Friday, September 19, 2008

Be Faithful

In a recent conversation a friend told me of the church experience of a mutual friend of ours. Our mutual friend is in his later 30’s like me and has been in church for about 16 years. During that time he has been in four or five churches and in everyone one of them the pastor has fallen in sexual immorality. How many today have this same experience that every pastor they have had has eventually had to step down due to immorality (sexual, financial, etc.)?!

Of course we are all sinful, but this cries out for us to be ‘above reproach’ (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:6). Brothers, we need to be diligent and to have other men around us who are ‘in our business.’ Do not allow yourself to be aloof and alone. That is a recipe for disaster, and it is not the biblical model for pastors. We need the Body as much as anyone else. Such accountability and openness will puncture our pride releasing the harmful gas which inflates our egos- which is to say it will encourage us to godliness and real joy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ray,

Thanks- this was the encouragement that I needed to hear today.

For His Glory,
Jeremiah