There will come a time in the life of a child of God that something will happen to them in church. Churches are made up of people and with that in mind, we must realize that people are not perfect. They do make mistakes. This pastor will be the first to say that he makes mistakes. Amen and Amen. However, the actions we make after something has happened are the determining factor as to whether we are saved or not. Dr. Joe McKeever is a Preacher, Cartoonist, and retired Director of Missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, who said "The pastor who takes a stand on issues will find some disagreeing with him. When he preaches a controversial doctrine or calls for purity in the personal lives of leaders, some will be unhappy. There will come a time when the Pastor or Sunday School teacher or any leader in the church will preach on some topic that is a hot spot towards you and you will be offended. The Bible evens states this is to be true when someone wants to cover up their sin. King David walked out onto his balcony and saw a beautiful woman bathing. He took the second glance and instantly sought this woman out. After they had relations with each other, she became pregnant. In order to cover up his sin, he had her husband come in from battle hoping he would desire to sleep with her. He chose not to do this since his men were away. The King was still not going to have his sins found out, so he had this woman's husband sent to the front lines of the battle and as a result of this, he was killed. Sad isn't it? The King didn't want to make atonement for his own sin, so he had to hurt others to justify his actions.
We are seeing this today in our churches all over the world. The Pastor preaches on a topic and people take offense b/c they are living the life of sin. Check this out. When someone complains that the preacher is preaching about certain sins is due to that person living that type of sin. A great example would be when the Preacher preaches about gambling, or alcohol, or cheating on your spouse, etc. Those people who are not doing those things never say anything about the issue b/c they are not doing those sins. If the Preacher preaches about living a holy life and those who are not living a holy life will complain. Dr. Joe McKeever said this in relationship to people being hurt by other Christians in the church. "Often the biggest problem-makers will be their closest friends, those whom they have given their greatest trust.”And one will say to him, ‘what are these wounds?' Then he will say, those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'" (Zechariah 13:6)”
It is so sad that when disgruntled church members can't face the music with their own sins, they have to tare down someone else to cover up their sins. How sad is that? It is much easier to blame someone else then say, "You know what, I am living in sin. I need to change." Think of this for just a moment. If you run out of gas and you are stranded on the side of the road, then it is most likely your fault b/c you failed to put gas in your vehicle. That is your fault, not the gas stations fault. If you are living in sin and the prophet Nathan comes to you like he did to King David, then that is your fault, not the Prophets fault. Friends; challenge your heart to live for Jesus in front of your friends, family, and neighbors. They are really watching you and they are absorbing everything you do and say. You friends may have been touched by the sermon or the lesson and your friend decides not to give up their sins. What is your answer to your friend? Are you afraid to tell them the truth or are you adding more fuel to the fire? One more from Dr. McKeever who said "If the pastor is effective at all, someone is always going to be unhappy with him. Mark it down. It's par for the course. Perfectionist pastors who carry an innate drive to please everyone cannot handle this. It drives them berserk, just lying in bed at night thinking someone might be less than thrilled with them. But if they last in the ministry, they have to get over it."
Always know that the Pastor or teacher who is instructing the lesson gets it twice; once when studying or preparing the lesson and the other time is when he/she delivers the message.
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