Last year I was asked to speak at a church who found themselves smackdab in the middle of the painful process of recovering from a devastating scandal involving their former pastor. I wanted to bring the church a message of hope and comfort, so I exhorted them not to look at the wind and the waves, but to put their eyes squarely on Jesus; His love, mercy, and forgiveness. I encouraged them to cry out to Him in prayer, to praise Him for His greatness, and reminded them that the destruction that lies in the wake of this scandal, was not the work of Jesus, who came to give us abundant life, but the work of Satan himself; the enemy of our souls, who comes as a thief to, “…steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). Why? Because this is the example set for us by Nehemiah when Israel faced the destruction of their nation, after the Babylonian captivity.
Prior to the captivity, they had fallen deeply in sin and committed abominable atrocities. God warned them and then judged their unrepentant sin by allowing them to be destroyed by their enemies. Many years after their captivity, they returned to find their cities lying in ruin, and as a result, the people were living, “…in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem [was] broken down, and its gates [were] burned with fire.” (Nehemiah 1:3) Nehemiah’s initial reaction was not to frantically rebuild the wall however, he first cried out to God, praised Him for his omnipotence, confessed the sins of the people, and then said, “Use me, Lord!” God heard his cry and made it possible for the walls to be rebuilt, through the guidance of Nehemiah’s leadership.
Nehemiah encouraged the people by saying, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren…” And so the story of Nehemiah paints a tremendous picture of the spiritual warfare that rages all around us, and of the evil forces that desire only to steal our joy, kill our very lives, and destroy our mortal souls. Within that epic battle, our lives can be used as instruments of righteousness by God or as weapons of destruction by Satan. We are still responsible for our actions though, and it is not a matter of saying, “The Devil made me do it”, as much as, “I gave into temptation because I wanted to, and Satan used it to bring destruction.”
Look, Satan hates us, and we have allowed him to break down the walls and burn the gates of our communities, churches, and our homes; our nation lies in ruin because of our sin. As a result, we live in great distress and reproach. But God loves us and promises to turn what our enemy meant for evil into good. Rest assured; the most triumphant days of this church lay yet ahead of them. They have a new pastor now and God will rebuild, restore, and make them far more effective for His kingdom than they ever were before, if they diligently abide in Him.
Regardless of the outcome, I pray that scandals in the church like this one will be a wake-up call for, “Imitators of Christ” everywhere, and that we will repent, and return to consecrated lives of holiness. “The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)
