Confronting Sexual Offences in Church

The Apostle Paul planted a church in Corinth. It was a city notorious for sexual promiscuity, even by the very lax standards of pagan Greek culture. Some of the men in the church continued to visit prostitutes even after their conversion. Paul warned them and told them to repent. 

But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. 1 Cor 5:11 NIV

He also warned that people who continued to practise such things would not go to heaven.

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 
nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor 6:9–10 NIV

This message is still very relevant today. In recent years, we have seen scandal after scandal in prominent evangelical churches. So many celebrity preachers have been exposed. Often we see prominent preachers accused of sexually exploiting church members. What is even more shocking is the way church leaders so often protect each other, blame the women or children and victimise the victims.

Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the LORD detests them both. Pr 17:15 NIV

I don’t often write messages like this. I for years I suffered under harsh judgemental preaching, but we must deal seriously with abuse and injustice in the church. There is a difference between the faults and imperfections which we all have, and cruel abuse, scandalous crimes and the offences which destroy lives. 

Nevertheless, we must not condemn even horrible evildoers without being willing to forgive and restore the offenders to faith and favour. On the other hand, I do not believe this necessarily means we should let sexual crimes go unpunished. 

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

If a preacher has committed sexual crimes or stained his reputation by sexually exploiting church members, it seems reasonable that his ordination should be cancelled, though he may be allowed to serve God and the church in other ways.

Perhaps the most serious sin in the Corinthian church was the scandalous behaviour of a man who was in a sexual relationship with his stepmother. 

Paul ordered that he should be excommunicated, but even then Paul was ready to forgive and show mercy.

The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 
Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 
I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 2 Cor 2:6–8 NIV

It can be difficult and painful to forgive people who have abused and severely damaged you. I saw a young woman on a YouTube podcast who had dealt with this very issue. Her father had treated her mother with physical and verbal cruelty. He had gone to bed with his wife’s mother, the girl’s grandmother. He then rejected the girl’s mother. The girl was brought up by her adulterous grandmother.

When the girl was 14, she saw her father having sex with her grandmother. She was completely ignorant and innocent and was shocked and confused.

Then she found a boy and had sex herself. It went from bad to worse.

When she was 19, she was trying to get her life together. She said she still loved her parents and grandmother and she had forgiven them for everything. It was not clear if she was a Christian believer at this stage, but I prayed for her to find faith in Jesus.

I was so inspired by her honest confrontation of her terrible experiences and her willingness to love and forgive.

So many people in churches have traumatic or shameful life stories. They need loving and inner healing. We must not sweep these issues under the carpet. 

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.

Danger of Legalism

 There are Christians who sincerely strive to remove all sin from their lives.

There are other Christians who are not overly concerned about sin.

• There are Christians who consider sex before marriage normal.

• There are Christians who are hooked on pornography.

• There are Christians who are lazy in their jobs and often tell lies.

Who is right? Surely the zealous saints must be on the right track,

But it's not only the careless sinners who cause problems for God. Some who strive to live without any sin are true saints, such as the apostle Paul or John Wesley.

But there is also a great danger in perfectionism. 

Those who think they can live completely without sin do not understand God and do not understand themselves.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8–9 ESV

Those who truly love Jesus are on the path of holiness and love, but we have not reached our final destination. We are all on a journey.

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, Philippians 3:12–13 NLT

Paul sometimes had to correct careless sinners in the church, but he did not look down on anyone. He knew that he himself was on a journey.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 ESV

• Jesus is the way. We are on a journey.

• Jesus is the truth. We are all on a learning curve

• Jesus is the life. Only his life is flawless.

Perfectionism often leads to legalism. Heavenly perfection is impossible here on earth. 

If we do not understand this, we can focus on our outward behaviour, where we can at least appear to be perfect, but God is not so easily fooled. He looks at our secret thoughts.

Jesus had no stomach for such a religious attitude.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 

You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Matthew 23:25–26 ESV

I know a church where the leaders controlled people with strict rules.

A young man was not allowed to sit with his girlfriend until they were married.

A young man was converted in this church, but six months after that he was expelled from membership because he was still smoking cigarettes.

In terms of discipline in the church, Paul is our role model.

A man in Corinth had to be expelled from the church because he was in a sexual relationship with his stepmother and refused to stop.

On the other hand, there were some men in the church who were seeing prostitutes. Paul criticised them sharply, but they were not to be cast out. Hopefully they would repent.

We are all on the way. The main thing is to allow Jesus to purify us inwardly and lead us in His way.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:20 NLT