"Friendly Fire - The Massacre of Believers in Churches at the Hands of Fallen Leadership" - Part 1

Greater and mightier men than you and I have fallen, and their downfall has caused a spiritual landslide that swept the ground out from under their unlucky disciples without warning, causing untold damage, grief, anger, dissention, and even apostasy amongst even the seemingly strongest of ministries. The name of Jesus Christ has been spit upon by atheists, beat upon by cults, modified by self-named apostles, abhorred by pagans, and desecrated by society at large, but no group of antichristic individuals have done as much harm to the wonderful name of Christ as those who have led others in supposed growth in Christ from the high horse of hidden sin. The tendency to nurse a façade is a wile into which any Christian may fall, and we should plead with the Lord to save us from such an insidious existence, clinging to Christ to keep from falling into the disgusting filthy pit of religious hypocrisy.

One reason that depression, apostasy, and general dissatisfaction is rampant in the church is due to believers often living a life that feels unnatural to them. This self-contradiction causes them to doubt their worth; once they grow tired of their double-life - living how they FEEL some of the time while putting on the spiritual front they KNOW is right when necessary - they eventually see no other way out of the maze in which they have placed themselves but to throw off the trappings of Christianity entirely. This, however, is not addressing the core issue: they should be, but are not, a GENUINE believer.

What do I mean by a "genuine believer"? I often resort to the following illustration when explaining how actual belief evidences itself.

One clear, August, summer day, you are walking past an apartment building when you notice that one of the suites on the top floor is burning, smoke and flames billowing from the window. However, no one seems to be fleeing the building, and you are concerned that no one in the lower levels is aware that their building is burning to the ground. In a moment of courage you sprint to the door of the building, yank it open, and dash into the hallway.

"Fire! Fire! Everybody out!" you tell as you bang on the doors in passing, "The building's on fire! EVERYBODY OUT!"

Some people listen to you, swinging open their doors, grabbing their prized possessions and family members, and rushing down the stairs. Others, however, hear your desperate warning but don't believe what they are hearing.

"Pfgah! There is no fire!" they tell themselves, "Must be somebody's kid playing a prank!"

Little do they know that they, and everything that is valuable to them, is in grave danger of incineration.

Others, too, hear what you are saying, but, since the fire alarm has not gone off, they do not think they have to hurry so much. They walk about their apartments, slowly gathering their things. While slightly better than the deniers, they still hold themselves in peril, and are likely to be burned to a crisp.

This illustration is apt, I believe, as it demonstrates the difference that truly believing something has. Those who trusted the voice of warning immediately jumped into action based off of those words, but those who disbelieved did absolutely nothing. The people that took the word seriously enough to move, but not seriously enough to run, while at a lesser risk than those who did not move at all, are still putting themselves in foolish and unnecessary danger by not taking the alarm as seriously as they ought. This is the same regarding belief.

If someone knows something, but they would be - or are - unwilling to act based upon it, then it is doubtful that they believe it in sincerity. If someone is willing to take half-hearted action based off of some knowledge they have acquired, they believe it to a certain extent, but not enough for a dogmatic, decisive action. However, if a person genuinely understands and believes a piece of information, they will be willing to do whatever that Intel requires of them.

This is what I mean by a genuine believer: someone who is sincerely convinced of the truth of the Bible, to the extent that they do not waffle and they do not sit inactive, but they demonstrate their belief of God's Word by LIVING it - by acting upon it. Simply, a true belief in anything important will lead to action based upon it.

As I stated previously, I believe that the core issue with many believers - including leadership - in local churches is that they are not genuine believers. In tandem with our example, they are either in the crowd that does not move at all, or in the group that partially believes, placing themselves in harm's way. Because there are several truths they disbelieve or partially believe, they are speeding down the fast track to spiritual shipwreck from hypocrisy. The aforementioned truths will be discussed further on.

As this discourse regards the fallen and falling leadership in biblical churches, we will hone in on them. They, like everyone else, have the issue of a double life because of unbelief, but the actions or inaction that their unbelief produces has a greater effect because of the influence their lives naturally have, given the authority that they wield. If the average layman falls, it will effect himself, his family, and to some extent, his church, but if the pastor falls, it effects every member of every family in that congregation, undermining his counsel and his preaching, smearing the name of Christ, dirting the testimony of churches in general and that church in particular, and proverbially nuking every opportunity that that church had to reach those in that community. This is an atrocity of gargantuan proportions.

This is the first part of a series of articles I am writing on the subject. Please stay tuned for the second portion.