“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
Matthew 5:21-24 NASB1995
“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."
I included that second passage in a previous article, RESTORING FALLEN MINISTERS. In this article, I add the first passage to enlarge the context.
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, a pronouncement of blessings upon those who hold certain attitudes, or possess certain characteristics. This is in contrast to the Torah, the Law of Moses, which contains blessings and curses. Blessings for those that kept the Law, curses for those who didn't.
Jesus was not overturning the Law. In the verses that immediately follow, He says as much. He also adds that our righteousness must exceed that of those who were the experts in the Law, the Pharisees. Their righteousness was based on their actions and not their attitudes.
I point this out, because in the circles that seem to produce the most fallen ministers not only emphasize healing, miracles, signs, and wonders, they also focus on blessings. Most of the blessings they talk about are material, carnal, and earthly. The blessings Jesus spoke of tend to be spiritual.
We do see fallen ministers in all kinds of Christian groups, not just those that emphasize supernatural experiences. This shows us that experience based, or experience driven religion is not the only factor that causes ministers to fall. It could be one of the strongest.
The experience oriented groups do seem to be the ones that most often call for their fallen ministers to be restored. They often claim that the fallen minister had produced so many healings, prophecies, etc. and they assume the world, or the body of Christ, needs that to continue.
Really?
Jesus never pronounced a blessing on those who seek after miracles, signs, wonders, healings, prophecies. He did say promise satisfaction to those who seek righteousness. And those who seek signs, He called wicked and adulterous.
We could say that the theme of the Sermon on the Mount is righteousness, not "blessings." Look at two other passages, the ends of Matthew chapters 6 and 7. "Seek first the kingdom of God," and, "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity..."
So when Jesus was talking about the Torah, He was speaking of righteousness, not just in action, but it heart. This becomes obvious when He equates hate with murder.
But then, He seems to say something contradictory. You would think that He would immediately tell us to forgive those we hate. As well, we should.
Instead, He says if your brother has something against YOU, YOU go to him and seek reconciliation. You are not the hater, but the hated. Why should YOU be the one who seeks reconciliation first?
For righteousness sake.
If someone has something against you, then YOU are the offender. YOU might not feel like it, but you are. This is the major problem I see with the majority of these fallen ministers. They never admit to their offense. Some might even feel entitled or justified to do what they did.
But until the offender admits to what they did, no reconciliation is possible. This is not to say the offended one is justified in not forgiving the offender. The offended one must forgive to maintain a right relationship with God, even if the offender never admits anything. And the offended one does not have to wait, and should not wait until the offender confesses.
So, the biblical process to restoring a false minister begins with reconciliation, but reconciliation is not possible unless the offender seeks it by admitting the offense and expressing remorse to the offended party.
The goal should not be to place a person into a position, or to allow them to resume an activity that seems desirable, but to establish righteousness where it is lacking.
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