Dear Daisy,
As a child, I was taught to love, honor, respect and trust my pastor to care for me and teach me truth; so I did. It wasn’t until I was in my pre-teen years that I realized that something was off with this process. I discovered through observing a close relationship between my mother with the pastor and his family, that he didn’t practice what he preached. It was during this time that I began to notice that many people put their trust in him instead of God. At the point when his secret sins were exposed, all those with their faith in him turned away from God. As a child that was hard to reconcile; 1, why the pastor that taught us not to sin – was secretly sinning himself, 2, why people turned from God because of that man’s sin, and 3, why is he still preaching?!? Today, pastors are falling off their pedestal every day it seems due to unimaginable acts of sin. I thought pastors could be trusted. ~ Signed, who can we trust
Dear who can we trust,
This is a great question and an age old problem. Let’s dig deep into scripture and get you some answers.
___________________
Before we dig deeper, let’s start with some encouraging scriptures to help you catch your breath while redirecting your focus from humans who let you down – back to your Creator who will never forsake you.
Step back and breath in God’s truth
“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
“And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee;
he will be with thee,
he will not fail thee,
neither forsake thee:
fear not, neither be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Isaiah 41:10
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”
Isaiah 12:2
“3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength”
Isaiah 26:3-4
“So you, return to your God; hold fast to grace and justice;
and always put your hope in your God.”
Hosea 12:7
“Blessed is the man who trusts in Adonai;
Adonai will be his security.”
Jeremiah 17:7
Where to start
Truth be told, the subject of trusting pastors that are later revealed as corrupt and hiding secret sins, is a very very broad subject and would require I write a book the size of the Holy Bible to cover it all. Oh wait, God already did that!!
Did you know that in the Holy Bible that God breathed for us to learn and live by (2Timothy 3:16-17), He warned us this would happen? God foretold that there would be false teachers and false prophets and to stay away from them. It’s true! Let’s take a peak…
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 11:13
“For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly;
and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”
Romans 16:18
“Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you,
and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”
Galatians 1:7
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world,
and not after Christ.”
Colossians 2:8
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
1John 4:1
See! As a child growing up in church, you will not be taught these truths. You will be taught to listen to your pastor and teachers; they will tell you what they want you to know about Jesus. So it’s no wonder, that we grow up believing the false teachers and their lies. Then sadly, many have fallen victim to secret abuse from them. This is how the enemy destroys lives.
Where was Jesus when this happened?
Scripture teaches us that we live in a broken and fallen world and that bad things will happen in this sinful place. However, it’s important to know that…
You were never alone!
Matthew 28:20
All those years you suffered, you were not alone! You may have felt abandoned and forsaken by God, but He never left you! He was always there with you. Did you turn to Jesus for comfort and care, or did you get mad at Him and withdraw into a shell for self preservation? Even if you didn’t turn to Him at that time, He was still working His plan that you couldn’t see; He still is.
“Be strong, be bold, don’t be afraid or frightened of them, for Adonai your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
There is no condemnation if you did not immediately turn to Jesus (Romans 8:1). He knows your pain. He knows what you went through. He also won’t force Himself on you. He waits for you to invite Him in. When you do that, He can then fill you with His love and peace as He continues to work His plan that you cannot see or understand, yet. It’s not too late, do it today. (Simple steps to follow at the end of blog.)
The pain you went through, whether you were clinging to Jesus or not, He will use it all for His good for those who love Him according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). He will use your horrible experience for good. Trust Him.
Still have a hard time believing that Jesus was there while this horrible thing was happening to you? There are countless stories in the Holy Bible where when bad things happened, Jesus was there, and used the situation for His good. Take Joseph as an example. Jacob’s beloved favorite youngest son at the time (Genesis 39), Joseph, was envied by his brothers so much so that they faked his death, threw him in a pit and left him for dead, then decided to sell him to Gypsies who later sold him to the Pharoah in Egypt. It was all part of God’s master plan to use Joseph in Egypt for a great purpose that none of them could have seen coming.
There is purpose in your pain. Ask God to show you what it is. Until He does, trust Him. He is with you every step through this. Choose to turn to Him and cling to Him trusting His process; Joseph did and God blessed him greatly.
It’s very hard to trust what is truth when you are blinded by your pain. As long as your trust is only in Jesus and not in a human, you will get through this with God’s healing peace.
Battle plan
The enemy plays on our weaknesses. The only way we can fight the enemy and his lies and deception is to allow Jesus to fight him for us. It is impossible to trust Jesus to fight your battles for you if you don’t know Him and have a close personal relationship with Him. A relationship with Jesus includes putting all your hope and trust in Him and believing He cares for you and will protect you in the good times, and the bad.
If only we didn’t live in a broken and fallen world, we wouldn’t have to experience the pain that touches all lives. “If only’s” are a waste of precious time that could be spent trusting your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Since we do live in a sinful world, it’s all the more important that we learn to cling to Jesus through a personal relationship with Him, NOT man, until the day Jesus calls us home to be with Him.
Out of His deep indescribable love for us, Jesus warned that in this world we would have many troubles, but not to worry because He has overcome them all (John 16:33). He not only came to die for our sins so that we could be reconciled with God, He came to experience our pain in the flesh so that He would know our fleshly pain and we could take comfort that He knows our pain and understands.
Jesus knows the above promise “not to worry” can be hard to understand and hold onto when you are in the middle of your pain. That’s why He repeatedly reminds us to follow Him, focus only on Him, and put all our hope and trust in Him to do what He says He will do. Not only did He warn us that we would suffer adversity and affliction (Isaiah 30:20), He said, I am going to go and prepare a place for you and will come back and get you (John 14:3-10). Until then, He tells us we are to cling to His promises while spreading this same good news He shared with us through His Holy Word, the Holy Bible (Matthew 24:14).
Who are you actually worshipping
and who are you really fighting?
No one sets out to worship their pastor, but it can easily happen when you look up to the leader that is teaching you what you should do. God is revealing truth more and more now and His followers are seeing that they have misplaced their trust and believed the lies. Those days are over in the name of Jesus!
As God continues to open our eyes and ears, He is showing us that we are not fighting flesh; we are fighting dark evil spirits. Once you realize this truth through your faith in Jesus, it helps you step back and show grace to the broken person who hurt you and place your focus on the source of the brokenness in that person. It is then that you will be able to forgive the person that hurt you. Even though I speak from experience, you don’t have to take my word for it; check scripture for this truth.
“10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Ephesians 6:10-12
(read verses 13-18 for the Armor of God breakdown that He will equip you with.)
The truth of the matter
Once you realize the history and truth of God’s Word, it begins to make more sense why we are in this rut today. In these last days we are living in God is exposing His truths to more and more of His followers. Are you now hungry for and focused on God’s truth, rather than the pain caused by these dark revelations?
These secret sins of pastors that God is exposing to us are extremely painful to learn, especially when it’s about pastoral leaders that you have personally looked up too in your faith journey.
Let me be perfectly clear here, if you don’t learn anything else from this blog today,
HEAR THIS TRUTH:
God is NOT exposing them
to destroy your faith in Jesus,
He is exposing them
to destroy your faith
that you placed on a human.
The purpose of God showing us this corruption, is to expose the lies and help us turn our hearts back to Jesus our Savior, the one and only Son of God that came to die for our sins.
As imperfect humans born into a sinful world, we have been taught from the beginning to put our trust in everything but Jesus. In these last days, God is shaking the tree, so to speak, and exposing the rotten apples as they fall to the ground.
Our trust has been misplaced
and God is revealing this truth to us before it’s too late.
I’ll share a quote from a newly exposed corrupt pastor that once said,
“God said he would make me famous, so that He could be famous.”
In a full study of the Holy Bible breathed by God, that statement does not align with scripture. God is not human; He does not change His mind or plan (Malachi 3:6, Psalms 89:34).
God warned us that these false teachers would be in the world and in the church. But, He also told us what would happen to them in the end. God knows your pain. He is a just and righteous God. Scripture says that there are extreme consequences for unrepentant intentional sin. His timing is perfect. He will judge the sin of your abuser. Be still and rest in His arms until that day (Psalms 46:10).
Steps to healing your heart
Hopefully you have experienced a breakthrough in your hidden pain today. Let’s make sure your heart is right with the Lord so that you can enjoy the continued healing process with His help. Don’t complicate the process for salvation. Keep it simple. Even if you have prayed this before, rededicate your life today and go “all in” with Him. It’s time for a deeper relationship with your Creator, Adonai.
Do the ABC’s and repent today.
- A: Admit that you are a sinner. (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9)
- B: Believe in your heart that Jesus is the son of God and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead for you. (John 3:16-18, 1Corinthians 15:1-4)
- C: Call on Jesus and repent of your sins and turn back to Him and ask Jesus to show you the way. (Romans 10:9-13, John 14:6)
It’s important to note here:
If you have had to leave your church because of a situation with your pastor or someone on staff, your top priority is to focus on Jesus and let Him guide you in your next steps. Scripture says that the Holy Spirit is our teacher (1 John 2:27, Jeremiah 33:3), let Him lead, guide, and teach you His truth. If He wants you in a particular church building, He will show you. I heard a pastor suggest that if this happens to you that you need to immediately find another church. That is NOT what scripture says. God’s Word says to turn to Jesus and follow Him. Allow Jesus to heal you and teach you as He guides you in your path with Him. He will show you where He wants you. He will keep you safe. No one loves you more than He does, so trust only Jesus!
In closing,
Always ask Jesus what you should do in every situation. The Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you. If it’s not okay with Him, He will check your spirit and you will have an uneasy feeling and doubt about going forward. Always follow Jesus; NOT your heart; our hearts are fickle and can’t be trusted. Listen to the Holy Spirit; He is trying to protect you. You have a choice to obey or ignore. Choose to obey and stay under His protection.
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.“
Proverbs 3:5
“When you know you grow!”