If a pastor
fall in a sexual sin, may he be restored to the ministry?
A few month ago,
in one of the classes in Seminary, one of our brothers was talking about
David’s life. In the moment he referred to the adultery and the sin against God
with Bathsheba. The professor stopped the brother that was talking and asked to
the class, expecting an answer for every single person.
Here is his
question:
If any pastor today
does what David did with Bathsheba may he be restored to the ministry?
In my case it was not the first time I was
exposing my ideas about this issue and because I had experienced in the past
non godly comments I decided for the first time to keep in silence.
But in the
moment when one of our coworkers in the ministry said this words
There are many
pastors and leaders in our congregations today that use the Bible in a wrong
way because they don’t know what the Bible really says about it,
And he started
saying that the Bible allows the restoration to the ministry for those fallen
pastors and leaders, I filled responsible for what he was saying and in the way
he was saying and I have to once more time experienced the shame when even the
teacher said I should shut up because I had spoken a lot.
When the class
finished I went to my house and I had a deep conversation with my Lord and I
tried to study the Bible without break any Hermeneutic rule and make a deep
research about it and this is the conclusion I got.
First of all I
know that nobody in this world is Iron man or invulnerable or perfect, I know
the temptation is behind you and me every single day because for the job we are
developing we must be in the list of the most wanted people of Satan, believe
me when any pastor fall in sexual scandal there are a lot of people that shock
because the pastor is supposed to be a Holly man, and because of that the
church is also hurt, and this is one of the goals of Satan.
Now I think
there is no way for comparison a pastor today with a king in the Old Testament
environment for many reasons:
1.
One king in the Old Testament time was supposed
to be in the throne until death, even Saul was rejected by God the day he did
the sacrifice which he was not allowed to do, but he stilled in the throne
almost twenty years more until he died in a battle.
2.
The king was the highest authority in the
nation, and the pastor is not the highest authority in the church but Jesus is
the head of the church and if you belong to the Southern Baptist Convention you are not even the 2nd
authority in the church, mostly.
3.
There is not any verse in the bible regarding to
the requirements of a man for be a king. But the Bible gives us requirements
for pastors and also deacons.
When you see the
letter sent by Paul to Timothy which was a young pastor this is what Paul says:
1This is a true saying, If a man desires the office of a bishop, he
desired a good work.
2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
3Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but
patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4One that ruled well his own house, having his children in
subjection with all gravity;
5(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he
take care of the church of God?)
6Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the
condemnation of the devil.
7Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without;
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
The same Paul
when we go to the letter sent to the church in Corinth he said them in 1 Co.
9:24-27
24Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one
received the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one
that batten the air:
27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that
by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
When we see the background in
the city of Corinth we realize that the city was a pagan one, the Corinthian
people were cosmopolitan, they lived a liberal life, in the letter Paul speak
to them more than one time about the sexual immorality, when Paul says in the
letter I keep under my body other
versions say I buffet my body or I strike a blow to my body or I
keep my body under control. The thing is that when Paul talk about the body
you have to understand based upon the context of the city and based upon three
chapter before in the same letter when Paul says sexual sins are sins again
your own body, we have to realize that Paul is saying that if you as a pastor
don’t keep your body under control or if you don’t buffet your own body and you
fall in sexual or immoral sins you may be cast away from the ministry.
Once of the things I have heard
before is this:
Ok
based upon the requirements for pastors in the bible who is blameless today? Or
if Christ said if you see a woman you have committed adultery in your heart why
then you don’t resign to the ministry?
First of all I want to answer
this question Who is blameless today? Jesus is blameless today and forever and He
should be the role model for your ministry. When you say who is blameless you
are looking for between the men and the men are not your role model.
On the other hand even when our
society is diving at total depravity every day the standards of God still being
the same for every generation because He never change and thanks God He never
will neither.
If you are a pastor or a leader
in your church you need to understand the responsibility that God has put upon your
shoulders and like Paul the apostle you need to buffet and take control of your
body every single day because you may be cast away from the glorious ministry.
Remember every single day that
you are a weak person and that temptation is knocking your door for so please
in the name of God take control of your body and buffet it if it is necessary.
Even though when we cannot make
a comparison between David and a pastor today when you go to the Bible you may
find that from the moment David did what he did he was not blameless any more,
let’s take a look to this verses:
1 Kings 15:4-5:
Nevertheless for David's sake
did the Lord his God
give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish
Jerusalem:
5Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any
thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter
of Uriah the Hittite
Mathew 1:6
And Jesse
begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the
wife of Urias;
Dear brother
for sure I know God restores and forgives every sin you do and of course every
sin was in future tense when He died, but as I told you before the requirements
imposed by God for any pastor still being the highest because He is Holly,
Holly, Holly, no matter in what lever of morality our society is right now He
never changes.
As John
Macarthur Jr. said:
We as Christian
have been working so hard creating pastors and leaders with a wonderful
theological background, but we have neglected the moral principles, because of
that there are hundreds of pastors that fall every day.
My friends
never forget what the bible says: Be blameless
¿Te gustaría memorizar la Palabra de Dios?Solo para pastores de jóvenes
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