Touch not the Lord’s anointed?

Who is protecting who?

Some Church leaders should be fired! Yes, you read that right.

Abuse of authority in the church has had a sharp increase, particularly in Africa with the rise of the mysterious men/women of god (the small ‘g’ is intentional). These men and women are sheltered and protected because any disgrace that falls upon them is assumed to also be a disgrace on God. Inversely, any respect and reverence rendered to them is seen as good in the sight of God. Spend a little time on Facebook and you will no doubt come across a video or image to this effect with these characters slapping people, walking all over them and stories of physical and sexual abuse being commonplace.

This abuse of authority can be seen in a number of techniques, but the one that this article focuses on is one that is shielded with a misquoted passage of scripture. Touch not the Lord’s anointed (Psalm 105:15). A lot of damage has been done through the misuse of this one verse. All manner of intimidation and abuse has been carried out while people within the church and around the church leaders defend and protect the man/woman of god from the consequences of their actions. Because of this, it is important that we ask and answer the question, who is really protecting who?

The first line of protection has to be the honour and glory of God. If God’s name is being dishonoured then Christians should be the first to stand up and say there is a problem. The Psalms are full of this. David looks at the nations around and how their words and lifestyle blaspheme and mock the holy God, and he cries out to God. “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain” (Psalm 2:1-3). No good dog sits by while its master is mocked, derided and attacked. Christians should have a higher sense of loyalty than dogs. This disgrace and dishonour should be rebuked, and dealt with even if it comes from the man/woman of god. God’s name must be hallowed above all, even that of his man-servant. So who is protecting who?

The second line of protection is the church of Christ. What is the most precious thing on earth according to God? Is it not the Church, his bride? The bride for whom He came to earth, lived and died. Bought at the price of His own blood (Ephesians 1:22-23). The church of Christ is precious to him and this is why God gave shepherds; to protect and care for the sheep, His church, His bride. If the shepherd begins to take liberties that are not his and abuse the sheep then who should be protected? Who is the standard bearer for Christ? Without a pastor, you still have the church but without the church, there can be no pastor. So who is protecting who?

The third line of protection is the witness. Christ redeemed his church and gave the church a mission. We are to be his body ministering to one another and reaching the world with the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. This mission is one that we should take seriously because Christ takes it very seriously. This witnessing, this life of worship is the very reason that we were saved (Ephesians 1:11-12). This witness of ours is damaged when we place the man/woman of god at the top. We turn the church into a bunch of liars and our witness goes with that. We take the name of God and we drive it through the mud. Are we not without shame? Who is protecting who?

There is real hurt being done in Zambia and in the world, and it is also being carried out in churches and church-led organisations. We must take this seriously because the glory of Christ is at stake. The beauty of the bride is at stake, the worship and witness of the church is at stake and the souls of his image bearers are at stake. It is about more than just the man/woman of god. And so if we know of things like this that are happening then we should definitely call them to account, because at that point they are nowhere close to being the Lord’s anointed. They are actually imposters!

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