Have you witnessed sin in your church?

Question

In the first 18 years of my life, in a small town in Missouri, I witnessed a pastor have an affair with his secretary and leave his wife...

I witnessed a single youth minister, impregnate one of his youth, ( to their credit, they married and are still together, 15 years later).,...this is in a Baptist church in small town Missouri...

This must happen on a much larger scale all over the country...

How can religious people continually point fingers at others when their own house is not in order?

But, the question is...how much sin have you witnessed in your church and church leaders?

Answer 1

I can not cast the first stone.

Answer 2

The thing to always remember when viewing sin is that we are all human. Christians strive towards an ideal model set forth by Christ but as humans we can never obtain it. It is not until the resurrection that we will once again be perfect creations blemish free.

Paul revealed our inner struggle beautifully in Romans 7:15
For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing that I hate.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

This is not saying that sin is allowed but it is saying that people make mistakes sometimes and if that happens we are called to turn away from the mistake and seek the right path. That is one of the true gifts of Christianity, forgiveness for poor judgement.

Answer 3

Too much to elaborate on here.

A couple of incidents that stick out in my mind:

The pastor's wife leaving him for a married member of the church.

The pastor getting involved with a young teen girl and marrying her as soon as she turned eighteen.

I don't attend that church anymore.

Answer 4

I have not witnessed a lot of sin in my church, however, I have witnessed some. Unfortunately, just because we are Christians doesn't exempt us from temptation and a sinful nature. We ask God to forgive us for our sin, as He knows we are not able on our own to live a sinless life. I guess you could say we are not perfect, just forgiven :)

Answer 5

First It is so much easier for some people to point fingers when their house is a mess because they feel it will take attention off of them and put it somewhere else.

I have not really seen any sin, I am sure it was there but my parish was failry large and I suppose it is easier to hide these things in larger places.

I sinned, so maybe others noticed me. (nothing like cheating, or sleeping with young people though!!)

Answer 6

I don't know why people believe that people who go to church are perfect. There was only one perfect man to walk this earth and His name is Jesus. In your experience and I'm sure in many others, there are bigger devils in the church than there are outside of it. We can't tell the difference between the saved and the unsaved because of their behavior. It's because they are going to church, but church is not in them. 2 Timothy warned us about such people; those having only a "form of godliness". God wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth so it is our responsibility to make sure we don't make the mistakes of those around us.
Be encouraged and know that God will take care of His own.

Answer 7

You are absolutely correct. However, one should not judge relationship with Christ by the examples of men. Thats why Christ came, to offer up a propitiation for the sin of men. Those who act as you have described will be held accountable for their actions, before God. He will judge them fairly and they will pay a price for being stumbling blocks.

Answer 8

Yes, all the time when I attended Church.

Answer 9

EVERYONE is immperfect and subject to sin. We have all seen others slip and fall. It is our job to help pick them back up, so that when we fall they can do the same.

Answer 10

more than I would like to remember. But, on the other hand I have seen great things in the church also

Answer 11

I don't have a church.

However, I believe that all churches are quite sinful.