What are we to do

In this message, Pastor Tanner addresses the issue of trust in the church and ministry. He acknowledges that many people have lost trust in pastors and preachers due to recent scandals. He discusses the biblical approach to dealing with failings in the church, emphasizing the importance of forgiveness and restoration. He also talks about the unique responsibility and accountability of leaders in the church, highlighting the need for them to be examples of righteousness and holiness. Overall, he encourages listeners to have a balanced perspective and to seek understanding when faced with these difficult situations. Good morning. This is Pastor Tanner, and I'm hoping you're off to a very, very lovely Sunday. I really do. I'm hoping that you're having the best of times. I want to speak to you today. And we're in very difficult times as it is, as it relates to ministry and church and a lot of people wondering if you've ever had conversations this week, last week, last month with people who have talked about why it is that they don't trust church, why it is they don't really trust a lot of pastors and preachers. And they point to the events of these major pastors in these last few weeks, and they're stepping back or resigning from full-time pastoral duties due to some form of sin or some form of compromise and so forth. And, of course, I guess your mind is kind of all over the place as it relates to what do you do. Has my friend who has not gone to church, don't go to church, don't believe in church, are they being proven right in this moment? Do they have the right position in this moment? And so forth. And what should we do? Are these people to be simply forgiven and restored? Are these people to continue to be credible? Are they to be forgiven? I mean, what's to do here? And I think it's important that I come on as a fellow pastor myself and really just do my best to help you speak to this and understand this and be well with it and be well in it and so forth, and maybe even answer what it is that the church is to do. How are we to deal with these kinds of issues and so forth, especially when there were people that couldn't see God for seeing the people, the bishops, the pastors, the preachers, and in effect making them gods and in effect defending them like gods and so forth and just really not understanding the whole thing and not really knowing what to do with it. And right now, not even knowing how to answer critics of the church or critics of the body of Christ. So I'm going to kind of talk and I'm going to try to stay very singular in this. I'm going to try to stay coherent in this whole thing as we take this time we have together to just kind of just dive in and deal with it and so forth. So when it comes to failings in the body of Christ, the first time we deal with it is when he talks about it, when Jesus does, as it relates to people, as it relates to individuals. And we'll get to pastors and preachers in a moment. But as we relate to individuals, what are we told to do? Well, the Bible says, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual and the man means a brother in the house of God. But you are spiritual. Restore such a one. And restore them in a spirit of humility, not understanding that it could have been you. And if it were you, what would you want? We are told in another place in scripture where he was asked by brother talking about, again, a brother in the Lord has offended me now seven times. How often is to forgive that brother because he's already offended me seven different times. It's personal. It's deep. It hurts. But he's done it now seven times. The same thing. What about to do with him? How long? How many times to forgive him? And Jesus said until 70 times seven. Which is in regular math, four hundred and ninety times a day, because he's understood it was almost impossible to offend somebody that many times in a day. But once you got past four hundred and ninety times in a day, you can let him have it, so to speak. But that was what we were told. In the church, however, it said if a person has wronged someone in the church. The first thing you're going to do is go to them privately. And you're going to let that brother know that sister. No, this is my offense. This is the pain. This is to hurt. This is what you've done. This is what I'm asking you to repent from, make amends for, turn from, et cetera, et cetera. Is that if they won't hear you individually trying to privately work with them, this is Matthew 18, 18. Then I want you to now go and now get another brother, another witness to what's going on and bring that person. So everything can be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Bring that person. And again, let's kind of walk through this thing. And see if we cannot get a repentance and true repentance and we can move on with our lives. If they still will not admit they were wrong, still will not repent, still will not turn from it, just won't do it. Then you bring them before the church. If before the church they determine that I still feel like I'm right, I have nothing to apologize for. I am not repentant by anything and so forth. Then the church is told to treat them as an unbeliever, treat them as an infidel, treat them as someone outside the body of Christ and so forth, because in that position they are. Now, let's be honest. You have not seen that happen probably in your church lifetime. Now, I have because, you know, I come from Mississippi, originally from country church, and that kind of thing actually did occur. And they would actually bring people before the church and those who would either repent or be dismissed from the church and so forth. But that's been a long, long time ago. But that was what they felt the Bible called for. That was the prescription, and that's what it was. Okay. Now, when it comes to leaders, teachers, preachers, pastors, bishops in church, there's a curious kind of thing that occurs. And I guess we should speak to it. So one of the things is that bishops or bishops and pastors or pastors and preachers or preachers, teachers or pastors or pastors and preachers until they get to a place where their hidden sin might become open sin or secret sin might become revealed sin. And when that happens, you almost know it's about to happen because you start hearing things that walk away from the call to holiness, the call of righteousness, the call of right living. And it starts turning to human imperfection and human failing, where you begin to hear those messages that say, we all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. You begin to hear people say, I never said I was perfect. You get to hear people say, I never lived before you like I was a perfect person and so forth like that. Now, the truth is that every one of us Christians ought to be pressing toward the mark of the high calling. Every one of us are trying to be more and more like Jesus the Christ every day. Every one of us is trying to be holy as our father in heaven is holy. Every one of us should be attempting to be perfect as he is perfect. Right. That's just the goal. It's just a mark. It's what we all should be striving toward. Okay. That's just the way it is. Now, we get on to a different area here that we're about to head into now, where it is what to do, though, when it's the leadership of the church. What do we do here? So, for an example, if a pastor has someone in their church, that's a liar. That is a problem. It's something he should be praying about. It's something he should be doing something about. If he should find a thief in the congregation, it is something he should be watching for. But praying toward, and doing all he can to continue to minister and help that person to be able to overcome that sin, repent from that sin, walk away from that sin, and go and sin no more, as Jesus would say. Right. But isn't it different, though, if the pastor is the liar in the church? If the pastor is the thief in the church? If the pastor is the one with the great failings in the house? Well, I know your answer. It is different. And that's not mince words about it. It's different. Now, why is it different? Well, let's talk about that as well. Because one—well, I'll give you several, but let's—well, let's just do it. First, he is called with a special calling of God to shepherd God's people. So, first, there's a calling on his life. Secondly, there is an anointing or a special purpose on his life. And that purpose came when you have Jesus' discussion with Peter, where he asked Peter three different times, do you love me? And Peter answered three different times, yes, I love you. And he said, well, if you really love me, take on this work of feeding my lambs, feeding my sheep, feeding my sheep, and so forth. Because he knew to do it well, you had to understand the whole impact of the calling, the entire impact of it, which didn't just mean you're going to feed them with my word and my truth and my doctrine and all that, but you're going to let them see a living example of me in you. Let me say that again. You're going to allow them to see a living example of me in you. You cannot just be a teacher, preacher of the word. You have to be a doer and liver of the word that you preach. Yeah, you've got to walk the wall of the talk you talk. That's just the way it is. Right. And yes, are you going to be a human being? Yes. Was Jesus on earth a human being? Yes. Was Jesus tempted in every manner such as we are? Yes. But Jesus understood his role and his impact in the world, and he understood he had to overcome temptation, various temptations. He tells us that the temptations coming on to us, that every man has to go through an experience. But he says, in any temptation come upon you, I am going to make you a way of escape. You do not have to yield and or fall to temptation because there will always be for you a way of escape, a way out. Along with the temptation, there will be a way of escape. Right? There will be a way out. So that needs to be at least understood. Now, when people fall into temptation, the scriptures also say they do so because they already had a willingness, a desire to fall into the thing, the sin that somewhat overcame them, if that makes sense. So there's other things to think about, and it is that Paul said not all of you should want to be teachers. Not all of you should want to be in a pulpit. Not all of you should want to be leading people because you will be held to a higher standard. In fact, the accountability on you is higher than the accountability on the people you lead. The expectation on you is higher than that on the people you lead. And therefore, the judgments concerning you are of greater degree than the people you lead because a fall of that magnitude can quickly become a stumbling block for believers and quickly become a stumbling block for those who, until they saw for themselves Christ or God for themselves, or following you as you follow Christ. Because Paul told someone to do that as well, follow me as I follow Christ. That's a big deal. That's a large responsibility to put on oneself to say you follow me as I follow Christ, and we'll get there together. That's huge. That's big. It holds you to a higher level of accountability, and it also keeps a mirror in front of you as if someone's watching you all the time. And you live as if someone's watching you all the time, and you live as if I'm not going to become a stumbling block for all those who are following me because you're held to a higher accountability. You just are. And so for you, it should be like it was with Christ, that failure is just not an option. It's just not a possibility because there's a lot depending upon it. Think about this. If Jesus had failed in the temptations, even though he will eventually teach about forgiveness and loving your enemy and all that, but if Jesus had failed to any one of those temptations we read about in the Bible, the temptation for wealth, the temptation for power, the temptation to prove something that didn't need to be proved or answered. But had he yielded to any of those temptations, what kind of God or Christ would he be to you today? If he had fallen in any of those directions, would you serve him today? Would you still call him Lord of Lord and King of kings? We honor him and give him glory because of his perfection, because of his resistance, because of his overcoming way and overcoming nature. And because of that, and then he tells us we will be like him. He's the firstborn of the resurrection, but then will come us. And he even says in greater works from this position shall you do than I have done. Well, that's a lot to put on somebody. It is truly a high calling. A pastor, a preacher, a bishop, all with these titles take on a high calling. Now, how do – what has happened that temptation now or the sin so easily besets us? How is it now that this happens easier than it happened before? Well, the number one reason is that there's so many pastors slash preachers who have – and I hasten to say it, but it's just true – who have fallen in love with the world and the things of the world and have become part of the world in the pleasing of the world. So here's some examples. I don't want you thinking about your preacher, bishop, pastor, nothing like that. I just want you to hear me speak generically, okay? So there are pastors, preachers, bishops that party like you party, drink like you drink, drop it like you drop it, pick it up like you pick it up. Second line like you second line, curse like you curse, fight like you fight, and on down the line, right? And so they are more leaning to the humanity of man more than the call of God. Where will you go do what you do? Wear what you wear, and I could go on and on and on. Some are almost gangster in the way that they are and so forth. And what they tout is their imperfection, and they tout the grace of God through their imperfections and so on and so forth. You know, don't judge me. I don't judge you. You can't judge me. Only God is my judge. I could go on and on and on. But you've lived long enough to see and hear these things yourself. And so when a person is that close to the earth, that close to the world, and then you hear they had an affair, you hear that they molested a child, you hear that they did some ungodly thing of whatever kind, you hear that they cheated on their wife or committed adultery or whatever it is you end up hearing. Then it's not so terrible because the people, in many cases, do the same. And so they will come to his rescue by saying, he's a man just like me. I already told you that. You know, he's a human being just like me. And so as human beings go, this is the kind of thing that happens. And so, you know, I'm not judging him like that. It is what it is. And we accept that. The problem is we can't find that in Scripture in that manner, if that makes sense. And that's really what a problem becomes on great leaders. So for an example, when David had his great fall, that had to be dealt with, and God was not going to let it go undealt with. Does that make sense? It had to be revealed. And God was not going to let it not be revealed because it had cost a man his life, who was also a child of God, cost a man his wife, who was also a child of God, and it had to be dealt with because David was beloved of God. It had to be dealt with. And we can continue through Scripture and find that when it comes to God's people, that God's just not going to allow because he loves us too much to allow us to get away without chastisement, erection, reproof, and all that kind of stuff. Right. But most of the time, you don't hear these kinds of things until there's a news flash or some other kind of thing. Someone's going to blow the whistle. Someone's going to bring it out. Somebody's going to do something. And then the idea is to get out in front of it and deal with it while you tell the narrative and not let a narrative be told concerning you. And this is what ends up happening. While none of us are perfect, we all are supposed to be moving toward the mark of perfection, becoming better this year than we were last year and better the next year than even this year and on down the line, being more and more like him as opposed to less and less like him and so forth. And this becomes a big issue. This becomes the thing. This becomes what has to be dealt with. Right. Now, because the church, when it comes to true biblical scholarship, most people in most churches are biblically illiterate. Biblically illiterate, doctrinally illiterate. Maybe they've been going to church for a long, long time, but their only Bible is the sermon preached on Sunday. And of most churches, if you have 100 members in that church, maybe, maybe 12 go to Bible study on a regular basis. So the scholarly portion, the understanding of true scriptures, the right dividing of scripture, the true understanding of scripture is only in the hands of very few people. If there were to be a vote, they'd be outvoted, you know, eight to one, because there's so few people that really have decided I should know the scriptures. I should study the scriptures. For there, do I have life in there? I can find out and know for myself what the word of God says. So they depend upon preachers who sometimes slant the words to meet whatever's going on in their particular situation in life. This is especially true when sin has entered the camp and so forth. And you also find that when sin is close to the door, that they preach sermons that are kind of like God understands, God knows, God restores, God's this and that, the other. They preach that God and not the God of justice and obedience and holiness and righteousness, because it's convenient now to prepare people to remember the sermon I told you that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But I want to remind you, the scripture does not say we all are sinning and falling short of the glory of God. It is said in past tense, because that lifestyle should truly be past tense. That should not be ongoing. It should not still be happening now. It is supposed to be that the pastor, leader, bishop is one of the elite of God, have studied him closely for the longest time, have the highest loyalty to God, has the greatest love for God. And in that, they would do everything in their power not to hurt God, not to disappoint God in any particular way, because they, number one, know better, know really better and so forth. And their walk with God, their relationship with God should be a heartier relationship, a deeper relationship. They've gone through things with God that make them able to preach with power to the effect that God has and what God will do, not just some root sermon they put together. And now it's Sunday morning, we just go preach this to people, but preaching from a deep experience with a living God. And so, yeah, it is taken differently when someone like that falls, as it should be, because when you know better, you do better. Right. And so, we all should not be teachers, because teachers are held to a much higher standard, as it should be. And so, are the people right to have them step away for a moment in time? Yes. Could there be restoration? It depends on what it is and how many people lay in the wake of their hurt and so forth. I mean, if you were actually affected by it, have those people forgiven, can they forgive? And on down the line, because a higher standard is there and that standard is closer to a holiness and justice standard than a grace and mercy standard. Now, we'll talk about maybe some more of this next time we talk, depending on what God gives us. But thank you for being here. Hope that this helped you in some way. You have a blessed rest of your day.