Posted August 9th, 2012 at 10:24 PM by Lois
A pastor morally falls. So does his son. People are devastated, hurt, confused, angry, sad and their faith is shaken. A church is thrown into turmoil. This is happening now in Junction City, Kansas.
The pastor, Edwin Young, suddenly and without warning, turned in his resignation last week (August 2nd). The church is already set to vote on a possible new pastor this week, possibly Don Boyer, who Young felt should succeed him.
Young took over the church after the death of L.E. Westberg, one of the men instrumental in pushing through the affirmation resolution in 1992 (went into effect in 1993). At that time, Faith Tabernacle was a part of the United Pentecostal Church. Both men held license with the UPC, but Young ended up leaving the organization and went independent apostolic at some point after becoming the pastor. From things I heard, it got stricter under Young.
What causes a pastor to fail morally? Are there signs we can watch for, that something seriously is wrong in the life of a minister? It hits the news more and more and involves various church groups. There's another big story going on now in Indiana that has been reported by the media.
I will share one thing I have learned through the years and red lights go on whenever I hear it happens. When a minister is harsh in sermons and outside the pulpit, BEWARE. There is an enormous difference between speaking in love against sin, or what one perceives to be sin, and another when people are torn into, made examples of, and treated not in love by a minister. There is also a problem when no sin is involved, but a minister gets irritated at someone and rips into them in front of all.
From numerous reports, that is exactly what this minister did for years and years. If similar things happened in a healthy church, the pastor's wrong behavior would have been addressed when it happened or soon after. But at this church, it wasn't. It was tolerated, allowed, and even thought to be proper conduct by many. Many 'amened' him and cheered him on when he did these things. It isn't proper behavior. It is far, far from how a minister is to conduct themselves.
A huge problem is that in unhealthy churches, this is often a gradual process. And when it gets to this point, the people have been conditioned through previous teachings and incidents, to accept what is happening. The pastor is "the man of God." You don't "touch God's anointed." The pastor "watches for your soul and has to give account of you." The pastor knows more than you and what is best. If the pastor is wrong, all we can do is "pray about it and let God correct him." So when people have this type of mindset, it opens the door for much abuse and other wrong things.
Learn how a pastor is to be. Go to your Bibles and search this out. A main characteristic of a minister is they...
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