Sunday, September 1, 2024

If preachers abuse children, should they be fired?

 In God's heaven there is no sin, no anger, no unkindness, no little lies.
If you are a little sarcastic with your wife, God must forgive you before you are allowed to go to heaven.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14 NIV

All of us, without exception, are unholy by nature. Those who are sometimes a little lazy need God's forgiveness.
Those who are sometimes unloving or sarcastic need God's forgiveness.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

Jesus was cruelly executed to take our guilt upon himself so that God would not punish us for our sins.

But we must humbly receive God's free gift. God's forgiveness is free and complete, but not unconditional.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

We must believe, but that means much more than religious mental assent.

Jesus preached that we must repent and be ready to live a new life with God.

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mk 1:15 NIV

Faith means trusting God. If you believe in a good doctor, you take the prescribed medicine.

Those who believe in Jesus try to obey Jesus.

But do we all become faultless after our conversion?

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 Jn 1:8–9 NIV

If a Christian acts a little unloving or speaks sarcastically to his family, he should confess his sin.

But if a Christian watches porn, will God forgive that too? Or if he abuses a child?

In the Bible, we see how God also forgives terrible sins, but repentance or conversion does not just mean a short prayer.

King David had a soldier killed and took his wife for himself. He had to confess his sin publicly. In Psalm 51 we see his deep remorse.

But if a preacher abuses a child, and he is minimising his sin, can he simply confess and continue preaching?

Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 1 Ti 3:2 NIV

Some claim that all sins are equal in God's eyes. But this is not the case.

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
1 Jn 5:16–17 NIV

A significant issue within the Church regarding abuse is that its  theology often suggests that all sins are equal, which can lead to minimising abuse and offering "cheap grace" to perpetrators.(Boz Tschividjian... Christian lawyer.)

Paul preached grace and forgiveness of sins, but when a man in Corinth would not give up a sexual relationship with his stepmother, Paul wrote that he should be excommunicated.

Should preachers who abuse children be allowed to continue preaching? God wants to forgive all sins, but different sins have different consequences.

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