(Unless otherwise
noted; all Bible quotations are from the New International Version).[1]
Sex scandals, money
laundering, abuse cases, corruption. It seems like every day we are hearing
about scandals in the church. Are things getting worse? Is it more corrupt than
ever? The Bible does say that the last days will be evil:
Ephesians
5:16making the most of every
opportunity, becausethe days are evil.
2
Timothy 3:13while evildoers and impostors will
go from bad to worse, deceiving and
being deceived.
However, it is
important to note that scandal is nothing new among God’s people. Corruption
has been happening from day one:
1.One of the patriarch’s (who had offered to
allow his daughters to get gang raped) got drunk and had sex with these two
daughters and got them both pregnant.
Genesis
19:8Look, I have two daughters who have
never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you
like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the
protection of my roof."
Genesis
19:31-3231One day the older daughter said to
the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give
us children-as is the custom all over the earth. 32Let's get our
father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line
through our father."
2.A highly respected patriarch had sex with a
prostitute; only to find out it was his son’s widow.
Genesis
38:15-1615When Judah saw her, he thought she
was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16Not realizing that
she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside
and said, "Come now, let me sleep with you." "And what will you give
me to sleep with you?" she asked.
3.A large group of God’s people all got publicly
naked as they worshipped a foreign god.
Exodus
32:25 And when Moses saw that the people were
naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
4.The king’s son raped his sister.
2
Samuel 13:8-148So Tamar went to the house of her
brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the
bread in his sight and baked it. 9Then she took the pan and served
him the bread, but he refused to eat. "Send
everyone out of here," Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10Then
Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from
your hand." And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to
her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11But when she took it to him to eat,
he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me, my sister." 12"No,
my brother!" she said to him. "Don't force me! Such a thing should not
be done in Israel! Don't do this wicked thing. 13What about me?
Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not
keep me from being married to you." 14But he refused to listen
to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.
5.A church member was having sex with his
father’s wife.
1
Corinthians 5:1It is actually reported that there
is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate:
A man is sleeping with his father's wife.
6.Church members were getting drunk at
communion.
1
Corinthians 11:21for when you are eating, some of
you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains
hungry and another gets drunk.
You see the Bible does
NOT only teach us what TO do; it teaches us what NOT to do. These instances in
Scripture that we have mentioned are horrendous. They are recorded for our
learning. But, God commands us to repent and not follow these examples.
Acts
17:30-3130In the past God overlooked such
ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For
he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.
He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead."
The reason why it
seems like so much more corruption now is because this is the information age.
The information age thrives on shares, likes, comments, view, etc. Even for
Church people, the juicier the gossip, the stronger the tea; the more “God’s
people” view, comment and share. It is quite sad.
If God’s people did
not support hearing all of this “junk,” then perhaps it just might go away.
There is such a thing in economics as “supply and demand.” If there is no
demand; there will be no need for supply. When it comes to good news; the
people ignore it. When it comes to bad news; it goes viral.
Perhaps not only those
guilty of scandal are to blame for the “soap opera” culture in the church; but
the people that thrive on getting this information and sharing it are also to
blame. The Bible speaks of the wickedness and sinfulness of always wanting the
latest bad news:
Proverbs
6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Proverbs
26:20Without wood a fire goes out;
without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
1
Corinthians 13:6Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth.
Philippians
4:8Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever
is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.
Remember, that the
culture we have now; is that some preachers see themselves as celebrities.
Celebrities will do obnoxious things to keep themselves in the limelight.
A few years ago a
young secular artist did a lewd act on stage. There was such a large outcry and
discussion about it from the public. It was all a publicity stunt; because soon
after, the young artist debuted a new album.
Perhaps if we preach
the truth, live the life, spread the Gospel and ignore the antics of these
“Hollywood preachers,” they would not have the ratings to continue this
outrageous behavior.
Matthew 15:14 NLT.[2] ...Ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person
guides another, they will both fall into a ditch."
Scandalous people love
attention. Starve them out. Do not give them what they are looking for. Stop
giving them attention. Stop feeding into it.
Romans
2:8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth
and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Ephesians 5:7 Therefore donot be partners with them.
Perhaps if we stop
putting scandals and scandalous people at the top of the news and take their
audience away; either they will get right or move on. But, regardless of all
the bad news; God has a remnant of people who are going to live right. Are you
in that number?
Romans
11:5 So too, at the present time there
is a remnant chosen by grace.
[1] Holy Bible, New International Version, 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica, Inc.
(Unless otherwise stated; all biblical passages are
from the New International Version).[1]
SCRIPTURAL OUTLINE
I.PURPOSE.
We will discuss: Is it wrong for Christians to degrade other
religions? Is it wrong for preachers to belittle people from the pulpit? Were
the “old saints” holy or just mean?
II.INTRODUCTION.
A.MEANESS
DEFINITION.[2]Unkindness, spitefulness, or unfairness, nastiness,
mean-spiritedness, spitefulness, disagreeableness.
III.BODY. Holiness means to be separated
from sin and consecrated to God. Apparently there are times when being mean or
harsh was connected with separation and consecration.
A.THE BIBLE RECALLS
THE PEOPLE BEING TALKED TO VERY HARSHLY. While there were not pulpits as we understand them;
these are times when groups of God’s people are being addressed.
1.MOSES TALKED VERY
HARSH TO THE PEOPLE.
Exodus 32:25-2925And when Moses saw that
the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among
their enemiesJ26Then Moses stood in the
gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? Let him come unto me.
And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27And
he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword
by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay
every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
28And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and
there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29For
Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon
his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
2.EZRA TALKED VERY
HARSH TO THE PEOPLE.
Ezra 10:9-119Within the
three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on
the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square
before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the
rain. 10Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have
been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. 11Now
honor the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves
from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”
3.JESUS TALKED VERY
HARSH TO THE PEOPLE.
Matthew
23:11Then
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
Matthew
23:1515”Woe
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land
and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them
twice as much a child of hell as you are.
Galatians 3:1 CEV. You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a
cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you?
5.JAMES TALKED HARSH TO THE PEOPLE.
James 4:88Come near to
God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your
hearts, you double-minded.
B.SOME NEW TESTAMENT PRACTICES WOULD BE
CONSIDERED QUITE MEAN.
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
1It is actually reported
that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do
not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.2 And
you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of
your fellowship the man who has been doing this?3 For
my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As
one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the
name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this.4 So when you are assembled and I am with you
in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,5 hand
this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may
be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not
good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?7 Get
rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really
are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not
with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my
letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—10 not
at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and
swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.11 But now I am writing to you that you
must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[c] but is sexually immoral
or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat
with such people.
12 What business is it of
mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?13 God
will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
1 Corinthians 14:24-2524But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone
is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by
all, 25as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will
fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
C.THE BIBLE RECORDS OTHER RELIGIONS BEING
DEGRADED.
Deuteronomy 6:1313Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your
oaths in his name.
Psalm 96:4-54For great is
the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 5For
all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
Luke
4:88Jesus
answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the LORD your God and serve him only.’”
Acts 14:13-1513The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city,
brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to
offer sacrifices to them. 14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul
heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:
15”Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you.
We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things
to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and
everything in them.
Romans 1:21-2321For although they knew
God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their
thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although
they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory
of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds
and animals and reptiles.
I Corinthians 12:2 CEV.[4] I want you to remember that before you became followers of the Lord, you
were led in all the wrong ways by idols that cannot even talk.
D.THERE IS A DANGER IN TALKING TOO NICE
AND TOO POLITICALLY CORRECT.
Isaiah 30:9-119For these
are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the
LORD's instruction. 10They say to the seers, "See no more
visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is
right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11Leave this
way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of
Israel!"
Jeremiah 6:13-1413"From
the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit. 14They dress the wound of my people as though
it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.
2 Timothy 4:33For the time
will come when people willnot put up with sounddoctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their
itching ears want to hear.
1 John 4:1-61Dear
friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many falseprophets have gone out into the world. 2This
is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit
that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the
antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the
world. 4You, dear children, are from God and have
overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than
the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore
speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We
are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God
does not listen tous.
This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
E.THE BIBLE TEACHES US TO BE KIND IN HOW
WE DEAL WITH OTHER PEOPLE.
Proverbs 15:44The soothing
tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
Jeremiah 31:33The LORD
appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting
love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
Ephesians 4:3232Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God
forgave you.
Colossians 4:6 GWT.[5]Everything you say should be kind and well thought out so that you know
how to answer everyone.
1 Peter 3:99Do not repay
evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay
evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a
blessing.
IV.CONCLUSION. While
some of the early saints were actually mean; from what we have read there is a
time to be nice and a time to be mean.
A.THERE’S A TIME
TO BE HARSH AND A TIME TO BE KIND.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-81Thereis atimeforeverything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2a time to be
born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3a
time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4a
time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5a
time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time
to refrain from embracing, 6a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7a time to tear and a time
to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8a time to love
and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
B.GOD’S WORD WILL
HEAL AND CUT AT THE SAME TIME.
2 Timothy 3:1616All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness,
To
throw shade is a slang term that means to “throw off” on someone.” To the
casual observer, what is being implied is not obvious. But, to those aware of
the situation of conflict, it is obvious that one person is talking in a
negative manner about another.
As
Christians we should be concerned with the evangelization of the world. But, too
often, the world is watching our negative behavior; which turns people away
from our faith. One of those negative behaviors is throwing shade. It is done
in pulpits. It is done by frivolous posts on social media. And, it needs to
stop.
A
person is a coward if they cannot speak to a person face to face about an
issue. It is being a coward to hide behind a pulpit or a keyboard. According to
the Word, cowards will go to the Lake of Fire:
Revelation
21:88But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-they will be consigned tothe fiery lakeof burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Conflicts
are inevitable. It is a part of being human. Sometimes people just cannot get
along with each other based on different personalities and ideologies. Even the
apostle Paul and Barnabas had to separate their ministries after a fiery
disagreement:
Acts
15:36-4136Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the LORD and see how they are doing." 37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the LORD. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
These
men argued it out and moved on. Let’s follow the Bible way and come together
and discuss our differences verses being like children on a playground and
doing videos and frivolous posts on each other. Here is the Bible way:
Matthew
18:15-2215"If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18"Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." 21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "LORD, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
