TV Evangelist Scandal

     Recently another famous television evangelist was caught in a scandal.
     A first reaction has to be to question the judgement of a person who brings down two colleagues with accusations of moral misconduct, and then does the same thing himself.  But, then, looking at the New Testament we find that this is really no great surprise.
     "But if you bite and devour one another," Galatians 5:15 warns, "take care lest you be consumed by one another."
     A second reaction must be to question the motives behind the entire chain of scandals.
     "And if your brother sins," Jesus commands in Matthew 18:15-17, "go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
     "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
     "And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer."
     This is the procedure outlined by the Lord.  Anyone who is interested in souls follows this guideline.  Someone who does not follow these steps must have another motive.
     But it is not just the scandal that is cause for concern.  It is also various reactions.
     Sunday night a preacher from Sioux Falls made the comment on television that a preacher should not be judged any differently than anyone else.
     Paul writes in Romans two about those who consider themselves "guides to the blind," "lights to those who are in darkness," "correctors of the foolish" and "teachers of the immature."
     "You therefore who teach another," he asks in verses 21-22, "do you not teach yourself?  You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal?
     "You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?  You who abhore idols, do you rob temples?"
     "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren," James 2:1 clearly states, "knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgement."
     Why did the preacher from Sioux Falls make such a statement?  There is no way for us to know.  But one thing is sure, either he is aware of what James 2:1 says or he is not.  If he is not, he has no business teaching others.
     If he is aware of this verse, either he does not believe it or he does not want to mention it because it contradicts his point.
     "For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion," Paul notes in 1 Timothy 1:6-7, "wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions."
     A second area of concern involves another statement made on television.  It was said that the television evangelist's superiors would take into consideration his humility and penitent attitude, and the fact that he had raised so-many millions of dollars for the organization.
     A penitent heart deserves forgiveness, but the rest of the statement if offensive.  It may very well be that the statement did not originate with the organization itself.  But, regardless of the origin, it is still offensive to imply that money can buy forgiveness.
     "Come now, you rich," James 5:1-3 says, "weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
     "Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.
     "Your gold and silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.  It is in the Last Days that you have stored up your treasure!"
     In Acts 8, a new convert named Simon tries to buy certain powers from Peter and John.
     "May your silver perish with you," Peter replies in verse 20, "because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!"
     The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, according to 1 Timothy 6:10.  It is certainly not the source of forgiveness.
     But there is at least one more, even more alarming, result of the scandal.  

     The most dangerous aspect of the whole situation is that good people are caused to arrive at incorrect conclusions.
     Obviously, one such conclusion is that all preachers are like these few.  Another false conclusion is that these men have been accurately teaching the Bible, therefore the Bible is flawed or even useless.
     First of all, these men do not represent preachers as a whole.  And, more importantly, they do not represent the Bible.
     Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:1-5 about those who advocate doctrines that are contrary to sound doctrine, identifying them in verse five as "those who suppose that godliness is a means of gain."
     Even after acknowledging the existance of such people, Paul admonishes Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-5, "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
     "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.
     "But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
     But, perhaps the worst conclusion of all was echoed on the radio this week.  One man said that we should avoid churches and go into our closets to worship "like the Bible teaches."  The Bible teaches no such thing.
     "But you, when you pray," Jesus says in Matthew 6:6 of our personal prayers, "go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you."
     This verse says absolutely nothing about the worship of the church.  It discusses an attitude in personal prayer.  But there are verses that talk about praying in the church.  Read Acts 1:14, 2:42, 4:24-31, 12:12, 13:3 and 21:5 and decide whether or not Matthew 6:6 forbids praying in the church.
     1 Corinthians 11 discusses proper, and improper, conduct in the assembly.  But it procedes on the assumption that there would be an assembly.
     "Wait for one another," verse 33 urges.  We can't obey this in our closets.  1 Corinthians 14 also talks about the assembly of the church.
     "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you," the Holy Spirit instructs through Paul in Colossians 3:16, "with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts."  We cannot obey this from our closets.
     "Therefore, confess your sins to one another," James 5:16 says, "and pray for one another, so that you may be healed." This implies a fellowship that is not found in closets.
     A number of passages, including Ephesians 4:4-16 and Romans 12:4-8, stress the importance of the church as a body.  Unified bodies are not formed in individual closets.
     If this is not enough, there is the plain teaching of Hebrews 10:23-25.
     "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering," it says, "for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the day drawing near."
     A person who lives in a place where he can meet with other Christians, but refuses to do it, does so in defiance of God's commandment in Hebrews 10:25.
     If it is contrary to biblical teaching, why do so many people decide to shun the church and become isolated Christians?  In light of the recent scandals, it may be due partially to the fact that they are frustrated.  They are frustrated with people who claim to preach the word of God and don't even know, or don't agree with, what it says.  But, by doing this, these good people are allowing false teachers to manipulate their souls just as much as if they followed the false teaching.  False teachers should not be allowed to pull us in the wrong direction.  But they shouldn't be allowed to push us in the wrong direction, either.
     Believe it or not, there ARE people who are trying to do biblical things in biblical ways.  God will not accept the excuse that we didn't go to the trouble of seeking them out.
     What is the moral to the scandals and everything that has happened as a result?  Teach falsehood, either by word or deed, and it will catch up with us sooner or later.  Obey the truth, and it will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."