"For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." (Isaiah 62:1)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Religious “Behavior” Modification

A short news story out of Cincinnati, Ohio is a grim reminder of the child-abuse sex scandals that rocked the religious world over the past several years. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has provided its priests with the latest list of “inappropriate” behavior regarding children.

The tragic story of sexual perversion by supposed men of God was not confined to the Catholic church and its priesthood. Subsequent news reports and spinoffs from these wretched revelations opened the door to an array of child abuse, adult sexual misconduct, theft and other improper and illegal behavior in professing Christian churches around the world.

How did such perverted men gain admittance to the ministry? Paul gave specific guidelines about ordaining ministers: “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence” (1 Timothy 3:2-4).

There is no need for a new or updated code of conduct for God’s true ministers. It has always existed in His Word – embodied in His law, revealed in His Bible. The true minister is ruled by that Word and does not become a minister until he proves he is ruled by it.

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