What Do We Do When Christian Leaders Fall?

We’re going to talk about what do we do when a Christian minister or just a Christian that we love and have done life with, what do we do when they fall? But first, I feel like that we need to lay some groundwork here because we need to understand what the Bible lays out for all of us and for those that are in leadership and in ministry, and so I’m gonna take a few minutes to do that. It’s gonna go lightning fast, so don’t go to sleep. Okay.

There’s requirements for us to be able to step into ministry

The Bible is very clear and lays out great detail for all of us that there is an expectation that we will grow as we come into Christ. We’ve been living one way, but we’ve repented, which means we’ve turned. We’re not still going that way and just adding God to it. No, we’re turning and we’re going a different way to follow God. And there are clear expectations and there’s clear pathways for us to follow Jesus in our day-to-day life so that we grow and we are more year by year and day by day, we are more accurately a reflection of who Jesus is and who he has now made us as new creations in Christ to live.

But by the time you become a minister or a leader in the church of Jesus, those are not, it’s not just an expectation, it’s a requirement. There’s requirements for us to be able to step into ministry, and those requirements are laid out, and we’re just gonna, I’m just going to give you some references and some bullet points, and you can screenshot it if you want to. Take a picture if you’re on your phone, write it down however you want to remember it, and then study it out. And I would say it’s important from this perspective. If you just want to keep being a follower of Jesus, this applies to everybody. What’s different is if you’re going to minister, it’s a requirement. You have to have been living this way long enough for it to have been proven by your life. Does that help you?

So there’s so much here, and you’ll if your eyes get open to it, you’ll see it over and over. And clearly, Christian ministries, ministers and leaders, we have to be productive, we have to be skillful. But there are not there are when I say requirements, it’s not like you are proving. When I earned my Girl Scout badge, I had to fulfill a list of things. And that had to be checked off by a leader, and then I got my badge, and I was so happy. We don’t get badges. I wonder why God, God I want a badge. We don’t get badges, but the requirements are not like he must have led 55 people to the Lord, he must have raised this much money, he must have blah blah blah. It’s not that. You’ll notice that the requirements are mainly, the qualifications are mainly about character and lifestyle, which we should all be growing into. Agreed? But in a minister, it has to have been proven that we’re of a certain character and lifestyle.

And when I myself or any minister fails to live by those godly already proven standards, then we forfeit the present opportunity of ministry. We forfeit it. And when that happens, action is taken by those that God has appointed to oversee his church so that we’re removed from that position. We can’t remain in that position. You see, God cares about his church. It’s not just you and me and all of us. We’re just love is love and all things are good, and you just do whatever you be you, and I’ll be me, and we’ll just all meet on Sunday morning and sing up. No, no, no, no, no, no. God’s very serious about his church. He’s very kind, he’s very loving, he’s very open, he’s very welcoming, but he sets the standards, not us.

So let’s look at this. These verses are on a slide for you. First Corinthians chapter 4, verse 1 and 2 says,

We are stewards of the mysteries of God, and it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 1 and 2.

We have this ministry by the mercy of God and have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. We are not candling the word of God deceitfully.

And then in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1, bishops and overseers must be above reproach, blameless and without charge. Listen, in the New Testament, there’s one Greek word, but it’s translated several different ways. It may be bishop, it may be overseer, it may be pastor, it may be elder. It’s all talking about men and women that have positions of oversight given by God in his church. So Titus chapter 1, 6 through 11. Church elders, pastors, leaders must have unquestionable integrity, not arrogant, quick tempered, given to drink, or drunkenness, or violence, but hospitable, sensible, fair-minded, and devoted to Jesus, holding fast to the word of God. First Timothy chapter 4, verse 15 and 16. Take heed to yourself and your doctrine. Leaders, be attentive to how you are living daily life in character and in doctrine.

Not many of you should become teachers. For you know that we will be judged by a higher standard and with greater severity. That is so true. And it starts the minute we walk off the platform, we are judging ourselves with greater severity, and so are some of you. We will be judged by a higher standard and with greater severity than other people, thus we assume the greater accountability and the more condemnation. God holds us ministers to higher standards to protect his church. It’s to protect the church. Jesus said, I’m building my church, and not even the gates of hell or any of you stupid people are gonna stop it from happening. I’m gonna protect my church, but he also protects us ministers by a clear standard and a process that must be followed. And honestly, church, it rarely is when misconduct is reported. There are processes that not that we thought of, but that God set in motion, and it’s clear in the scripture. If you read it, you’ll see it everywhere.

In Matthew chapter 18, and I’m gonna refer to this chapter a couple of times this morning, but really Matthew chapter 18 is a fairly long chapter of Jesus teaching us how to deal with interpersonal relationships. There’s a lot in there, and we only pick out the parts we like. There’s a lot, there’s a lot that Jesus taught us that takes great courage and fortitude to walk out, and if we do that, we get God results. But when we don’t do God’s, when we don’t do things God’s way, we don’t get God results. It’s just that simple in all every aspect of our lives.

And so in Matthew chapter 18, verse 15, Jesus says, if any of you has a problem with another person, he’s talking about an interpersonal problem between two believers. He says, I want you to go to that person face to face, just you go to them and say, This is a problem for me. And there’s a better, there’s a good way to do that, a way that it can be received, and there’s a way that for sure it’s not going to be received. You what you and I, we walk in and accuse people. If somebody walks up and accuses you, you’re gonna do what I do, you’re gonna shut down. But walk in with the hope of restoration, of recovery. But most often we won’t do that. We’ll go to 10 other people and tell 10 other people what they did that hurt me, and then we want those 10 other people to tell 10 more people. Can I just tell you something that is true about human nature? If you have someone in your life that is always sharing with you private things that other people have shared with them, your private things they’re gonna share with other people. Mark it. If you have somebody in your life that’s always got the dirt and the trash and the latest thing on everybody else, that’s not your friend. That’s not your confidence. Don’t do it.

So, what do we do? He says, Go to this. If I have a problem, I have to go to you. If I have a problem with one of you, I have to, if I’m going to follow Jesus’ instructions, this is not just for ministers, this is for all of us. That I have to come to you. And we need to talk this out. And if you shut me down, then the scripture says, go again and take two or three people with you as witnesses. You know, God cares about faithful witnesses. The world doesn’t. You can slander anybody with anything, anytime, but God doesn’t look at being a faithful witness in that way. When you and I are a faithful witness, we tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and only the truth. So take two witnesses. And then it says, if they won’t listen to you, then you gotta take it to church leadership, and church leadership will have to step in. You know, there’d be a lot more peace if we just followed this. But you don’t do that with everything that bothers you. Jesus said there’s some stuff, you just gotta drop it. Let it go. If you’re always upset all the time with everybody, it might be coming out of you. Just free. That was free.

First Timothy chapter 5, verse 19. Remember, God protects us ministers. It says, do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so the rest may go out and talk about it. Definitely not in the scripture. Just in case you are wondering. That references 1 Timothy chapter 5, 19 and 20.

Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so the rest may stand in fear, reverence.

It should cause all of us to do a heart check. To look not just at the faults of everybody else, but to say, dear God in heaven. Search my heart and show me if there is anything in me that is gonna lead me to get in that much trouble that I my name has to be called out in front of the whole church because I don’t want to be there. None of us want to be there. So we can deal with it before it has to get to that place.

Listen, we need to realize that not every moral failure, ministerial failure is a criminal action. It’s not. If it is criminal in nature, then we’re gonna report it to civil authorities. It’s our responsibility as leaders in the church to do that. But if it’s not a criminal action, then it’s got to be handled, not ignored, but it’s got to be handled by the church leaders and the church boards. And we don’t operate, we operate on truth, we operate on facts, we operate on evidence, we don’t operate on rumors and hearsay. It has to be that way. God takes this so seriously. And he sets men and women in positions of authority to retain order and to build his church from the very beginning. God steps into chaos and he brings it to order. And God builds people up. He does not work to bring people down. So we want to operate in that.

But those four different churches are in three different states. And so we confer with church leaders often about matters requiring oversight. We revisit biblical qualifications and we refresh codes of conduct and standards and practices in this church and in the other three churches. And we have to keep apprised as well of the legal requirements, which are different in all three states. Before God about how we have handled our responsibilities. I want you to know that, not just in this church, but I want you to know that wherever your life takes you in the future, that God is careful and He sets men and women in positions of authority to oversee that care of His church worldwide. You know, Marshall and I have been on, we’ve served on these boards for decades, and it’s not, it’s quite rare, honestly. It’s quite quite rare that we are called upon to deal with an issue of ministerial moral failure. You would think by the headlines these days, that it happens every single day over and over. It happens in different places, but it isn’t happening in the same place over and over, because those that have oversight will step up and will take the action that’s needed. So keep your heart towards God and towards his church.

What are God’s instructions to us, his kids

But my Holy Spirit assignment for today is what are God’s instruction, not to the overseers, but to us, his kids. We’re God’s children, and he gives us instruction of what we are supposed to do. How do we conduct ourselves as fellow believers? When someone that we have learned from, someone that we love, someone that’s ministered to us, when that person fails in their character or in their duties. What do I do? And our proximity to the person will affect the intensity of how it affects me personally. If it’s just someone I’m watching online and I don’t know them, listen, can I tell you something? All those people online, you don’t know who they are. Just because they hold a Bible and have a microphone, it doesn’t mean they’ve been anointed by God. Many, many of them just have some platform and some soapbox that they want to get you on their team against. So be wise. Listen, we listen to other people preach all the time. We’re listening to them, but we know something about them or about the place they came from. They’re not just renegades out there running wild, doing whatever they want to. Be careful, be wise about what you let in.

But a failure in character for people that we have loved and looked up to and learned from, it’s very hurtful. And all kinds of emotions and reactions rise up in us, and we need to know. I need to know what to do with all of that that comes rising up within me. God is our helper. And when someone else falls, God didn’t fall. God’s teaching us to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and responsive to him, responsive to his word and not reactionary. The world reacts about everything with no restraint. That’s not what we’re called to. We’re called to respond to God.

So I have these statements. I want you to never forget this. No matter what situation you find yourself in life. Never forget when a human falls, God doesn’t. He doesn’t. When a leader abandons me, God never leaves. When a leader betrays our trust, God remains completely trustworthy. When their word has proven untrue, God’s words are still faithful and still true and still active and still full of power. Everything that God said yesterday is still true today. And it will still be true, and it will still be working tomorrow. No matter what some people do. Never forget that family. That’ll be bedrock for you as you go forward in your life.

As we step into this, I’ve identified four actions, but I want to go back to Matthew 18 because I want us to keep these words of Jesus in our minds. They’re bothering the master. And Jesus said, uh-uh, bring them to me. Bring the kids to me. And I know he was talking because there were little children in his midst. He raised up a little child and he talked about them. But he’s also talking about those of us that are young in faith. We’re young believers. And I believe we’re all children of God. And I think God cares this way about all of us. And Jesus said this. He said, Whoa. Anytime Jesus says woe, you don’t want to be, you don’t want to be after that woe work. If you see a woe, repent quick. Okay. Real fast. Woe to you who offends one of these little ones. It would be better for you that a millstone were tied about your neck and you’re thrown into the sea. What? What? What? I think I’m going to resign from ministry today. Pastor David, you will have my resignation letter by 6 p.m. tonight.

Jesus clearly here is not sanctioning us drowning people. Can we just be clear? Let’s be clear. He’s not saying we’ve all thought about it, have we not? You have your list, I have mine. Tear up that list. Jesus is not sanctioning drowning people. But he’s, I believe he’s telling us many things, but I’m gonna bring out two things. And the first thing here is that the great shepherd takes the care of his sheep and his people who are vulnerable very seriously. Mistreating people under your care is not okay with Jesus. It’s not okay ever. Not if you’re a pastor, not if you’re a parent, a police officer, a principal, a public figure, or a private citizen. If you mistreat the people under your care, you and I will answer to God. He takes it seriously. So I’m telling you, repent often, fast and completely. And turn around. Stop what you’re doing that is mistreatment or misconduct and get it right before God. We have that opportunity and we must take advantage of it.

The second thing that Jesus, I think is doing here when he makes these statements, is he is opening our eyes so that we can see the intention and the strategy of the destroyer. Satan is the destroyer. God is the builder. Alright. Never confuse who’s who and who’s doing what. And so he’s trying to open our eyes because he knows this. He says in another verse, woe to if offenses are going to come. Being offended is going to happen, but woe to the one through who they come. And the word offended literally means to entice another to sin. It means to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey. So let’s get this that what Jesus is saying is that Satan, when I’m offended, when I’m hurt, when I’m wounded, Satan is not just leaving me alone. He is roaming about through the earth and he is looking for the hurt and the wounded, those that have fallen away, and those that are walking on the outskirts of the kingdom and outskirts of the flock, and he is seeking the ones that he can swallow up and devour.

There’s a strategy. I want you to get that. When you and I get hurt and we get wounded and we get offended, and it happens to all of us because of the place and the time and the season that we’re living in, the enemy has a strategy in that. And he’s gonna look to see if he can take the opportunity to pull you away from God and away from every person that names the name of Christ. And eventually his goal is to take you away from Jesus Christ all together because of hurt and wounds and offense. But we have a chief shepherd. And if we will stay close to the shepherd, he’s our protector. So when you get hurt and when you get wounded, even if it came from an under-shepherd, don’t leave the chief shepherd. Get closer, closer to the chief shepherd. I’m hurt, I’m wounded, I need help.

So I’ve distilled this into four actions that I see in scripture that I believe are instructions for me and instructions for you that will help stabilize our emotions. When someone that we have loved and followed, has fallen, a professing Christian, a professing minister. Then God wants to stabilize our emotions and keep us connected to Him.

Number one, stay together in His church and in prayer

Number one, stay together in His church and in prayer. Don’t run off. Don’t wander off. Don’t be reactionary in your emotion. Reactionary emotion sounds like this. When a Christian has fallen, a minister has fallen, it sounds like this. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. Christians, they’re all hypocrites. I told you, they’re all hypocrites. Ministers, all they’re they’re all in it for the money. If we’re in it for the money, we should be doing something else. But that’s the parting line. They’re just in it for the money. We can’t trust any of you, and I’ll never darken the doors of another church again. Listen, I have heard it all. I have been cussed out. I have been tried, convicted, and crucified by up for other people’s crimes. And so have you. Hold your horses and tame your tongue, dude, and do that. Hold your horses. Listen, when somebody falls, everything that Jesus said didn’t go out the window. Come on. Buck up. Hold on.

The early church fathers had to deal with the very worst betrayal of a leader in Christianity that has ever happened. And that betrayal happened right at the formation of Jesus’ church. And I believe their example is still a great example for us to follow Jesus. I want us to read Acts chapter 1, verse 14 through 17. By the time we get to Acts chapter 1, Jesus has been crucified, he’s been buried, he’s been raised from the dead. He spent the Bible says 40 days appearing of upwards to 500 people at a time, and he has ascended into heaven, and his last instructions were don’t scatter, stay together, stay in Jerusalem and wait for the outpouring of the Spirit. And these disciples did that. And this is where we come in in Acts chapter 1, verse 14 through 17. Do we have this? Thank you.

All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves steadfastly to prayer, waiting together with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Now on one of those days, Peter arose among the brethren, the whole number of whom gathered together was about 120. Brethren, he Peter said, it was necessary that the scripture be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the lips of David about Judas, who acted as a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was counted Judas. Judas was a cat was counted among us and received by divine allotment his portion in this ministry.

Judas was counted among us and received his divine allotment and his portion in this ministry. You see, the Bible tells us that when Jesus selected Judas to be a disciple, he knew what he was going to do. He knew. And he selected him anyway. You know, Jesus gives everybody a chance. He really does.

But these men and women now in the upper room obeying Jesus’ instructions. Peter stands up on one day, and because they have remained together and in prayer, he said, we’ve got to do something about the one that left. We’ve got to select someone else to step into his place in ministry. Now get this. All of those people, the 120 people that were in the upper room had been followers of Jesus. And they had walked, they knew Judas, they had walked miles with Judas. They had eaten many meals with him. They had served Jesus with Judas. They together heard Jesus teach, they heard him tell stories, they saw him work miracles, and then Judas betrayed Jesus. And when Judas betrayed Jesus, he betrayed all of them. What he did hit every one of them. They were every bit as shocked as you and I are shocked. They had all the feels, they had all the reactions, but they stayed together. And they stayed in prayer.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, it says, speaking to us about communion and receiving the elements of communion, it says on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the cup and bread and served the disciples, including the betrayer. That the strength of God comes into us. The help of God comes into us. And we’ll remember Jesus. And we’ll remember that we’re partakers of the life of God. And we will remember that we have been commissioned by him. Do you know what they could have done? They could have let all their focus and all their feelings get fixated on Jesus all those days that they were in the upper room. But instead, they acknowledged fully what he did, and they said, let’s get on with the mission that Jesus assigned to us. Who’s in? I’m in. But Jesus is still who he said he is. And I’m in. You’re not pulling me out.

The second step is direct your curiosity to God

The second step is direct your curiosity to God. Please. The sooner the better. Because curiosity, when there’s a fall, when there’s a dismissal, when there’s a we have to take it before the whole church moment, where whenever and wherever, curiosity always rises in our natural mind. God made us curious creatures, he wants us to seek things out, but he wants us to do it appropriately and in a godly way and not an ungodly way. Curiosity means to be inquisitive, wondering, get this, ready to poke around and figure something out. You gotta pull that in. It’s an eager desire to learn and often to learn what does not concern you. That’s curiosity.

So we questions what did they do? What happened? Who told? How many people? What else? Who? What do you know? What do you know? What do you know? Stop it. Stop it. That’s the natural human mind without God. And we are not without God. We are with God, and God is with us. This world spins on fear and rumor and slander. It spins. And if you want to spin, then do that. But if you want to stabilize, then do what God says. God says the mind governed by the flesh is death. But the mind governed by the spirit is life. And peace. I like life. And I like peace. Some of y’all like drama and trauma. You keep it going. And if it’s not happening, you’ll make it happen. I can’t be friends with you. I love you, but I can’t do that. I like life and peace.

The only place I can get life and peace, if I lead my mind. Do you know the hardest person to lead in the world? Is you, yourself. You’re the only person that can lead you. So lead you. Psalm 139, 17 says, How precious to me are your thoughts, God. Did you know this? God has thoughts. Lots. And God’s thoughts are always higher and better than mine. So I want God’s thoughts about whatever is going on in my world, whatever is going on in my life, whatever is going on in my body, and whatever is going on in my church. I want God’s thoughts. So I’m going to direct my curiosity to inquire of God. Keep your inquiring mind, just direct it to the right person and in the right direction. Always to God.

Listen, pour out your heart to God. Whatever you’re feeling. I’m mad, I’m sad. Several years ago, our granddaughter Lainey, they were going through some personal things in their family, and she coined a new phrase. I’d say, How are you doing, Laney? She said, I’m smad. I said, SMA? SMAD. Is this a teenage word? I don’t know, because it changes every week. She said, sad and mad, smad. I’m sad and mad. I’m smad. Take all that to God. You’re smad, you’re smad, you’re mad, you’re sad. I feel betrayed. I feel lied to, I feel lied about, I’m disappointed, I’m heartbroken, I’m outraged. Whatever it is, sit with it. Quietly. Figure out what you’re feeling. Figure out where it’s coming from. And then walk that thing back and take it to God and do it as often as you need to. Just be open and honest. He loves it. Because then he can begin, you humble yourself before God, and he can begin to help you to come out of that. Grieve, cry, rant, wrestle it out with God and with his word, but don’t turn away from God. Don’t. This world works so hard to get you and I to pick their side. Pick me, pick me, pick me. Well, whose side are you on? I’m on God’s side. Always, no matter what, forever and ever and ever, I’m on God’s side. If you get stuck or you’re spiraling, then get some help from people that have lived through some stuff and still love God and still have joy. This room is full of them. There’s help. Help.

Number three. Reaffirm your commitment to follow Jesus

Number three. Reaffirm your commitment to follow Jesus. You guys still hear? Because these are actions. We got to learn them. We got to memorize them. We got to be ready to take them because at the moment you’re least expecting it, you’re going to need to remember this. Reaffirm your commitment to follow Jesus closer than ever. You know, this happened to Jesus. Jesus had taught some hard stuff, and it says, from that time forth, many people didn’t walk with Jesus anymore. When hard stuff happens, when disappointment happens, sadly, many people do that. They don’t walk with Jesus anymore. Let’s read these verses. John chapter 6.

After this, many of his disciples drew back, returned to their old associations, and no longer accompanied him. Jesus said to the 12, will you also go away? And do you too desire to leave me? Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words, the message of eternal life.

Jesus has the words of eternal life. There’s nowhere we can turn away from or turn to. In fact, when he says, when Jesus said, Will you go away also? He’s the literal meaning there is, will you lead yourself under? Will you lead yourself under? Because when you walk away from Jesus, your life’s not going upward. It’s going down. And it’s not because God’s going to throw you down, it’s because Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. And we need words of life.

Listen, family, get and keep the right perspective. When one leader falls, we don’t become anarchist. Okay? Some people do. An anarchist is one that moves into a state of disorder due to non-recognition of authority. And Americans are so good at this. Ain’t nobody telling me what to do. I’m an American. We are born and bred this way in this nation. But the kingdom of God rebirths us and breeds us to live differently. God has authorized leaders in his church, in cities and states, in nations, and in our homes. And when a leader fails to lead, as God has ordained, either they’re going to be removed, they’re going to repent, or they are going to be ultimately judged by the righteous judge at the appointed day of judgment. God is love and God is just. And Pastor Marshall has said this for years. Ain’t nobody getting away with nothing. Including me and including you. So repent, repent, repent. Often, fully, completely. Got it? You got that? Maybe that’s what we should have titled this. So when a leader that we love fails, we don’t follow them into failure.

I have a quote from Pastor Charles Spurgeon. He was a pastor in the 1800s in London. He was world famous. He went around the world preaching and teaching the gospel. And I found this quote. Pastor David helped me get the actual quote. I want us to see it from the screen. Because what I want you to know is this. If this happened at the beginning of the church, it’s happened all through the history of the church. It will happen till the end of the church. So you and I need to lead ourselves and decide what we’re going to do. Pre-decide. Make a pre-decision. Because that’s the best decision. You already know when something happens, what you’re going to do. You might not know what anybody else is going to do, but you’ll know what you’re going to do.

Pastor Spurgeon said this one of the most shocking trials to young Christians is the fall of an imminent teacher. I have known some that have been almost ready to give up their faith when someone who appeared to be very earnest and faithful has suddenly apostasized. We really don’t use that word, but it is a Bible word, don’t you love it? Pastor David, could you preach us a whole message on apostasy? Whoa. Such things have happened in our memory to our intense grief. And I want, therefore, to put it very, very plainly. If it should come to pass that anyone whom you revere as having been blessed to your soul, whom you love because you have received from him the word of life, is such a one upon whom you may perhaps have leaned too much, should in the future turn out not to be true and faithful and should not believe. Do not follow his unbelief.

So pre-decide. Was everything heresy? Do you know the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 1, 15 through 18, he had a group of people, ministers that were ministering out of wrong motives, and he said, Listen, whether in pretense or truth, Christ has preached and I rejoice. What does that mean for us? It means we extract the truth of God from the personality of the humans preaching it. Truth is truth. It will always be truth. It’s not my truth. It’s not your truth. It’s the truth of God. So extract the truth of God that agrees with the word of God and let the personality of the humans that are preaching it let it go.

The last one, number four, stay rooted in the love of God

The last one. We made it. You can almost breathe. The last one, number four, our action step, is stay rooted in the love of God. Stay rooted in the love of God. Again, part of the enemy’s strategy is to uproot you, to so disturb you and distress you and to cause so much uncertainty that you’ll uproot yourself. Do you know he cannot uproot you? He doesn’t have that power. You have the power to stay rooted. The most powerful force in all this world, and the next is the love of God. It’s the most powerful force in this universe. It is.

Something we should all refamiliarize ourselves with. The first three verses tell us this: that everything we do has to be done with the God kind of love, or it has no benefit at all. It says I can give all my money to feed the poor, I can be martyred, I can prophesy, but if it’s not done from the place of the love of God, it has no benefit at all. You see, love is not excusing ungodly behavior. It’s not, it’s not, it’s not sanctifying sinful behavior. The church is being pressured to do that in this day and age. The world wants you and I to sanctify and set apart and say that everything that love is love and all kinds of love are of God. Not so. Not so. We cannot sanctify sinful behavior. We can’t sweep it under the carpet. We can’t excuse sinful acts. And you know what else is not love? Exposing and exploiting every tasty, tantalizing detail of anybody’s life. It’s not love. It’s not the love of God.

First Corinthians chapter 4, these four verses, I mean chapter 13, verses 4 through 8 describe what God’s love looks like coming through us. Let’s read these verses.

Love endures long, it’s patient and kind. Love is never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, it’s not boastful or vanglorious, it does not display itself haughtily, it is not conceited, arrogant, and inflated with pride, it is not rude, unmannerly, and it does not act unbecomingly. Love, God’s love in us, does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking, it’s not touchy or fretful or resentful. It takes no account of the evil done to it, it pays no attention to his suffered wrong. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes. It’s ever ready to believe the best of every person. Its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything without weakening. Love, God’s love, never fails. It never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.

You see, we can’t rejoice. We can’t mock and slander when another person falls. We also can’t just let it go because we can’t let misconduct go. We can’t overlook it because that’s not justice. And God’s love is always just. Life or in pain. Can’t be laughing at other people’s pain. God doesn’t do that. We don’t overlook it. We don’t cover it up. We call it what it is. But it’s not your Sunday lunch topic of conversation either.

In the King James Version, verse 7 says, Love bears all things. And the literal meaning means to roof over. Love builds a roof over. Covers with silence. What? What? I thought silence is violence. The right kind of silence covers over people and gives them the opportunity to repent, to turn, to change, to recover, to be restored. It covers people that are in pain and it keeps the crushing weight off of them. Do you get it? The world accuses us when we don’t we don’t stand up on a platform and we tell every tasty, tantalizing detail of someone’s fall, or every sordid, salacious, they say you’re covering things up. Nope. We’re covering people. And we’re covering the church. Because the reality of this is you knowing details is not going to help you walk in peace.

So it seems to me that our way through life, all of life, from birth to death, from the through the failures of Christian leaders and Christians I love. The way through life of the hard, the disappointing, the outraging, the kicked in the gut seasons. Our way through is to keep ourselves in the love of God. Run to it, hide under it. Let it build a roof over your head and let God use you to build a roof over somebody else’s life. To get the help, not ignore, but to get the help.

Would you stand on your feet with me? As we close, I want us to confess these two verses of scripture from the book of Jude. Because I think our eyes always need to go back to God. It’s the way of peace. It’s the way of life. Through heartbreak, through death, through everything that comes against us, to go back to the love of God and to back into the wraparound presence of God keeps us. He holds us. He guards us. He protects us. He walks through it with us. So can will you confess this out loud with me? Jude chapter 1, verse 24 through 25. Let’s do it together.

Now to him who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present you unblemished, blameless, and faultless before the presence of his glory in triumphant joy and exaltation with unspeakable ecstatic delight to the one only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, splendor, majesty, might and dominion and power and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Amen. Oh, thank you, God. Will you bow your heads with me just for a moment, please, as we’re closing? I just need one, two more minutes. If you’re hurting this morning and you’re spiraling, because whatever reason, a lot of things come against us, hit us hard in life, different times and different seasons. But if you’re right there, will you allow me to pray for you? That’s where you are. You just lift up your hand. I’m not gonna call you forward, I’m not gonna embarrass you anyway. Just lift your hand up really high so I can see you. Because God sees you. I want you to know that God sees you, He’s got you. He wants me to say to you, You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay because He’s gonna make you okay. Thank you for trusting me with that. Put your hands down, please.

Maybe you’ve wandered off from God and you’re here this morning. I don’t know why you wandered off. Sometimes we just get our heads down trying to make it and we just wander away from God and we lift up our head and we don’t even know where we are. But today you know you’re not as close to God as you used to be or as you want to be, and you’re ready to get your way back to God and you want prayer. Would you raise up your hand? Let me pray for you. Thank you. God, you see them. They want to come home. They want to get back right close to you. They don’t want to be far away. Thank you. Put your hands down, please.

Lastly, if you’re not a follower of Jesus yet, you’ve heard about him. You’ve heard about him this morning, and you never really made that commitment to give your whole life up and let Jesus be Lord and you retire from Lordship. You say, I want that kind of shepherd. I need to be under that kind of care. The care of Jesus, the great shepherd. Today I want that. If that’s you, raise your hand really high. Let me pray for you, please. Raise your hand. Can I see it? Can I see your hands in this room this morning? Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Church, can we pray this all together for that last group first? And then I’ll just finish in prayer.

Heavenly Father, I want to know you. I believe you are the Son of God, Jesus. I believe you are who you say you are. I believe you came to save me. To deliver me from sin and darkness, and lead me into the light. Today I decide to accept your offer. You become Lord. And I will follow you all the days of my life. Amen.

Amen. Now, Father, we lift up those that are in this room that have wandered off, and today they’re saying, I’m coming back, I’m coming home. Father, I know that you’re running to meet them. You’re running to meet them. To hug them, to draw them close to you. Father, I thank you that you give them the courage, you give them the fortitude, you give them everything that they need to make good on that decision. And to actually begin to take different actions from this moment forward to get close to you and stay close to you. And Lord, there are those in this room. You know why. They’re in a spiral. You know why. And you know how to stop that spiral and to reverse course into their life so they come close to you, reconnect, know that they are loved, that they are cared for, that they are valuable, and that they will see life begin to flourish as they stick close to you. Father, we thank you that you love us, that you love your church, that you’re careful with your church, and you watch over it, and I pray that you would remind us to be careful with what we say, with what we think, and with what we do. So that we stay in alignment with you every day. Can you say thank you, God? Thank you, God. Love you, God. And God loves you. Thank you so much, church. I appreciate your patience. I pray that you got those four steps. Write them down on a card. Keep them in your Bible. Put them on your mirror because you’re going to need them. Over and over, but they’ll get you through. We love you so much. We’ll see you Tuesday night. We’ll see you next Sunday morning. And take some time to hug somebody on your way out. You’re dismissed.