Why is it a test of your faith?

Question

Why do people say it's a test of their faith when their pastor, bishop, clergyman, priest or someone of a political statue fall from grace per say or admit to being gay a child molestor, murderer or what have you. How is it a direct test of the people around them if you had nothing to do with the act then see it as that person screwed up, you didn't just because you believed in them. Just a thought.....

Answer 1

Because the majority of these people have been told what to think and beleive by this very person that has "fallen from grace" - thus it makes it challenging to their faith when the person that preached to them for years now turns out to be what that same person was preaching against in the first place...

Answer 2

Because it really shows where some people's faith is founded. If it were founded in the pastor, bishop, or whoever, and they were only christian because that person was, and they did not have a personal relationship with God, then they too would probably "fall from grace" or stop believing. If on the other hand the faith were founded in Jesus, then that person would still be able to keep their faith strong, even after their spiritual leader stopped believing.

For example, if your spiritual leader one day decided that Christianity was false, and God didn't exist, then it is a real test of your faith. Will you follow in your sinful human leader's footsteps, or will you still follow Jesus?

Answer 3

Well, in a sense it is a test of a person's faith. If the pastor is someone you admire, then you might feel they have let you down as a religious figure. However, everyone makes mistakes and is not perfect. If someone's faith is going to change because their pastor molested someone or something like that, then the person who changes their faith must not believe in their faith that much to let it affect their beliefs.

Answer 4

Our faith is in God, not in the clergyman.
His holiness or thundering sermons or TV ratings have nothing to do with our personal faith.
Just as God has done a great cleansing in the Church by permitting for these sickos to get caught, so does God do a great cleansing when people lose their faith over a human beings bad behavior, and they leave. Such faith ain't worth much. Just a thought.

Answer 5

Because your faith should be in the Divine not the messenger. If I sent you a message via a homing pidgeon, you would read and understand the message and release the pidgeon right ( not cook it i hope )

- It IS a direct test... coz for eg. in order for someone to learn Patience there HAS TO BE someone that brings up our temper and make us WANT to be impatient and sock the daylights out of that person, right? lol

a little weird but GOOD question :)

Answer 6

actually, i think human beings are communal in nature and thus what happens in one affects the whole.

it is seen as a test because the perception is that the man( or woman) comitted the act & not God, which i agree with. it can be a test in the sense th@ it determines whether the congregation were following the individual or the Creator.

however, it is indicative of issues th@ the individual has. a healthy reaction (i believe) would be 2 help the individual thru the issue instead of compounding it with judgement.

Answer 7

because we are never sure how strong our personal faith is only God can know and He does test us from time to time not to fault or trip us up as some without faith would have it,but to make us aware that it needs to be strenghtened, when those in pastoral authority fall as you put it, is our faith in the Lord of all or invested too much in others, remember all these Priests and Ministers are only earthern vessels after all .

Answer 8

Can you not judge them for their behaviors? For as Christan's we are not to judge others, that is God's responsibility. Can you forgive them for their behaviors? This is what a Christian is expected to do. So this would be two examples of what may be meant of a test of your faith. God bless