TOO BIG FOR YOUR BRITCHES -- Devotional for August 23, from "Good Seeds"

Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

Thomas Paine said, “Character is much easier kept than recovered.” We know that Joseph lost his coat but kept his character. Just today I received news from a friend and fellow church member in a church I used to attend, that the pastor had just been asked to resign. It seems he had been counseling a woman privately, against church policy – a policy he had helped to craft – and when advised by his elders to desist, mysteriously he refused. There was no affair, to anyone’s knowledge, but the situation was causing quite a stir in the church. His action had raised some eyebrows, and his character was beginning to be questioned. Several of his close friends had strongly urged him to protect himself from any suspicion by taking himself “off the case” and turning it over to a professional female counselor. They were greatly saddened when he refused to listen to them, for they knew what they had to do next, as mandated by Matthew 18:15-17: take it to the elders. Now this is a pastor who was highly regarded and much loved by the people. There was no vendetta against him, no looking for loopholes so he could be fired. It seems the only case made against him was the one he made against himself, by his own pride. What a terrible shame that after so many years of faithful service, skillful teaching and helpful shepherding, his tenure would come to such an abrupt and immediate end. Why did it happen? What principle was violated that this pastor’s peers, no matter how much they loved and respected him, could not abide? Just another of the biblical ONE ANOTHER'S. The injunction to “be subject to one another” is not aimed only at the Christian in the pew, but also pointed squarely at the pastor in the pulpit. What happened to him is the same thing that happens to any leader, be he a CEO, a congressman, a governor, a schoolteacher or a parent, when he takes too big a gulp of his own importance: he deceives himself into thinking he is right in his decisions and righteous in his ways, regardless of what others may think. When you become “too big for your britches,” they cease to cover you and your sin is exposed. The Bible says, "The fear of man brings a snare," but in this case it was "the fear of Christ" that was missing, which would have helped this pastor to see how badly he needed to heed the cautions of his friends.