Tag: forgive
How Would You Respond If Your Pastor Was On the Ashley Madison List?
Posted on September 16, 2015 in Family, Marriage, Theology by Nathan Cherry
After posting an article related to the Ashley Madison hack last week, I had the opportunity to engage in conversation with a family member, a long-time friend, and a pastor-friend regarding, essentially, whether or not pastors caught in the scandal should be restored to pastoral ministry. It was an occasion for learning as it helped to clarify thoughts on forgiveness and consequences.
There is two sides that have voiced thoughts on how a pastor caught using Ashley Madison should be handled.
The first voice says that the pastor should resign or be fired. This side believes in forgiveness and encourages the church to forgive the pastor if he is repentant and seeks forgiveness. This side also emphasizes the critical need for the pastor to seek counseling to restore his marriage and family. But ultimately, this side does not believe the pastor should stay in his role at the church and should move on. Indeed, this voice isn’t sure the pastor is even qualified to be a pastor anymore.
The other side says the church should consider not just forgiving the pastor but becoming his biggest support in seeking reconciliation with his wife and healing for his family. This side says that since Christians have a bad reputation for shooting their wounded that perhaps allowing the pastor to continue at the church would be a powerful witness. This side does not believe the church should allow the pastor to be in leadership or even preach for a season; but that he can stay on staff through the healing process and, in due time, when the leaders believe it is appropriate, be restored to his position.
Christians Should Not Be Smug About the Ashley Madison Website Hack
Posted on September 1, 2015 in Marriage by Nathan Cherry
I’m sure many people were glad when the cheating website Ashley Madison was hacked and the identity of its users was revealed. I know I was. I thought “serves people right.” But very quickly the depth of hurt inflicted on many families across the country became very real to me and my initial happiness was turned to sorrow for the hurting families.
I think there is a tendency among Christians to assume that the only people that use such websites as Ashley Madison are contemptuous people that deserve whatever happens when they are finally exposed. What we tend to forget is that many of the users are friends, neighbors, and pastors.
The people who signed up for the cheating website are not just anonymous men and women with no families, reputations or careers. They are husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, deacons, elders, and pastors. The extent of hurt and heartache inflicted by this single act may never truly be known. But one thing is for sure, no one should be laughing.
Consider, according to Christian culture analyst Ed Stetzer, roughly 400 pastors, elders, and deacons resigned their position on Sunday. We may be tempted to think that a good thing, that they should not be allowed to serve. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen. But what about the churches? If that number is correct then 400 churches just lost key leaders. And with a shortage of qualified leaders already causing issues among churches, the enemy, Satan, is surely smiling.
Planned Parenthood “Pastoral Letter” is Full of Lies and Bad Theology
Posted on December 2, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
Once again the Religious Affairs Committee has sent out a letter explaining, in part, that abortion “will not threaten your relationship with God.” I want to highlight the main points of the letter and respond to each. I do this because it helps us prepare a biblical defense against abortion and anyone, including pastors that would try to convince us of its legitimacy.
– We believe, as religious leaders in our faith communities, that abortion is a morally permissible choice for a woman facing a problem pregnancy.
It’s interesting to me that no Scripture was used to support this claim. The pastors I know and trust always have Scripture to back up their positions. This lets me know that it’s not just their opinion but a biblically formed position that can be verified and supported through the Bible. The fact that Scripture is not used to support this claim is dubious.
Maybe there is no Scripture included because the actual Bible contradicts their position. Over and over the Bible says that God formed babies in the womb (Psa. 139:2; Isa. 44:2; 24; Jer. 1:5). The Bible makes clear that killing is murder (Ex. 20:13; Matt. 5:21; Rom. 13:9; Jas. 2:11). The theology is easy here.
The fact that this letter does not define a “problem pregnancy” other than to say it could be due to “medical, physical, emotional, economic, and relational reasons” is misleading. Some will support abortion if the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother – something that could certainly be considered a “problem.” But to lump these other factors in with such a rate and extreme scenario shows that Planned Parenthood is still willing to mislead and deceive people in order to perform more abortions.
The Gospel Coalition: 9 Things You Should Know About the National Day of Prayer
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
Today is the National Day of Prayer, an annual day of observance celebrated by Americans of various faiths. Here are nine things you should know about the day when people are asked “to turn to God in prayer and meditation.”
1. The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.