Public Sin Should Cause Us to Beware

There has been a lot of conversation about the revelation that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford had been having an affair. I think one of the most important thing those of us at a distance should do in these situations is to take them as warnings to ourselves.

The most recent newsletter from Shepherd Press (ministry of Tedd Tripp) discusses this very helpfully. The newsletter takes up the point that Gov. Sanford mentions that this relationship began innocently as he counseled this woman regarding problems in her own marriage. Here then are some excerpts:

Talking with another person of the opposite sex who is not your spouse about intimate relational issues, without open and immediate accountability, is dangerous. It is not innocent; it is a high risk activity. When there is open discussion of intimate relational details with someone, there is always the possibility of things going horribly wrong. Christians have an enemy who is like a lion looking to devour the foolish of heart. The flesh is deceitful and it is at war with the Spirit. It cannot be trusted.

... Enjoying conversations about intimate relational struggles, with a woman who is not your wife, is not guarding your heart. Rather, it is the precursor to disaster. God has provided the family and the church for protection for God’s people. The marriage relationship must be guarded with relentless diligence. Don’t have conversations that you cannot speak openly and freely about with your spouse. As soon as intimate issues come to the surface in such conversations, be like Joseph—flee!! Urge the other person to speak with someone who can truly, objectively help him or her. Many relational failures in the church community happen simply because hearts are not being faithfully protected. Trying to help someone else’s marriage by talking privately with one of the spouses is asking for trouble.

Read the whole thing.

This is sound counsel and especially important for those of us in leadership who will have to counsel people in marital difficulty. Men, we must involve our wives at these points. Plus, this is another reminder of the great value of having other elders laboring alongside you.

Above Reproach

I am sitting in a restaurant right now working on material for our upcoming conference. Other people here are talking openly about local scandals concerning pastors abusing their wives and their own stories of finding pastors in compromising situations and locations. These are not national stories, just their own local incidences. Eventually one woman said, “It is scary that these are pastors. Supposed to be men of God and up there preaching. I don’t trust them any more. I don’t trust anybody.” A man then said, “Yeah, I used to go to church all the time but I have not been at all in the last 8 months.” He went on to talk about his string of very young girlfriends.

Brothers, this is our setting. Our behavior directly affects the way people see God. We must bear this in mind and live accordingly. And, interestingly, in spite of the secularists, people still do expect pastors to be particularly connected to God. People are looking to us to show them the character of God. That is humbling and scary, but it is also a great opportunity. Let us then cry out to God for grace that we might praise and not slander Him with our lives (Titus 2:8, 10).

A Note to Reformers

"I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the greatest pope" - Martin Luther

In our work of reforming the church in our day, this statement from a great Reformer is a good reminder to us. There are errors within our churches which grieve us deeply because we believe they grieve God deeply. We do see insidious encroachment of paganism within the people of God as was described in the book of Judges where people practiced paganism in the name of Yahweh. These things should and do bother us. They even discourage us at times.

However, we must remember that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, and our greatest battlefield is not out there anywhere but in our own hearts. Let us not become so engrossed with the planks in the eyes of the church out there that we become ignorant or careless about those in our own eyes. We must continue to be aware of our own need for being personally reformed according to the Word of God and growing in holiness. This will guard us from arrogance and infuse us with graciousness and mercy as we do the necessary task of pointing out error. One cannot truly labor for the purity of the church while bypassing the pursuit of personal purity.