Church elders ought to be accountable. The church Pastor/Elder is not a CEO of the local church. In the company of many elders, the lead Pastor is the first among the equals. Precisely why the local church structure should include a board of elders who are responsible for the spiritual life of the local church.
The scandalous unleashed Pastors today reveal the gap in the leadership structure of most of our independent churches. That gap is the accountability structure under which the lead Pastor submits. It is not enough to say the pastor only submit to God who called him. He/she ought to submit to God, and to the people that God has put under his care.
The buzz words among church folks as scandalous exposé of our Christian leaders come to light are “touch not my anointed”, or “only God can judge the man of God” or “he who is without sin cast the first stone”. While these statements are mostly used to defend our popular men and women of God, a novice hearing these statements arrives at the conclusion that the Pastor is above the law, therefore only God can judge his shinanigans.
There is no ambiguity concerning elders being accountable to the local church. And if one seem conflicted clearly that ambiguity is not one that is due to lack of scriptural clarity.
Whichever society false teachers have penetrated & captured, moral degeneration followed that society. People forget the law, discipline, sense of morality. Good becomes evil, and evil is applauded and rewarded.
Spiritual leadership is a position of honor, therefore spiritual leaders lives should be exemplary above reproach!
In this very first IAMTHECHURCH Blog, I will endeavor by the grace of God to unpack accountability as it relates to spiritual leaders to whom I will be referring to as Pastor or elder. This is a three points article that will cover; Procedure for handling accusations against the elder, Public Rebuke for sinning elders, and Impartiality in discharging church discipline.
“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality” (1 Timothy 5:19-21)
PROCEDURE (Vs.19)
Chapter five of first Timothy first deals with social responsibility. How the elder should treat church members. Then turns to honoring the elders who serve well. “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine” (1 Timothy 5:17)
But this honor is not without accountability. For me personally accountability entails consequence. It goes without saying that those who aspire for the higher seats in our churches desire an honorable thing. However, those exalted on high seats have a greater number of eyes looking up to them. Their fall will not escape the curious eyes of those who look up to them.
The Apostle James puts it this way; “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgement” (James 3:1)
E.S.V “…be judged with greater strictness”
A.S.V “…receive heavier judgement”
K.J.V “…greater condemnation”.
Accountability as an elder or Christian leader means two things; I am open, and I am approachable. I will not create a deceptive web of protocol that makes it impossible for the church folks to access me. The heavy security and protocol that surround a senior pastor as he/she makes entrance into the church auditorium with gun yielding men says to the weak congregants that my pastor is untouchable and unapproachable.
We often use the words, “don’t allow familiarity with church members they will lose respect”. There is a distinction between being paranoid, and pastoral care. Pastoral care doesn’t suggest familiarity nor disrespect. Elders make mistakes, fall into temptations and often succumb to temptations such as the lust of the flesh, and greedy for money. Be open therefore to correction even by church members.
The process of bringing an accusation is a very fair one. Those in the position of spiritual authority are often vulnerable to slander and accusations. The church elders should therefore not entertain slander and gossip about their pastor. For the accusation to stand and get the eldership to sit down and consider it is when the accusations is brought by two or three witnesses. The accusation must be clear and not just a bunch of “he said, she said!”
Now this is so true in every aspect of life. People bring accusations that cannot be proven, but these accusation could damage the reputation of a person permanently. The Apostle Paul knowing this made it clear that the process of bringing an accusation should be proved with two or three credible witnesses.
“None are more exposed to slanders and insults than godly teachers. They may perform their duties correctly and conscientiously, yet they never avoid a thousand criticisms” (John Calvin)
It is easy to accuse someone’s spouse of cheating because you saw her in the supermarket talking to someone of the opposite sex in the queue and you concluded they must be lovers. Marriages are nullified because of accusations without evidence. God’s justice is fair and therefore we need to tread carefully.
Now you may be asking; “what if the sin committed against me was done privately?”. Of late sexual scandals of all kinds have rocked the clergy. Rape, statutory rape, sexual harassment & sexual immorality.
The first thing to do to get justice is to STAND UP! There are a lot of scared victims in our church pews dying inside slowly because they can’t stand up for themselves. And even if they did, they fear no one will believe them. Victims of church hurt must not worry about whether or not the church will believe them. Just stand up and tell your truth. If you don’t stand up, the second and third witness will not have the courage to stand up and lodge an accusation.
Whichever society false teachers have penetrated & captured, moral degeneration followed that society. People forget the law, discipline, sense of morality. Good becomes evil, and evil is applauded. It is not damaging when the sin of the clergy is exposed in church. The damage happens and keeps deepening when the sinful scandals of church elders are concealed. (Proverbs 28:13)
Spiritual leadership is a position of honor, therefore spiritual leaders lives should be exemplary above reproach! There are two areas that church members can hold their elders accountable. Firstly; It has to do with what the elders teach/preach/profess and secondly; it has to do with how they live out their Christian life. Therefore we can say that the life and the teachings of an elder should be examined by the church members. To Timothy the Apostle Paul said; “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16) Therefore the life and teachings of an elder under scrutiny.
In (Matthew 18:15-17) Jesus sets the procedure in dealing with a sinning brother. Approach the sinning brother alone. If he doesn’t hear you take a witness. If there is no progress then take the matter to church. Church discipline is not punitive but restorative. In reaching out to a sinning brother our goal should be restoration not shaming.
But in view of sexual assaults as they are prevalent in our churches we ought to be careful in defining what sin is, and what crime is.
In the criminal case, the offended or victim should report the crime to relevant authorities. You don’t need to feel pressured to first report the matter to church authority before opening a criminal case with the police.
It is because of the context in which we find ourselves involved in gospel ministry among wolves in sheep’s clothing that I seek to make a distinction between ‘crime’ and ‘sin’. I must emphasis that not every sin is a crime, and not every crime is a sin. It’s in this sense that giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and giving to God what belongs to God. (Mark 12:17)
Crime means a specific act committed in violation of the law e.g. rape, sex trafficking, money laundering, fraud, breaking covid19 regulations etc. Sin means a violation of God’s will or religious laws. In some cases the clergy is mandated to report to police when crimes are committed especially against women and children.
As we deal with the process of church discipline as it relates to elders, the accountability structure for a pastor caught up in sin should never be out-sourced from the headquarters. It cannot be that the Pastor in Cape Town can only be accountable to his ‘spiritual father’ who lives in Nigeria. Rendering the local church leaders unable to discipline him because by the doctrine of Paparism the local leadership consist of his spiritual sons, and daughters who cannot hold their papa to account. The pattern now is when the Pastor has been caught up in a scandalous sin, his spiritual father will take that long trip to come to Cape Town just for PR purposes. The local church needs local leaders to hold the elders to account. We don’t have ‘spiritual grandfathers’ in the faith.
PUBLIC REBUKE (Vs.20)
The admonition is; “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all…” . This stage is the final one in this disciplinary process. Therefore; before the elder could be brought to face the public rebuke, we need to make sure of the following;
(i) There is an accusation that has been brought forward by a congregant
(ii) That accusation is proved by two or three reliable witnesses
(iii) When the erring elder refuse to repent but continues in sinning
There are different schools of thought as it regards (Vs.20) “rebuke in the presence of all…” The first school of thought suggest that this, “rebuke in the presence of all…” means in the presence of all the local church leadership who act on behalf of the local church. That could be the church council, or the board of elders.
The second school of thought suggest this, “rebuke in the presence of all…” means a special extra-ordinary AGM (Annual General Meeting) that consists of registered church members. Often this group is actually what most refer to as the church family. They don’t want outsiders who visit the church on Sundays to be present when the elders are being rebuked because of sin.
Thirdly; there is the school of thought that suggest that this, “rebuke in the presence of all…” means during the Sunday service in the presence of both members and visitors that happen to be present during the service.
But whatever route you take, see to it that church discipline is executed. What we ought to remember is that Private sins are less damaging, than Public sins. Private sins should be resolved privately. Public sins should be resolved publicly. The goal is not public humiliation, but to bring the public that has been affected by the scandal into confidence. We are making a public statement that the sins of the church elder doesn’t reflect on the integrity of our local church.
Those who sin publicly, “rebuke publicly so that the plaster may be as wide as the wound, and that those who are in danger of sinning by the example of their fall may take warning by the rebuke given them for it, that others also may fear”. Public rebuke is mostly beneficial for others to never take that scandalous life of sin.
IMPARTIALITY (Vs.21)
“I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality” (1 Timothy 5: 21)
This is the most difficult task in church discipline. How to administer justice without prejudice and with partiality. This therefore is a solemn charge given to Timothy by the Apostle Paul. Like in any other solemn charges, Timothy is charged to administer justice in the presence of God our Father, in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels. When justice is passed in the local church, it should be understood that God is indeed the God of justice. But impartiality erodes God’s justice and puts God’s Name in disrepute. While the offence can be emotional or even traumatic, justice should never be meted emotionally.
Many church elders have been deeply hurt by church politics. Imagine if there are some among the church council members who don’t like you as their lead pastor. These people will keep their ears tuned to any gossip until they hear something. Then they come to you without witness or evidence claiming there is no smoke without fire. These kind of leaders are not able to administer justice fairly because they don’t like you.
Definitions;
Prejudice = Pre-formed opinion. Example; Zimbabweans are thieves; Malawians are honest and hard working. The implication is that when a Zimbabwean and a Malawian is brought before you as a dispenser of justice in the local church, you are biased towards the Malawian making it hard for the Zimbabwean to get justice. Our prejudices towards race, tribe, culture etc. can adversely affect the dispensary of justice. Paul in this solemn charge to Timothy warns him against prejudice. Prejudice means my opinions are already made up therefore the process of discipline is just a formality. This is not good especially for church discipline.
Impartiality = means without partiality. It’s a principal of fairness. The guilty or innocent verdict should be determined after the due process. When church leadership demonstrate biasness towards relatives, social cliques, and people they like then justice cannot be meted in the local church.
MY REFLECTIONS
I observe that the current circus among the clergy to emphasis on spiritual fatherhood is meant to silence the flock in order to have absolute, unquestionable obedience from the followers.
The ambiguity as to whom elders account to is a deliberate confusion created by most of our independent one man led churches. We must be clear that the pastor is accountable to God and to his local church leadership.
Whether we dealing with greedy for money, or sexual lust God expects the local church to discipline their leader. It cannot be that when money is stolen, misappropriated, laundered we should say, “only God can judge the man of God”. He is accountable to the one who called him, and accountable to the people God has put under his care.
Therefore as servants of God we must at all time watch how we live our lives both private and public, and what we teach.
Lawrence Musunte
+27845517018
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