Sin, Scandal and Satan In times such as these, when we see good men fall, it is tempting to turn our backs on them, not because we do not love them, but because they have caused us shame. They have brought revilement to the body of Christ. But we must remember what such men have endured, and why they have fallen. Is it not common knowledge, and proved by experience, that men of leadership are routinely attacked by our enemy in order to discredit the work of Christ?

As Richard Baxter says in his work "Reformed Pastor":

'whenever he [Satan] ruineth you, he will make you the instruments of ruin to others. O what a conquest will he think he hath got, if he can make a minister lazy and unfaithful, if he can tempt a minister into covetousness or scandal! He will glory against the Church, and say, 'These are your holy preachers! See what their preciseness is, and whither it brings them.'’ He will glory against Jesus Christ himself, and say, 'These are thy champions! I can make thy chiefest servants abuse thee; I can make the stewards of thy house unfaithful.'’
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Take heed therefore ... Would it not wound you to the heart to hear the name and truth of God reproached for your sakes; to see men point to you, and say, 'There goes a covetous priest, a secret tippler, a scandalous man; these are they that preach for strictness, while they themselves can live as loose as others; they condemn us by their sermons, and condemn themselves by their lives; notwithstanding all their talk, they are as bad as we.' O brethren, could your hearts endure to hear men cast the dung of your iniquities in the face of the holy God, and in the face of the gospel, and of all that desire to fear the Lord? Would it not break your hearts to think that all the godly Christians about you should suffer reproach for your misdoings? Why, if one of you that is a leader of the flock, should be ensnared but once into some scandalous crime, there is scarcely a man or woman that seeketh diligently after their salvation, within the hearing of it, but, besides the grief of their hearts for your sin, are likely to have it cast in their teeth by the ungodly about them, however much they may detest it, and lament it. The ungodly husband will tell his wife, and the ungodly parents will tell their children, and ungodly neighbors and fellow-servants will be telling one another of it, saying, 'These are your godly preachers! See what comes of all your stir. What better are you than others You are even all alike.' ’Such words as these must all the godly in the country hear for your sakes. 'It must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!'(empasis mine)

The church universal suffers because of the scandals of particular churches. But we must still remember that these men are our brothers, and we must remember our Christian duty towards them. We need to be careful not to further drag the name of Christ and His body through the mud as a consequence of our gossip. Be on guard for yourselves, that you, in wanting to make sure that everyone else is aware of the pit that is in the road, do not fall into it yourself.

Love and pray for you elders, that they may resist the devil and that they would not fall into scandal or sin, and in so doing, bring humiliation on the church. Eagerly forgive those who have done so, and pray for their restoration and repentance. 

¶ 12/21/2005 11:29:00 AM