I can think of nothing worse than violating our calling as shepherds, serving the Lord Jesus, and preying upon the weak in His Church. As pastors we are often trusted in the Church because of our position before we are evaluated by our behavior. I have seen it all too often as ministers are suddenly revealed as predators, wolves among the flock. It appeared to be suddenly but it is never a sudden condition. There were signs along the way but a lack of true accountability left the minister unguarded as a city without walls. You cannot hear these stories without asking the hard question, "could I become that?" Could I fall to such a low place in my relationship with God that I wouldn't realize it or not know how far I had fallen. The Catholic Church has been uncovered in recent years and even recent months revealing hundreds of priests accused of sexual sins and many as predators of children and adults who were in vulnerable situations. I'm not writing this to condemn the Catholic Church. They are the largest denomination in the world so obviously by sheer percentages they will have more bad apples. I'm sure the large majority of Priests are dedicated men of God following their vows and calling. Every denomination has dark stories of ministers who have left the straight and narrow and wandered back into the world by their actions and sins. What is the process that leads to such debasement from the Holy Call of God?
In Romans chapter 1, Paul tells us of a process of degeneration that leads to corruption. He tells us of a people who chose to look away from God, the Creator, and worship the creation. They chose to follow the temptation of sin and to resist the corrections of God through the Scripture and the internal working of the Holy Spirit. This is at the heart of the matter. The voices in our minds. The voice of God and the voice of Satan. Righteousness or sin. Three times in this chapter we read, "God gave them up to..." He gave them up to "impurity, dishonorable passions and a debased mind." There is a point when, if we continue to resist the correction of God, he releases us to the worst of all of our enemies, ourselves, to our own lusts and temptations. When that happens it results in a fast downward spiral. Our faith connects us firmly to the righteous hand of God. Our unbelief is a sin that is struggling to get a release from God's law. In Romans, we see a principle that gives explanation to most if not all of the shocking headlines in our day. A rejection of God and/or a resistance to his loving correction and adjustment always degenerates into moral decay. Backsliding almost always ends in some form of sexual sin.
That principle is not only an answer for the crisis in the Catholic Church but in other groups as well. There is a definition of degeneration in Pathology that is striking in this study. "A process by which a tissue deteriorates, loses functional activity, and may become converted into or replaced by other kinds of tissue." Degeneration is a process of deterioration that causes a loss of function and can even be converted into something else! Even in true believers this degeneration can occur. To avoid it we all must remain constant in the Scripture, prayer and fellowship in the church. This was the pattern of Acts 2. This surrounds us with the right guidelines of living, personal daily relationship with Jesus and the loving encouragement and accountability of living among true believers. Ministers too often cool down in fervor and back away from these things that they preach for others to follow. From the pulpit to the pew we must all take heed and hear the clarion call of heaven to practice what we preach.
