November 13, 2006

It’s good to see you all again.  It is sad that we only get together at times like this, but you know how it is with everybody so busy with the work of God and all. 

Has it really been 20 years since Jim Bakker brought us all together?  Cinnamon rolls for air freshener, climate-controlled dog houses, a theme park in the Carolinas, a secretary in a hotel room.  One thing about Jim:  when he did something, even if it was wrong, he did it up right!  He kept us busy for months.

Then there was Jimmy.  Swaggart the Braggart.  Boy, did he ever land hard.  His “I have sinned” speech still plays in my memory.  He faded a little faster than Bakker, but, thankfully, we still had time to get together and kick him around a bit.

Getting together and doing what we do is important, you know.  It makes us real preachers look bad when these shysters are caught doing things that only sinners do.  We’ve got to make sure that the world knows that we aren’t like those guys.

Take this Haggard fellow that we came to discuss today.  If he had the same Holy Ghost we’ve got, he would never have gotten in this mess.  These guys are all alike.  They see all the money to be made in the ministry and they do what Ted did.  Start a church in their basement.  Work hard at it for years, build the weekly attendance up above 10,000, and then live high on the hog the rest of their lives.  That they are in it only for the money is so obvious.  Serves them right when they get caught with their pants down.

I know that one of our own fails now and then.  I suspect they never got the real thing, either.  Or if they did, like Demas, they loved the present world more than they loved God (II Timothy 4:10).  It’s only a matter of time until that kind reveals what’s lurking under the surface.  Rotten apples always fall off the tree.

Every now and then I hear someone suggest that we reach out for the preacher who might be struggling with lust or pornography or financial problems by establishing a safe zone where he or she can go for help.  The premise behind this idea is that a person who is struggling could get help before his temptations become actions.  They toss out scriptural themes like three strands of rope being hard to break, and they quote James’ advice to confess your faults one to another.  It all seems rather foolish to me.  If they’d get the same Holy Ghost I got, these sissy preachers would get a backbone and wouldn’t need a safe zone.

I like the system we have in place.  Our boards and officials have the power to purge those carnal Bakkers and Swaggarts and Haggards from our ranks. “Rebuke openly so that others may fear” is my response to the misguided do-gooders.  There is no room for weakness in the ministry.  The quicker it is revealed and expunged the better.  Take Paul for example.  When he realized that John Mark was not fit for the ministry, Paul kicked him off his team.  Barnabas disagreed with Paul on that, so he took John Mark and left to start his own missions team.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I would rather be a dynamic and powerful man of God like Paul than a second-string evangelist like Barnabas.

Now, I know what you are going to say. Yes, Barnabas was the one who brought Paul into the organization when no one else would have anything to do with him.  And yes, after Barnabas worked with him for a while, Paul wanted John Mark back on his team.  But don’t get side-tracked.  These are difficult times and only the strong will last. 

That’s why we’ve got to keep on.  Too many are falling for this easy-smeasy gospel propagated by weak-kneed preachers who don’t believe ice is cold.  We can’t afford to show any signs of weakness.  We’ve got to keep our shoulders back, faces grim, suits black, and lips stiff.  I don’t want to give anybody the impression that living for God is a walk in the park. 

It’s been good visiting with you again, but I’ve got to get back to my church.  Some of our young people are asking why they have to dress differently than the kids at school, so I’ve got to pull out my sermon on hell.  It’s been effective through the years.  I’ve got a lot of backsliders living in my city, but one thing about it:  they all know where they will spend eternity.   I made sure of that.  I’m not going to have their blood on my hands come Judgment Day.

I hate to leave so soon, but the way things are going, it won’t be too long before we’ll have to get together again.  The state of the ministry is really sad these days.  So few of us standing strong for the gospel.  So few of us loving God.  So sad. 

Just keep standing strong, brother, so that the next time we come together we aren’t talking about you.

© 2006 Doug Ellingsworth

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Doug Ellingsworth lives in Tennessee and blogs.  Being a pastor and the father of three teenagers, he has access to unlimited sources of advice on how things “ought to be done.”