Majority of Americans and a few nations label themselves as Christian nations. However the individual lives of so called Christians reveals that their label is not their lifestyle. It seems as if this is a decade full of scandals within the Christian community. Eddie Long, Ted Haggard, Jamal Bryant, Douglas Goodman, Earl Paulk, Thomas Weeks, and many more scandals of organizations being accused of mismanagement of funds, cult-like activity and so on. What do these individuals and organizations all have in common? Their true identity did not match their actual lifestyle.
I do not mention the above names to bash these individuals; however those individuals are people who placed themselves or were elevated into ministries who had issues that were contrary to the Christian lifestyle. Some of the individuals named did some of the most heinous crimes committing acts against the soul and against the Christian creed. Acts of domestic violence, adultery, homosexual activity, manipulation, and mind-control. None of these individuals willfully made the ministry they oversee aware of their offenses on their own accord, scandal brought it to the attention of the ministry and many times the world.
Luke 12:1-2, “…Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”
I am sure people within their congregation, family, and circle of friendships, were privy to some of their behavior and acts; however they may have failed to confront the situation directly to stop the erroneous activity. My dismay was recently rekindled in the light of Eddie Long's scandal; which has yet to be proven to be true. If true...It is very unfortunate when someone in a position of religious authority manipulate impressionable minds of teenage young men to commit sexual favors in return for ones own physical pleasures despite having the knowledge of biblical abhorrence to the activity.
Eddie Long, if guilty of the charges, is yet another Christian individual in national history to bear the label of Christianity but whose heart is far from the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 15:8, “These people honor me with their lips; but their hearts are far from me.” No one is perfect. I am certainly not. We are all human beings; however acts of abuse, manipulation, coercion are all acts that are premeditated and are an endangerment to someone’s well being. As a minister you should appropriately direct and seek to help not to endanger emotionally or physically the people with whom you are counseling.
The bible warns of three things; that if you place yourself as a teacher that you will be judged more harshly (James 3:1), if you lead others into sin it would be better if you were not born(Mark 9:42), and that there are those who identify themselves as Christians but are nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing(2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Christians beware; listen, watch, detect, and object anything that does not line up with the doctrine of the Bible.
Read your Bible regularly.
Look at the video below. Yikes!!
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