I hope to aybe offer my opinions on Clare's comments below
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clare
Am i totally nieve i dont understand how what i thought were deeply annointed people can seemingly be responsible for so much damage? How is it possible to stand infront of people in Gods name and get things so wrong!! surely they must be genuine mistakes or they are in very grave danger if they have knowingly done damage to some of His children. Arent there scriptures warning against this very behaviour. I keep thinking it must be us who are mistaken , misguided or too sinful to stand the annointing . I am flabergasted i keep having to repost what i am thinking because i am not sure if its me that is in the wrong here?
It becomes possible when you, or those around you, set you up as infalliable. It becomes possible when you think you can never be wrong, can never be questioned, can never be called to account on your actions. It becomes possible when you think genuine questions and concerns are an 'attack of the enemy' It becomes possible when those members of your congregation are too scared of you, or the consequences that await them, for them to say any different.
This is what is being taught at Struthers. The leaders are 'anointed' by God and therefore untouchable. They teach and probably believe that because of such an anointing, they are unable to make mistakes in the area of ministry (Im sure they'd admit to making mistakes such as forgetting to lock the car etc .. but in minstry - they never make mistakes) Questioning is discouraged and frowned upon. Members are 'strongy advised' to seek the 'guidance' of leaders when making moderate and important life decisions and the leaders word is always right.
Yes there are scriptures that warn about the dangers of thse kind of things Proverbs 16:18 says
"Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall." There are verses about how leaders should act, how disputes are to be handled within the church, about how a weak brother should be restored gently by those who are spiritual, not beaten into the dust and ostracised.
Most of these scriptures are overridden by the use of the scripture from 1 Chronicles 16:22 "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm" This has been wildly misquoted. In context we have Kind David singing a song of praise, where he tells of how God protected Abrahams offspring when they were small in number and wouldnt allow anyone to harm them. They also use the story of how David knew it was wrong to kill King saul as God had anointed him. That's great in theory but Im not looking to physically harm, let alone kill anyone.
We need to remember that the Apostle Paul said that if anyone preached another gospel let them be eternally condemned. We also need to remember that Paul publicly rebuked Peter for his hypocrisy over eating with uncircumcised believers. At the end of the day I have been in leadership and its hard. You make mistakes. You hurt people, most times inadvertantly. You try your best to serve God and serve the people he has put in your care and when you make a mistake you dont try and cover it up, blame someone else or close your eyes, stick you fingers in your ears and shout "LALALALA I'M NOT LISTENING" No, if you have hurt or wronged someone you go to that person and try to make amends. If what you said needed to be said and they are weak in the faith you help and support them to grow in God. You dont pick and chose those you nurture. If God has chosen to show them his grace and mercy, who are we to treat them harshly.
If the Struthers leaders have made genuine mistakes, let them make amends. If I thought I had caused someone to stumble or fall away from God by my actions, particularly as a leader, I certainly would do all that was in my power to make that right. Perhaps a verse from Micah should have the word on this
Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to act justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?