who says this is too 'harsh' has not read passages like 1 Corinthians 5: 1-13. Zero tolerance! We must not spare the rod.

2) Every church must have checks and balances. Since "there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7: 20).Church members must hold their leaders accountable for lifestyle and use of funds. I come from circles that believe in "elder rule". The elders all partake in the crucial decisions of the church, and the pastor/reverend is the "ruling/preaching/full time" elder. But they all have a vote in the big decisions of the church. That way there are checks and balances. It is not a perfect system, but it prevents anyone from going too far (1 Timothy 5: 17-21). 

3) Engage the community to regain trust. Go out and meet the needs of the vulnerable in society (James 1: 27), visit the prisoners and educate the youth. Show that those who commit crimes in the name of God are a few crooked characters that are wolves in sheep's skin (Matthew 7: 15). Show that the church doors are open and there is nothing to hide. May be we even suspend any overnight seminars and prayer meetings, to show that we are sensitive to the worries of society. This may seem like too much for some, but I think it is worth going out of our way to show that we stand for something more. If we sacrifice overnights for 'over-day' prayer meetings, we wont lose anything! But if we decide not to, we need something in place to show that we have a higher standard. WE must begin to evangelize again, and distinguish the gospel from all the false gospels going around.

These three things will make a world of a difference, in a world that is so desperate for genuine hope, in (what are for many) desperate times.

Born Again - a word everyone uses and no one defines

Language is dynamic. Over time, some words even lose meaning or fall out of popular use, or change meaning. The word "BOMA" (which refered to British Overseas Administration offices, or something like that) has come to mean something else. Strictly speaking there was no BOMA after independence, but we use the word anyway.

If you went into the street and randomly asked a few Zambians what "Born Again" means, you may come up with as many different answers as the people you interview! Some would say "people who attend a church with loud music that can be heard down the road". Others would say, "people who go for crusades" or "people who speak in tongues (charismatic  - but there are some charismatic groups who are not 'born again' but purport to have the same gifts)". Still others might say "those who listen to loud American preachers". Within the church some will say "a person who has repented" or "someone who has faith" or even "anyone who is baptized". How can such a common term have so many different interpretations?

It presupposes a radical diagnosis of human condition. It proposes that, what we need is not simply new resolutions or new attitude or even positive thinking or more self esteem. This view says what we need is so radical, it is called new life. We are naturally unconscious to the wonder of the Creator. We are naturally rule breakers with an attitude of apathy to our maker. We are masters of making excuses (while we are quick to point fingers when others do the same wrong we just excused ourselves from doing). Our spiritual compass cannot pick the true north. Going by this diagnosis, we do not just need a new record (forgiveness) but a new vital principle (spiritual life, regeneration). We don't just need the heavenly courtroom to cancel the record, we need a new condition in our hearts and mind. We need our spritual compass to come alive, to sense the true 'north' and gravitate towards it, to find satisfaction in Him who is greater than we can think or imagine.

In the book Titus 2:3-8 (simplified message version), we have a description of this change:

^3-8 It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.

 This tells us that our condition, not just our position (status) needs a change. It tells us about a change so great, that only God can do this to us, we are powerless to bring it about. But unless you accept the radical diagnosis, you will not see the necessity of the cure. But your natural eagerness to make excuses should be a clue that maybe this state of spiritual lifelessness is a reality after all.

As for the use of the term "born again", no doubt many who use it have no clue what it means at all. It is time we pay attention to defining our church terminology. Otherwise it may be just another public secret, like the word BOMA.