Church Scandals that Disgrace Jesus's Name and Character and Bring Shame On His Church

What the heck is going on in our churches and in Christianity?! Scandals among pastors are increasingly being exposed, and Christian music artists are leaving Christianity because they are "deconstructing" their faith or have "deconstructed" their faith, or whatever. I'm not sure why they use that term, except they think that it sounds better than simply saying that they no longer believe in Jesus. 

This year alone, several celebrity and megachurch pastors including Tony Evans, Robert Morris, David Platte, and most recently, Steve Lawson, have been caught in sin, causing them to either step down from the pulpit, or get fired by their church. Is this due to the fact that sin among church leaders is increasing, or is it because of how news spreads these days due to the internet and social media? Both ideas are possibilities and even likely, however I have a thought that I want to share, and that is that when celebrity and megachurch pastors fall, they disgrace the name of Jesus and bring shame upon the Church, however, we the people also play a part in it and allow it to happen by the way we view church and Christianity in this country. 

We view church as the place we go on Sunday to worship God and hear a good, uplifting sermon, presented by a professional pastor whom we consider to be qualified because they went to college and obtained a degree. We elevate these men or women above the rest of the church body because we view them as being our spiritual leaders due to the fact that they went to college and pursued a career in pastoral ministry.

In some cases, these pastors are talented speakers, or they provide a specific nichè in ministry, so people enjoy listening to them, which causes their ministry to grow, sometimes to celebrity status. They're on TV, the radio, YouTube, and podcasts. Millions of people around the world know their names and hear their messages. Then they fall. They fall after millions of people, including both believers and unbelievers, have come to know who they are and have heard their messages.

Many who know them and listen to their messages may be their disciples and walk away from God after hearing such devastating news about the man or woman they believed was above sinning. Unbelievers will be quick to point out their sin to world to say, "Look at the hypocrisy of the church", or "Look at what Jesus's followers do", or they blame religion for the world's problems. When these guys fall, the real church takes a hard hit.

The real church is not a building that we go to, nor an institution that we become members of. Buildings and institutions are places that are filled with a combination of people, from skeptics and atheists, to devoted and faithful Christians, and everything in between. They are places where "All are welcomed", so a variety of different beliefs, backgrounds, and values fill the pews and occupy the pulpits. The pulpit is not always occupied by a faithful Christian in these places, and sometimes they are not even true believers in Christ. They might be someone who is only looking for a vocation in ministry, rather than someone God has gifted and called. Or they might have an insidious agenda to bring down the church. Yet, the church will elect or hire these kinds of people to lead them, often giving them full authority over the church with zero accountability. They may give the impression of having accountability, but in reality they surround themselves with yes men who agree with everything they say and do, so they have no real accountability. These leaders will eventually cause internal divisions and scandals within the church, or they will fall into sin, taking down the church and its people, and when these things happen, unbelievers will pounce on the opportunity to point out the "church's" sin.

These places are not the real church. The real church is comprised of God's people who are people who believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and because they believe in Jesus, they live according to His teachings and God's ways. They seek to bring God's love, peace, mercy, justice and righteousness to the earth. The real church is not a place you go to, but it is the people of God. 

If Christians began operating as equal members of Christ's body working towards God's goal, and stopped elevating men and women in the church, especially to celebrity status, the name of Jesus would not be disgraced so frequently, and the church would not be viewed with such hypocrisy by outsiders. The early church model in the Bible does not exalt one person above another, but all members work together. If churches did not strive to become the biggest and best, fewer people would seek or be sought to become the next big name in ministry. Fewer people in the world would know who they are so fewer people would know when a pastor falls into sin. I'm not saying that the church needs to hide its sin by remaining small, but what I'm saying is that pastors are only human like the rest of us, and are not exempt from sin. Everyone in the church is equal in God's sight, He does not elevate a pastor above the rest of us. If people understood this, then when a pastor falls, it would not be such a blemish on the church. Every member within the church needs to be held accountable, including pastors, and especially pastors if they are going to assume the role of spiritual leader. A pastor by definition is supposed to protect the flock from harm, not be the source of it. Eliminating status positions would decrease pride, and eliminating celebrity status would minimize scandals and the disgrace of Jesus's name and character.

Only in the American church is Christianity like this. Let's work towards reforming it to be a light on a hill and to become something that brings glory to God, rather than reproach.

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As I mentioned before, the people elevate the pastor as being the "spiritual one" who is above the rest of us, so he gets paid a salary for doing his job, and in some cases a huge salary, but he/she might leave the church and go somewhere else if tough times cause for giving to be down, rather than depending on God, who allegedly called him into ministry, to provide for his needs. 

Worship leaders and bands are sometimes hired, rather than have its own God gifted volunteers do the music. They do this to bring in more people, even people from other churches. These churches are in competition with other churches and they operate as a business rather than a gathering of Christians for equipping, edification, and encouragement. 

𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥: 𝐀 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 8 : David Anointed King of Israel Part 3

1 Samuel 16

God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint the king God had chosen to replace Saul. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin, but the new king was from the tribe of Judah, the tribe that God had said the Messiah would come from. In a sense, David was Israel's messiah during that time. He was a militaristic leader who conquered the Philistines, Israel's number one enemy, and took control of the Promised Land. He captured Jerusalem where he established his throne and reigned over his kingdom from. He brought the ark of the covenant there, and because of his desire to build a house for the Lord, the temple of God was built by his offspring, making Jerusalem "the City of David", and more importantly, the "City of God".

[12] So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His kingdom for the sake of His people Israel. (2 Samuel 5:12).

Israel experienced peace and prosperity under David which they have not at any other time in their history. The reason is because Lord God of hosts was with him.

God later established a covenant with David, promising that another King would come from his lineage and establish His eternal kingdom over the entire earth with the new Jerusalem. Interestingly, this King would also come from Bethlehem of Judah. He will reign with an iron scepter of righteousness and justice, and peace will preside over the earth like there has never been before because God will be with Him.

In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel invited the elders and Jesse and his family to make sacrifices with him. When he saw Jesse's son Eliab, he thought, "Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord", but the Lord said, "Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The Lord has not chosen any of these. Are these all the sons you have?". So Jesse brought his youngest son David from tending the sheep, and when he came the Lord said, "Rise and anoint him for he is the one." So Samuel took the horn of the oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. 

God anointed David as king, but he did not actually become king until fifteen years later. This may have been so that God could both prepare him and test his faithfulness to rule over His kingdom of people as we see He did with Joseph:

[19] Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. (Psalms 105:19 NLT).

Like David, Jesus also was anointed King, but did not assume His role as King over God's kingdom until years later when He took His seat next to God in heaven. God prepared Him and tested Him for several years before making Himself known and beginning the work of establishing His Kingdom. He first had to prove Himself faithful by being tested by God. God tested Him by sending into the wilderness where Satan tempted Him to see if He would overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Jesus passed this test by denying Satan's temptations, however, the testing was not complete. 

After encountering Satan in the wilderness, He was tested constantly by the Jews who threatened His life as He called them to repent and believe in Him, and as He attempted to teach them about truly following YHWH. This was going on at the same time that He was discipling twelve men whom God had chosen to carry on the mission of establishing His Kingdom after He died for the forgiveness of sins and left to go be with the Father.

It was also going on at the same time that He was destroying the works of the devil by casting out demons, healing, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus actually told the Jewish leaders who opposed Him that they were doing the work of their father, the devil, and He was undoing their works by doing the work of His Father, YHWH.

His mission was difficult to say the least. Would He accomplish everything that God had sent Him to do while facing so much opposition? It would have been easy for Him to turn back and give up because it was too hard. The devil was throwing everything at Him that he could to get Him to stop doing what He was doing. He had free reign up until now. Then suddenly this guy shows up and begins undoing everything he has done, limiting his power and authority over the people, binding him so that he no longer has free reign. 

Satan was also working from the inside to destroy the work that Jesus was doing. One of His disciples had fallen away and made a deal with the devil to turn Jesus over to them. God had chosen Judas to be one of the twelve men who would continue the work that Jesus started, but somewhere along the way his faith must have begun to falter, so Satan seized the opportunity to destroy Jesus and His work. This was no doubt another obstacle that Jesus had to endure in the work that God had sent Him to do; another of God's tests to ensure that He was able to be the King of God's people. 

His final test was whether or not He would follow through with being mocked, tortured, and murdered so that men could be reconciled back to God. It was extremely important for Jesus to follow through with this, otherwise, all the other work He was doing would not mean anything, and God's plan would not come to fruition, at least not through Him. He would sacrifice His own life as an atonement for man's. His death would allow God to forgive man's sins so that they could be with Him and He could be with them. His blood that He shed when He died would be the seal of the new covenant which God made with those who believe in His Son, Jesus the King. Fortunately for mankind, Jesus passed the tests that God had given Him by finishing the work that He sent Him to do (John 17:4; John 19:30), showing Himself faithful to be the King of God's eternal kingdom.

Unlike David and Jesus, Saul was not tested before being made king of Israel, and he failed and was rejected by God and ejected as king of God's people. He was replaced by David whom God anointed as king. But prior to David taking control of Israel, Saul remained as king until his death fifteen years later. Then, even after that, it was another seven years before David took control of all of Israel. During this time, David was king of Judah and Saul was king of Israel. There was continual war between the two, and though David began with a small following, his house grew stronger and stronger, while Saul's grew weaker and weaker. 

Jesus is the anointed King who currently sits enthroned over His kingdom from heaven. However, like Saul, Satan still rules as king on the earth, while Jesus waits for God to send Him to conquer Satan and take His throne on the earth. Like David and Saul, there is continual war between Jesus and Satan, and though Jesus's kingdom began small, it continues to grow stronger and stronger, while Satan's grows weaker and weaker. And similar to David, when Jesus returns, He will take control of all of the earth, setting up His eternal kingdom throughout, and reigning as King over all of His creation.

𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥: 𝐀 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 7 : David Anointed King of Israel Part 2

1 Samuel 16:1-5

The Lord instructed Samuel to go to Jesse of Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons to be king. Samuel's response was similar to that of many others that we read of in the Bible whom God had instructed to do something; a response of fear and uncertainty: 

"How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me?"

It sounds strange coming from Samuel, "the man of God", who we read of in the Bible as being bold in obedience to God by speaking God's often harsh messages to Saul. The Bible provides records of Moses, and the prophet Elijah responding in a similar manner when God instructed them to go and fulfill His purpose. The point is that it is not unusual to be afraid and uncertain when God instructs us to go to work.

God responded with a specific plan detailing exactly what Samuel was to do to avert Saul so that he would be protected. The plan: "make it appear and say that you are there for a reason other than what you are really there for." God's plan included a deception and a lie. It required Samuel to deceive Saul by making it appear that he was there to offer sacrifices, and it required him to lie to Saul about the reason that he was there. Now, I'm not saying that God is a deceiver or liar, nor am I saying that God advocates for such things. But there are times when doing God's work that His people need to operate under the radar, and cannot truthfully say why they are there. The underground church in nations that are hostile to Jesus operates in this way on a daily basis. Jesus instructed His disciples to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves, and this is what He meant by that. It is unwise and careless to honest and forthright when doing the Lord's work in potentially dangerous situations. Being deceptive in such scenarios is for our own protection, as it was for Samuel's. 

Despite his fear and uncertainty, "Samuel did what the Lord said." He was obedient to God, demonstrating faith and trust in Him. 

When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders trembled when they met him and asked, "Do you come in peace?". 

The man of God Samuel was well known, and the elders recognized him when he arrived, and probably thought that he came to bring a message of rebuke or judgment against them. Samuel was a "seer" which is a prophet, and prophets usually did not bring good news. If one showed up in town, it probably wasn't going to be a good day. In Christianity today, many people say that Christians should be "joy givers", which means you appear to be happy and joyful all the time whether you are or not, and you have a positive attitude and outlook on life. If you aren't this way, they say, then you're a "joy stealer" or you must not have Jesus because you don't have the joy that comes from knowing Jesus.

But number one, this is one of the reasons why so many people look at the church as being full of hypocrites. There are people who are genuinely and naturally joyful, and they are great to be around. They have positive attitudes and big smiles and everyone loves them. But there are many who fake it because their church leaders instructed them to portray an image of joy in order to create a joyful environment so that people will enjoy coming to the church. This is hypocrisy.

God did not create everyone with an exuberant, joyful personality. He made some to have a more somber personality, however, they are still joyful because they are obedient to Jesus, which is where real joy comes from. Christians who live in persecution experience great joy because of their obedience to Jesus, but they may not always have an outward appearance of joy because they are living in tough conditions. When you speak speak with them though, their joy will be evident because they understand the source of their joy.

God made some to be prophets. Prophets usually brought messages from God to His people, and they were usually not messages containing good news. They were usually messages calling for His people to repent - turn away from your idolatry and turn back to Him - and if they didn't, then He was going to discipline them by way of judgment and wrath. 

In some cases, their messages were of rebuke, like we see when the prophet Nathan rebuked King David for raping Bathsheba and killing her husband. The deed had already been done, so God sent His prophet to rebuke him and inform him of how He was going to discipline David for committing these evil acts. Make no mistake, God's discipline of His people is His wrath and judgment being played out in real time. If we respond with repentance, then He will not make us account for it again at the judgement on the Last Day because He will have already forgiven us. But if we respond with unrepentance by continuing to rebel against Him, we will have to answer for our wickedness when we stand before Him on judgment day, and the outcome might not be very good.

David's life after he committed these heinous acts of wickedness was not so good, even though he seemed to have repented. God kept His promise of judgment against David, and his family fell apart. 

All that to say, prophets would be considered "joy stealers" in modern day Christianity because they did not bring a positive message or outlook on life with them. Their messages were typically of doom and gloom. And because of that, many of them suffered terribly at the hands of God's people who were the recipients of the message. They probably viewed them as messengers of doom and gloom, so they rejected God's word because they did not believe that it was true. So when the elders saw Samuel come into town their hearts probably sank, and they trembled with fear because they thought that he was there to give them a message from God. 

𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥: 𝐀 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 6: David Anointed King of Israel Part 1

1 Samuel 16:1-2

[1] The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

[2] But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ [3] Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

Samuel 16 starts off very interesting. I get the impression that Samuel felt deeply for Saul, so deeply that it was affecting his own faith, that God felt the need to call him out on it and push him to go back to work. It's kind of challenging to imagine God being this way, because I tend to think of Him as the kind of God who would be mourning for Saul even more-so than Samuel was, and maybe He was, but He was not going to dwell on it, and He certainly did not want Samuel to spend any more time mourning for him. We know that God rejected Saul as king over Israel, and that He was not going to change His mind in the matter. His rejection of Saul was certain, and He had a plan for His Kingdom, and He was moving forward with that plan. 

He had already found someone to replace Saul, even before He rejected Saul as king. He said that He had "chosen" one of Jesse of Bethlehem's sons to be king. 

Now, God had previously "chosen" Saul to be king of Israel, but now He is choosing David as king of Israel. How can the be? This too may be challenging to understand due to what we may have been taught to believe about "choseness". Well, we know that though God chose Saul, he rejected God by His disobedience to Him, and therefore God rejected him as king, which opened up the kingly position, allowing God to fill it with another- a man after His own heart.

I believe this is the very same thing He did with Israel. He chose them to be His people, however they rejected Him continuously by disobeying Him, and therefore He rejected them, which opened up a position which allowed God to fill it with another - a people after God's own heart. Just like with Saul and David, even while they were still His people, He had already chosen a people who would be faithful and have God’s law written on their hearts. We see this in the Prophets who foretell of these people, and in the apostles who teach that God's people consist of all races and ethnicities, and are those who possess faith in King Jesus. 

I do not believe that God chooses more than one at a time, including His people. In order for David to become king, God had to reject Saul. In order for the new covenant to take effect, which was the covenant God made with Jews and Gentiles, the old covenant had to be done away with, which it was according to Hebrews. 

God uses the analogy of marriage when speaking of His relationship with His people. In a marriage, God only allows there to be two people, a man and a woman, who make a covenant with each other. He does not allow more than two people in a marriage. He created marriage and that is His regulation for marriage. So it doesn't make any sense that He would have two people in His marriage. He would be breaking His own rule. Furthermore, He would be committing adultery by having more than one bride, which He forbids in marriage. 

In order for a person to be legitimately divorced, their spouse either has to die, commit adultery against them, or their unbelieving spouse has to leave them, which is abandonment. If a divorce occurs for any of these reasons, a position is opened up within the marriage. If a divorce occurs for any other reason, then there is adultery taking place because the position has not been legitimately opened. There needs to be an open position in order to fill it, but the positions are limited because there are only two of them within a marriage. This is God's plan for marriage, and He wrote the rules, and He will not break His own rules. Because He set the rules, it is impossible for Him to have more than one people, otherwise He would be an unfaithful adulterer and hypocrite because He has expectations for His people which He Himself does not abide by. But the truth is, God is faithful to keep His word and His promises. He is not a hypocrite, and His ways are just and right.