God has called us to look at our own shortcomings as pastors. He has allowed us to seek and receive forgiveness from those we have failed.
For every Christian family that has been attacked or abandoned by local church leaders … can you imagine what it would be like for your (heartbroken) children to hear these words from their former shepherd-overseers? For the pastor’s wife who saw her husband ripped apart by fellow ordained leaders? The traumatized woman retraumatized by the very men who had sworn before God to protect her …
Listen to the balm in Gilead! See what fresh air, light, repentance, and LOVE do to the boiling caldron of acidic grief and pain that is the result of your wounding words, actions, and inactions.
It’s not too late. You can face what you have done and admit what you have not done. Oceans of forgiveness and grace are waiting to wash over you—but until you take even just one step of repentance, there can be no transactional forgiveness; just positional.
Please. Listen to these fellow leaders and follow them. May grace fall down like rain! Peace like precious oil running down Aaron’s beard!
“During a long, hard pastors’ meeting in which we were beginning to see some of our faults, one of our pastors said, ‘We have been given a gift.’ After months of reflection, we believe this statement more than ever. Being made to see our blind spots has been a gift to us. In the last few months, God has increased our sensitivity to the concerns of the abused. He has called us to look at our own shortcomings as pastors. He has allowed us to seek and receive forgiveness from those we have failed.”