“Therefore let no man glory in men…”  (1 Corinthians 3)

“And ye are Christ’s…”  (1 Corinthians 3)

 

In the relatively recent times many religious leaders have fallen from their positions due to sexual trespasses.  This trend is not exclusive to any one religion or faith. In the (c)atholic church there have been so many allegations and indictments of sexual immorality between priests and children.  In the fundementalist camps there have been a numbers of leaders that have fallen and have been disqualified or imprisoned for sex crimes.  In mainline evangelical ministries a fairly large number of pastors and other leaders have fallen, stepped down, or have been disqualified from ministry.

Billy Graham, thankfully, is an exception to these fallen leaders.

In the past when a religious leader was charged with failing it usually centered around money. This is why the world thinks and says that many ministries are in it for the money. This seems to have changed from the love of money, which is the root of all evil into base lust and concupisence and fulfilling sinful pleasures.

These men are always sorry after they have been caught. I’m not saying that they are not sorry or self-condemning before they are caught, maybe they are…they probably are, but not enough to stop.  I would imagine that many, though they lose everything and hurt many around them, are relieved when they are caught.

Why does this  happen? Are these men evil? I do believe some of them are psycho/sociopathic and have said so many times. They are not all pathologic, however. What is it that leads or drives these men into their own destruction, when they know better? Are these men to blame alone?  methinks, no.

In 1 Corinthians three (3) Paul is reproving the Corinthian church in his letter of setting men up as objects of praise and exaltation. The people were building cliques and camps.  Some would boast that they were of Paul, others of Apollos, others of Peter, and still others, realing Name dropping, Named Christ. The Corinthian way of thinking, that depending upon who it was that brought them to faith, gave them a hierarchy. Paul denounces this way of things fast and quick.

In Scripture we see men bowing to other men. Some gladly accepted this worship and praise, while others were terrified by it and condemned it. In both the Old and New Testaments, royalty would receive and expect and even demand deification. This is what allowed them to perform great and horrible crimes and acts of blasphemy and sacrilege.

Abimelech, Pharoah, Saul, Absolom, Ahab, Nebucheddnezzar, Manasseh and Herod in the New Testament are our examples. Even the great David and his other son, Solomon fell, at somepoint, due to the power and authority that went to their head.  God, in His mercy, dealt with Abimelech, David, Nebucchadnezzar, and Manasseh and they came through it with a sound testimony upon God’s Greatness and Mercy. However, Pharoah, Absolom, and Ahab did not and they stand as a reminder or a demonstration of God’s greatness, power, and God’s refusal to share His Glory with anyone.

It has been said that giving one power and authority will reveal a person’s true character and nature.  It has been said that absolute power absolutely corrupts.  It has been said, when the hero lives long enough the hero becomes the villain and these prove to be true more times than not.

What is it that can protect a leader from these dangers and temptations?
*One’s love, one thankfulness, one’s gratefulness, one’s acknowledgment to, for, and of God and His Preeminence.
*Humility
*Meekness
*One’s unprofitability to God
*The fear, reverence, praise, and worship of God and the submission to God and His will, purpose, and pleasure.
*Walking with God and abiding in and with God at all times.
*The acknowledgment of God’s greatness and one’s dependence upon Him
*The knowledge, acknowledgment and confession of sin in one’s life.
*The refusal to receive the idolatry and worship of others.

Examples of those that ignored the above:
We’ve already mentioned leaders that fell due to their acceptance of praise, deification and worship. We will (DV) be more specific below with some of the aforementioned.
*Pharoah, when Moses delivered God’s charge to release the people, said, “Who is the LORD to me.”
*Moses, even Moses, was disqualified from entering the promised land because of a momentary loss of temper and exaltation of self when he made himself somewhat equal with God in the performing of a miracle. Certainly Mose, a great man of God, did not mean this offense, but self-exaltation can happen very quick and very fast and God will not miss it. By this quick and very out of character mistake or sin committed by Moses could have been the beginning and could have led Moses into more self-exaltation, thus God remove him from his position, that was an act of loving kindness.
*Saul over-stepped into the office of prophet and priest, and became a murderer of many.  Saul, in his pride and self exalting view of self, disobeyed God’s specific commands, offered a sacrifice that was over his pay grade, and had eighty-five (85) priests of God massacered in his presence.  Samuel told him that he did well when he saw himself as little but went off track when he believed his own press. Saul’s lashing out at David began because the people praised Saul for killing thousands (1000’s) and David for his ten-thousand (10,000’s). This greatly offended and incensed Saul and from there he became a god unto himself.
*Herod, in the new Testament, accepted the praises of persons who said he spoke as a god. God struck him down. Worms ate him from the inside out and he died but his worm dieth not.
*Nebucchadnezzar built a large idol of himself, making him a god.  He demanded that all bow down and worship this idol that was made of many different metals and elements. God sent a spirit to vex him and Nebuchadnezzar finally broke under God’s pressure after seven (7) years.
Paul, in the Book of Romans, pointed out that God raised up and exalted Egypt’s Pharoah, in the days of Moses, for the sole purpose of knocking him down and making him an example and authoring the principle that one is to look to and at God alone.
*Even the great and good King David had trouble with power and authority. David took another man’s wife and had her husband killed in war to hide his sin and the unintended pregnancy of the dead man’s wife, Bathsheba.  David gave into a (s)atanic temptation to number his troops, which showed a trust in his strategies, forces, power and authority instead of trust in God’s delivering Hand and might power. How different this episode was from his early days when he put down the dog, Goliath. How different is this episode from the humble and meek trust Gideon had in God.

Reader, I am not beating up on these men above, no, not at all.  We are simply pointing out the humanness of every man and the great danger of overstepping boundaries. We see many men with the right hearts in Scripture that were successful and did not fall.
*Moses, mentioned above, began well and finished well, by God’s kindness and intervention or intercession.  When God chose Moses to be His mouth and representative, Moses saw himself unfit for this task.
*Gideon saw himself as unfit.
*David saw himself as a humble and dependent servant of God at the beginning and was reminded of it after sinning.
*Isaiah saw himself of unclean lips and found himself undone in God’s Presence.
*Jeremiah, the prophet, saw himself as not competant to be a prophet of God.
*Peter, when he came to the realization of Christ’s true Person, fell down to his knees and said he was a sinful man and told Christ to leave him. Later, when Christ began to wash the feet of Peter, Peter thought this to be too lofty to happen.
*When persons began to give worship to Paul, he reproved them and their actions quick and fast, he would not let it stand. Again, when the Corinthians began to build a hierarchy upon who brought the Gospel to them, Paul shut that monsterous machine down without hesitation or apology.

Reader,
It is idolatry and a condemning sin to exalt a man.  We cannot, cannot, cannot; we must not, must not, must not exalt men, ever…never ever…ever. It is a great disservive to the man that would be exalted, it brings a sin upon one’s self, and it is an affont to God. When a man receives and accepts such praise, adoration and accolations from persons, it is a great crime against God and will ultimately hurt the exaltered and the exalters and destroy ministry. The church, where this happens need not be a great mega church.
In John’s third epistle, Third (3rd) John, he states in his communication that the leader of a church, named Diotrephes (Paul named names) would not receive John or subject himself to John’s Christ-given authority.

John’s suggested his removal from leadership and replacing him with Demetrius who, “hath a good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record: and ye know our record is true.” John said further,  ” but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face.” Reader, what do you suppose their face to face conversation would include?  The dismissal of Diotrepes, no doubt.

The person exalted and self exalting preacher and pastor must be removed. This removal and disqualification is not a hateful or ill intentioned act. It is motivated by right, good, and true judgments.  The Man of God that has learned humility and meekness at the feet of Christ must be in the office of religious leader. The man that has been taught his place and role in Christ and in the church is the man that should be the undershepherd of Christ’s flock.  The man that walks in the fear of God should fill the office of pastor. The man who is defined by his walk with God is the man that should be a leader to God’s people.

When all eyes are Christ, all is well. When eyes are upon man, all is wrong.  This is a very simple and common sense principle.  When a known or even little known religious leader falls, there is accountability on all sides. The people are to blame for exalting a man and a man is blame-worthy for accepting exaltation.

This exaltation of men is a snare to all and it’s long term harmful effects is analogous to today’s trend of school shootings.  The children mix all the ingredients together that cook up the shooter by their disregard for his feelings and by their rejection and outcasting.

The fallen religious leader is also the product of the persons of the church putting their affections and adoration upon a fallible man and that fallible man drinking the proverbial “Kool-aid.”  There would be no Jim Jones. there would be no Charles Manson, there would be no Jack Hyles, there would be no Bob Gray, their would be no Tim Haggard, there would be no Bill Hybels, there would be no pedophiles in the Catholic church and there would be no catholic church itself if the people of God looked upon the Impeccable Christ Alone and not the infallible man.
“The fear of man is a snare.”

Even the close circle of Christ’s favoured; Peter, James, and John fell into this snare.  At the Mount of Transfiguration, they saw Christ glorified, they saw the future coming of Christ and His Kingdom, they even saw Moses and Elijah.  What was their reaction?  They wanted to build three (3) memorials to this event.  One memorial for Moses, one memorial for Elijah, and one for their best Friend, the Lord Jesus.

Peter, James, and John knew not what they were saying by these intents and words. However, God the Father put a dark cloud over Christ, Moses, and Elijah and condemned the idolization of Moses and Elijah. The Father said this is my Son, Look at Him Only. When the cloud faded, Peter, James, and John saw Christ only. This is a foundational and very, very “fundemental” principle that so many overlook and ignore to their own destruction and the tremendous harm to many others.

Reader, this is a principle that keeps everyone in their place and protects everyone from the snare of man. The exaltation  of man leads to the abasement, folly, and captivity of God’s people every time and always will. Exalting men never ends well. The Worship, the Exaltation, the Praising and the Adoration of God’s Only Begotten Son protects God’s people and keeps God’s economy in place.

Godspeed.