My local newspaper recently gained national attention with an investigative report on sexual abuse by ministers in “Independent Fundamentalist Baptist” churches.
The study revealed 412 documented allegations of sexual misconduct in 187 churches, based in 40 states and Canada. Let me quickly add that while I am “independent,” and some would say, a bit “fundamental,” and a life-long Baptist, I am not an “Independent Fundamentalist Baptist.” Second, on behalf of ministers everywhere, I’d like to apologize to victims of ministerial abuse. It is never acceptable, nor should it be ignored, or covered up. It is true that many ministers sit dangerously on pedestals, without seat-belts, and when they fall, they deserve correction.
While this study focused on one group of churches, it followed a national scandal involving sexual abuse among Roman Catholic priests. So, let me broaden the focus of my comments to include all of those called by God to church-related ministry. As a twenty-two-year Seminary professor, I observed first-hand, the moral and ethical failures of both want-to-be ministers, alumni, and colleagues.
This is not a new problem, nor a narrow one. It began shortly after the creation and fall of mankind. Early in my ministry, I memorized a verse of scripture (from the King James Bible, which is all we had back then) as something for which I wanted to strive. It was Paul’s standard, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). I focused on three words: “mark” which was later translated “goal;” “prize” which was an award, often given in the public games of the day; and “calling” which was an invitation, and in the New Testament, always used for a divine call from God. I am not a judge (even though that is the meaning of the Hebrew name, Daniel), and now that I am much closer to pressing toward the finish line than kneeling in the starting blocks, I realize the danger in judging others. However, I pass this verse along to my younger ministerial family, and beyond. Keep your focus on the prize of the “high calling of God in Christ” not the low calling of “the sins of the flesh” (Colossians 2:11). No doubt some have been, and will be again, falsely accused. To those, I repeat what I often told my students, “So live, that when the rumors and the negative reports begin no one will believe them.”
In other words, be “marked” by the “high calling.”
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