Recovery Ministries

    In this passage of scripture the message is obvious. God had given specific instructions regarding the care and transportation of the ark. He had also given a specific instruction that surpassed the other instructions in degree of punishment. The priest had been instructed that they were NEVER allowed to TOUCH the ark or they would die. The circumstances did not matter the instruction was specific. While transporting the ark through the wilderness, the transporting of the ark became unsteady and the ark began to fall. A dedicated and no doubt godly priest reached up to steady the ark and when his hand touched the ark he died. The point is this; God gave very specific instructions that no one was to touch the ark. Circumstances did not change God’s directive. I personally believe that the priest had the right heart and it was with that heart he was motivated to steady the ark so it would not fall. The point is this; no matter how sincere or concerned you may be you sometimes must let the ark fall.

   I often deal with parents who have children that get into trouble maybe it’s at school or maybe it’s with a law enforcement agency. These parents continually try to “bail” their children out of the trouble and in doing so they simply set the stage for future rebellious problems. What parents need to learn is that sometimes they need to let the ark fall for the benefit of the child. I had a young man whom I was dealing with that was very rebellious and each time I brought this to his mother’s attention she would justify his action and bail him out of trouble. Without going into detail, this young man is now spending the rest of his life in prison. He will never enjoy freedom again. I ask you, would it have been better for her to let the ark fall back when he first started getting into trouble.

   I have counseled wives who have defended their husband’s addictions and abuses just to latter lose them to prison or suffer the physical scars of their husband’s abuses. They without fail say to me but I love him, he will change. Maybe he would have if she had let the ark fall.

   I am now seeing something that troubles me dearly. What I am about to cover is the primary reason for this article. Many years ago when I was just starting out in the ministry I was on staff at a fairly large church in a southern town. I was asked to take the position as the school administrator because the administrator resigned. I had only been in the position a few weeks when the parents of a young lady in the school came to my office and informed me that they had just discovered that the former principle had been molesting their daughter for a couple of years. She was 13 when this began and the scars ran very deep. I took the information to the senior pastor of the church and was told to try to help the family but encourage them not to make a legal issue of the situation for the sake of the schools testimony. Not long after this meeting the senior pastor resigned and a dear preacher friend of mine was called as the pastor of the church. He allowed me to handle the situation the scriptural way. I have since learned of many situations that mirror the story I just told you.

Here are some of the excuses that pastors and church leaders give for covering up such ungodly activity.

1. It is in the best interest of the churches testimony to cover ungodly activity within the walls of the church, because it will destroy the churches effectiveness in reaching its community. I will be the first to tell you that the church has no business airing its dirty laundry to the lost world. In an attempt to lead the world to Christ we sometimes negate our effectiveness by revealing our sin issues. But quite honestly the opposite is true in the area of sexual abuses. The community will trust the church that opposes sin even if that sin is within the walls of its own church. The world entrust us with their children. We pick them up on our buses, take them on overnight trips, and we are entrusted with them every Sunday for two to three hours without their parents supervision. Parents pull their children out of the public school system because worldliness, atheism and sinful overtones run rampant and place them in the “Protected Environment” of a Christian School. Those parents deserve to know that we are what we say we are as Christians. Sometimes we have to let the ark fall, though we may be sincerely concerned about its effect.

2. Another excuse is, “I believe that those issues should be handled behind closed doors not opened for public scrutiny”. With this I agree except not to the point of deception or cover up. Often family members or church members are aware of the situation and even respect the behind closed door philosophy and yet they notice the staff member is still on staff months later or they go to another church at the pastors recommendation. When I was in the pastorate there was a preacher that I had a great deal of respect for. He was pasturing a large church and was a requested preacher. He was on the road quite often preaching revivals and conferences. Preachers would send their young men to his church as staff members for training and experience. If was found out many, many years later that he was actually a homosexual. So there was another reason he continually surrounded himself with young male staff members. This went on for years and in that time you cannot tell me that someone did not know what was happening and yet many, many young men will suffer for a life time because someone did not let the “Ark Fall”. The son of this pastor took the church and tried to pull it out in spite of his fathers wicked, sinful influence and to his credit he is still, years later the pastor of that church. The fact that he revealed his own dads sinful activity has increased his value in the community not hindered it. As the media surrounds the cases of sexual abuse discovered within the walls of the Catholic Church you will notice that the publics primary criticism is not that it happened, which is certainly bad enough but that the Catholic church refuses to deal with the issue and even worse the church refuses to allow these priest to be tried in a public forum as all other sexual abuse cases. In spite of the doctrinal, scriptural and polity differences between the Catholic Church and other denominations, the public tends to view all mainstream religious organizations the same. Unfortunately the world has a hard time distinguishing between religious organizations and Biblical Christianity. The scripture does say, Rom.14:16 “Let not then your good be evil spoken of:” I have a preacher friend who pastors a large church in Louisville, Kentucky. The church purchased a facility that had been owned by another denomination. It had several buildings as well as an auditorium. All of these building were enclosed with a tall brick wall. The first thing he did after they moved on the property was to have the brick wall taken down. He did not want to leave the impression that there was anything going on behind the wall that was inappropriate or that the public could not see. I believe that he was very wise and yet often we are not as wise concerning some highly sensitive problem areas within the church.

3. An excuse that I often hear is, “our church can not handle the financial stress that could develop if a law suit resulted because such sinful activity has accrued. Unfortunately this is a potential problem although it is more likely to become a legal problem for the church if the problem is covered. If such sin is exposed and dealt with it will be viewed as the churches lack of tolerance for such activity and thus lessons the likelihood that the church will end up in a lawsuit. It is more likely then that any lawsuit will be directed toward the offender him or her self. As I am writing this article I have had to counsel a lady who found out that her husband had not only had many affairs but also he had enticed a fourteen, a sixteen and an eighteen-year-old girl into a sexual relationship with him. All the while he was attending a local church.

I believe that spousal abuse falls in the same category. There was a day when spousal abuse would not have been tolerated in the church yet I have had to deal with pastors themselves who were guilty of this horrendous sin. Please I have a great love for the church and the pastor. It was for pastors all over America that Recovery Ministries was established. We however must say NO to sin, even if that sin falls within the staff of the church. I would also like to say that it is also a sin to plead innocent to the knowledge of such activity if we do indeed have knowledge of it. Here is a familiar verse of scripture, I Peter 4:17  “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

Please understand that I am not attacking the church or fundamentalism, but I am trying to protect the church and the pastors of the church.

Here are some thoughts concerning the handling of sin problems within the staff of the church.

1) Do not treat all sin problems in a punitive way.

2) Prepare your staff for punitive discipline.

3) Define expectations for all staff members and teaching staff.

4) Monitor the activity of your staff.

5) Make sure you have all the facts.

6) Do not delay in dealing with sin issues within the church staff or education staff.

7) Bring in another pastor to help you deal with these kinds of sin problems.

Here are some ideas that will assist in managing your own personal sin problems, which ultimately lead to abuse of many different natures and addictive sinful behavior. 

1) Set personal guidelines and do not deviate from those guidelines in any circumstance.

2) Deal with personal sin quickly and emphatically.

3) Prepare messages and develop lessons that deal with the subjects you battle.

4) Memorize a verse of scripture for every battle you face within your self.

5) Stay busy

6) Make your wife your number one partner in the ministry.

7) Find an accountability partner.

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