Psalm 105:15 bear the words, 'touch not my anointed, do my prophets no harm'. This is one scripture that has been abused and used one too many times to defend preachers, men and women of God. It has a certain ring of fear round it and it instills fear for the wrath of God to be executed on us. Most of us christians, as a result, steer clear from criticizing and judging men of God. We fear we might be struck by lighting or killed in a horrible way. There is even a factfile of horrible deaths of people who have denied or abused God. It all comes down to this verse. We ought to speak against evil and evil practices done by evil men or even men of the cloth. In speaking the truth, we do not 'touch' the Lord's anointed. However, in speaking against bad behaviour of 'men of God', let us weigh our words carefully as with the measure of judgement we give so shall we receive. It is a delicate balance. There is a difference between speaking the truth in love and tearing down. In tearing down someone with malice, we 'touch' the man. We may not do bodily harm to our preachers today but our words may destroy their lives and in so doing we violate the word of God.
After reading Njoki Chege's literary onslaught on one of the preachers in Nairobi, inevitably this scripture came to mind. Immediately, my mind started to conjure images of doom for this girl. The girl has quite the literary skill but often uses it to tear down rather than build up. I was okay with the onslaught on Subaru cars because it displayed the level of ignorance on these streets especially when it comes to cars. You don't argue with such. But when you start talking about religion, then you hit a raw nerve and I stand up and speak. The article was harsh and doesn't make for easy reading especially for those whose allegiance are to the preacher. I am not here to defend the preacher, I am well aware of the faults out there. I actually do not agree with the doctrine perpetuated by the preacher(s) but one thing I know is that God is no respecter of persons. God will use anybody inspite of and despite of them. You will hear God's voice from very strange places. If you expect to hear God from a perfect vessel then you may end up hearing nothing. It is in imperfect vessels that God is glorified. Granted, this is not a pass for bad behaviour but let us not be quick to judge. Only God can judge. He is the righteous judge because He has the full picture. He has the 3D picture of all things. We mostly see one side. Who knows what happens behind the closet?
Before I proceed, let me share my beliefs as pertains to pertinent issues in the Christian faith. I am all for honoring the man or woman of God but not elevating them to a pedestal reserved for God. I am not for demigods. I am all for giving to the church as God has commanded in His word, the Bible. I am not for seed-sowing-to-get-a-miracle. I am not for paying for your miracle. I am all for the man of God to live decently. I am not for lavish spending at the expense of poor congregants. I am not for showmanship. I am all for personal security. I am not for 'men-in-black' 'protecting' the 'man of God' from the very same people he is to help. The man of God is not a monopoly of all truth. He or she cannot be a financial advisor, a health expert and still a spiritual advisor. You cannot be all things. God called Paul to spread the gospel to the gentiles not the Jews. Peter was called to the Jews. Whenever Paul veered off from his main calling, he was shipwrecked, tortured and left for dead in the same city that Peter was freely preaching the gospel. I am all for sticking to your core mandate. Stick to your calling.
I am for the preacher. I am for the man of God. I sympathise with these breed of men. It seems that we have male, females and preachers. They are in a category of their own. We treat them as such. Ministry is a high calling and the man of God has to contend with the challenges that come with the calling. It is a thankless ministry. It is a ministry that the world does not expect you to show your humanity. In fact it is treason to be seen to show human characteristics which is often misinterpreted as weakness. In some churches there are washrooms for ladies, gents and pastors. How dare you see the man of God go to the washroom or have them share it with common men? As a man of God, your children should be model citizens of society, your wife should be the perfect wife and your church should be the perfect church. How often does one of these go wrong...We subconsciously put standards for these men and women in our mortal minds and hold them against them if they fall. The Bible cautions against aspiring to be preachers. God help you if you wish to become a preacher, a teacher. Aspire to be a doctor, a pilot, a lawyer but no, not a preacher. God will judge you with greater strictness.
It is a pity therefore that many delve into this calling. Many are eager to bear the title, 'man of God'. It is prestigious and classy. At least that is how it used to be. It may not look like it now but we still hold these guys in high esteem consciously or subconsciously. There were days we could even not let the man of God queue in line. We gave them a pass. Today, we sneer and can't wait to be the first to cast a 'stone' once they are caught in a scandal. The media is awash with stories of 'men of the cloth' being caught behaving badly. We even have a whole hour of an investigation series on prime time to expose these 'frauds'. Obviously, they have to be kept accountable and we will expose all frauds. It is our duty. One thing we forget is that the issues we deal with today have been there all along. Jesus called them thieves, hirelings and God called them false prophets in the Old Testament. In fact Jesus went on to say that we should let the wheat and the tares grow together. Let them be so to speak. Let God deal with them. It is the only way to deal with preachers. Leave them in the hands of He who called them. Just as we have good dogs and bad dogs, so it is with preachers. We have good and bad preachers. Preachers nonetheless. Men of God. The fact that they behave badly does not mean they are not called of God. God will deal with His own in His own way.
In respect to Njoki Chege's victim, let her be. As Gamaliel in Acts 5 said, if it is of God, it will show. Let them be and God will separate the 'wheat' from the 'tares' in due season. Finally, I appeal to us who are of the household of faith; let us not be quick to parade ourselves to the world to be judged by them. Let us put our house in order. Let us deal with our folk in-house. Let us not propagate our faults especially those of the man of God. Let us accept that we are dealing with men. The man of God is first a man and then he is of God. Let us differentiate who we are dealing with per time; the man or the Spirit of God in a man. The spiritual man judges all things as the Bible says. Let the Spirit of God be a witness of right or wrong in you. Filter the good from the bad. I sign off with words from 1 Corinthians 6:1-10. They are apt and I need not add more. It is clear what God thinks of this.
'When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! 2Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? 3Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. 4If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? 5I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? 6But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!7Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? 8Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.9Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 'NLT
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