HOW DARE YOU, PASTOR!😣

You know how sometimes you’re scrolling on your timeline minding your business and  you happen to chance upon a random post where two strangers are having a full-blown debate on an unrelated topic?😂 It’s hella annoying when you’re the original owner of the post, but if you’re like me, you actually enjoy those off-side debates more than the post itself.😁

It so happened that I was scrolling minding my business earlier today when I saw an interesting post. What caught my eye though was a discussion in the comments section about a not-so-related topic between two gentlemen. The ‘keynote speaker’😆 was slightly irritated about the fact that people who sinned received public scolding in the Church, and shared a story about how he had returned from missionary work sometime back only to witness one such instance that got the person involved so angry that he left the Church. The Church, in his words, ‘has become the Judge, Jury and Executioner’. His point was that ‘while others are fighting on the field to win souls, the same Church is casting them out.’ Now I completely understand the point this brother is making, and to the extent that he explained that the Church’s role was not to gossip or side-eye when a fellow believer fell, I absolutely agree. But to suggest that the Church taking public action in certain circumstances is the Church ‘casting believers out’, scripture copiously disagrees. So of course, you know yours truly responded to his argument,😂 but I thought it was a conversation worth having here!

Before I continue, you should understand that even scripture did not have a straitjacket approach to how these things ought to be handled. There’s prudence in handling issues on a case by case basis. If we’re honest, we’ll admit that there are 2 types of people who indulge in sin in the Church, and I’ll focus on the first group of people for the purpose of this piece:

1. Those who are unrepentant and unsubmitted to leadership and correction, and
2. Those who genuinely recognize that they had a moment of weakness and fell [these people are often repentant and seek help where they can. There’s no need for any public gimmicks particularly with this group].

There was a snitch in the Corinthian Church.🤭 (S)he had found a way to communicate with Paul and snitched on the Church about practically everything that was happening in the Church at Corinth. This person particularly snitched on this young man who was having sex with his father’s wife.🤦🏽‍♀️ Listen to Paul’s direction concerning this brother [1 Corinthians 5:2-7]:

I am told that a man in your Church is living in sin with his stepmother. You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

He continues:

You must call a meeting of the Church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. Your boasting about this is terrible.

Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are.

Realize that Paul is even more appalled by their boasting in the sin and unrepentance than by the sin itself? You most certainly aren’t getting anywhere with counselling sessions and Bible studies with this kind of person. He’s the same one who plays instruments and MCs at the church’s events. He sits at every teaching service, anointing service and dances till he’s fully drenched in sweat during service. But he really doesn’t care. In fact, he actually boasts in how many sexual partners he’s had and how ‘open-minded’ he is about scripture, and if left lurking around, will ‘clear’ as many girls in the Church as he can. That’s what Paul is talking about when he says a little yeast spreads through the entire dough. Very soon he starts explaining his ‘liberal’ understanding of scripture to others and making more converts to lifestyles that are unbefitting of believers, all the while priding in his sin!

So am I saying such people should be publicly embarrassed? Even I am hesitant to quickly say yes, only because it will not achieve the same results it did at the time Paul wrote. You see, back then, when the Church threw the man out, he repented! The snitch [luckily😆] went back to work when (s)he noticed a change. So Paul wrote to the Church again in his second letter [2 Corinthians 2:5-6]:

I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.

And after much blabbing, here comes my point:

We have such a pompous and unsubmitted body of believers in our days that Church leadership can barely exercise any form of chastisement or correction – even privately!

Because how dare the Pastor! The same Pastor you feed with your tithe and offering?😏 Because what does he mean? Without you he has no church!😣 Because if we all decided not to attend this church, he will preach to tables and chairs right?🤷🏽‍♀️ Because we all have a right to privacy! And just because you choose to attend his church doesn’t mean he can poke his nose all up in your business!🙄

Chiiiiiiiiiiiiile!🤦🏽‍♀️ How is it that you, child of God, are willing to submit EVERY aspect of your life to civil, worldly institutions but are too proud to submit to the steward Christ has put over your soul?? The people we insult most, for whom we vote, and the institutions they set up [Parliament and the courts] determine what’s allowed in your life as a citizen/resident of the country, who you can have sex with, what to do with you when you flout their rules, etc. If you were caught stealing, you’d willingly surrender to the police, and whatever sentencing you receive from the court, no? Is it not your taxes that paid the police man and judge? Is it not your taxes they live off of?

So hort exactly are you saying again? 1 Timothy 5:20-12 reads:

Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this will serve as a strong warning to others. I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone.

As clear as daylight!

Hebrews 13:17 says:

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

They are accountable to God for you! Do you understand how huge that is for any spiritual leader? That chastisement and praise to the angels [root word – messenger] of the churches in the book of Revelation were sent to the spiritual leaders/pastors of those churches! It is an absurdity to hold the opinion that your spiritual leader has no say over how you run the affairs of your life, especially when it comes to correction where you are wrong. I most certainly recognise that in Christ, in this dispensation, we all a royal priesthood; we all are set apart. That truth in no way negates the reality that God even among equals sets aside leaders, not so they can be superior in quality or ranking, but for the purposes of order and accountability. So while I don’t mean relinquish the decisions of your life to your Pastor or revere your Pastor above the Word of God or Christ [never! And if you have to choose between the two, by all means choose the Word over your pastor without blinking twice!], what I do mean is that the men who watch over your soul are men, granted, but when they call you out, what it calls for is repentance and humility, not anger. In fact, I put it to you that very few believers in our day will remain in Church if Pastors attempted to use the tone Paul used in chastising the church in scripture! He probably wouldn’t call you ‘foolish’ like Paul called the Galatians, but imagine if he asked you, ‘should I come with a rod to discipline you…?’😂 [1 Corinthians 4:21].

Dear Church, let the buffoonery stop, please?!

Yours with love,

Rad! 💖