You don’t leave Jesus because of Judas.
People are sinners. God is perfect. God’s word is perfect. It is not religion it is imperfect people. Don’t give up on God and eternity.
There is much heresy within organized Christianity as in any temporal institution. The Gospels of course warned explicitly about such devil inspired people posing as teachers.
Shall we dismiss the Bible itself because of things like even David did?
David not only took another man’s wife, he got her husband killed in battle to cover for it.
God’s truth is NOT about man’s failure.
It’s about the redemption we have in Jesus.
If your faith is based on your leaders, you’re in major trouble. The faith has to be in Jesus alone. People are sinful and are always prone to disappoint you. The “greater” the Christian, the harder Satan works to topple him.
The only person worthy of our faith is Jesus and the best Christian leaders are the ones who openly confess to be sinners and check their egos at the door.
I compare this to the Shroud of Turin controversy. If the shroud is genuine, praise God but if it’s not, it doesn’t affect my faith because I never put any faith in the shroud anyway. It’s just an interesting artifact.
As a general rule any minister/priest/ “church leader”/ seminary professor etc. who endorses abortion or the homosexual agenda is a devil inspired heretic and ought to be purged, shunned and abandoned by decent Christians. Read St.Paul.
Eh, the Christian Faith has some rotten eggs in the modern leadership seats. Those rotten eggs should be thrown out.
It could always be worse, though.
One could be part of a religion which is completely bogus AND managed by corrupt “leaders,” such as Judaism, Islam, or Mormonism.
John 1:17
Leaders may/will fail you....
....Christ NEVER will
I don’t like the tone of this writer.....at some level he seems to relish as he relates the foibles and sins of these men.
Even when and if they repented, I doubt it will be enough for him.
My opinion
Martin Luther was a human being.....not a saint.....
...but God used him to bring about the Reformation
Put your faith in God and His Word
Some in the Christian community......who are far from perfect.......denigrated DONALD Trump because he didn’t fit their ideal...
....Thank goodness for Pastor Jeffress, Franklin Graham and Darrell Scott, and many many more!! who saw the heart of this man!
“...found he had systematically “groomed” vulnerable women...”
That’s odd..I’ve always found “grooming” a woman akin to trying to put a wet noodle in a bobcat’s butt!😎
Blah, blah, blah....
FAITH vs “religion”.
You don’t need a human pastor, minister, or priest for “faith”, but you sure do for a “religion”!
Organized religion today is a JOKE! A SCAM!
You don’t NEED it. JESUS is pastor, minister, and priest. His creation is your place of worship. His “word” is your guide.
I’m not saying don’t attend or belong to a church, but it is a MINOR part of worship and is NOT REQUIRED. Some weak people may benefit more than others from attending a church, but we are told to be “strong” in our faith.
1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
Your church pastor, minister, or priest is just a “MAN”. (hu-man).
If its a woman, you are definitely in the WRONG church.
You have access to the written word. Ones faith should be in Hod not man
Thank you. I have wrestled with understanding this...believing this...accepting this...and finally, dealing with this.
I have given his books to many. I have them on my shelf and re-read them many times. What to do?
I have been disappointed in man before and no doubt will be again. Call no man good. We all need Jesus. With that understanding, I have always placed all of my faith in Jesus alone as my savior, so while this comes as a shock,
surprise and great disappointment, it doesn’t impact my faith. I hope those to whom I gave his books are not negatively impacted either.
He kind of is.
For a long time I justified myself when contesting His words with the smartass "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby", but now that I am 70 and semi-retired from the lustful glance game, I'm not so sure.
Church leaders are human and screw up. Faith should not be dictated by a human being.
It seems to me you can learn from what he did good as well as what he did bad. You shouldn’t ignore either since they have value.
As always, the lens through which you decide what is good or bad has to be the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and prayer not some fellow sinner.
Teachers should be above reproach but the truth of the matter is that many won't be. Any leader caught in major scandal should step down from leadership, perhaps permanently, but at least until the sin issue has been adequately addressed. All prominent Christian leaders need spiritual advisors who are willing and able to confront the prominent leader when necessary. Sadly, too many Christian ministries do not have that strong oversight to reel in these leaders when they go off the tracks.
I wonder if God doesn't allow some of these leaders to fall in part to let us realize that we have started to place our faith in them and not in God. Our faith should be in God alone who has revealed Himself through His written Word and through the Incarnated Word, His Son, Jesus Christ.
Best answers to my questions lay in scripture.
I believe both of these things to be true:
1. Men who assume the mantle of Christian leadership bear a heavy responsibility and will be called to account if their failings/hypocrisy cause others to stumble or fall away.
2. If you lose your faith because your charismatic preacher sinned, you are a cult member and a moron.
bump