It
is a must reading how religious leaders cover up their sins and the
sins of other leaders, pastors, missionaries, teachers, and members.
It is a disgrace to God, to Christianity, and to the leaders and
members who are godly.
These
fake Christians need to be exposed.
Covering
up sin is dealt with in the Scriptures.
Ai
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Great victories had come to Israel. The army approached Ai, a small town. “Surely,” they thought, “we will easily win this battle.” They lost. They grieved. Joshua and the people wept, prayed to God, and complained, but God was angry and explained that Israel had sinned.
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God had commanded that whatever was in Jericho was God’s, not any individual’s. This had not been obeyed. It was covered up.
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A few of the verses:
Joshua 7:1, 3-4, 6-7, 10-11,
13-15, 20-22, 26 NLT But
Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the
LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so
the LORD was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of
Carmi, a descendant of Zimri son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah. ...
When they returned, they told Joshua, "There's no need for all
of us to go up there; it won't take more than two or three thousand
men to attack Ai. Since there are so few of them, don't make all our
people struggle to go up there." So approximately 3,000 warriors
were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai ... Joshua
and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on
their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the
LORD until evening. Then Joshua cried out, "Oh, Sovereign LORD,
why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let
the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the
other side! ... But the LORD said to Joshua, "Get up! Why are
you lying on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken my
covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must
be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied
about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. ... "Get
up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for
tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden
among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD. You will
never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among
you. "In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and
the LORD will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs.
That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the LORD will point
out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the LORD
will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty
family must come forward one by one. The one who has stolen what was
set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along
with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the LORD
and has done a horrible thing in Israel." ... Achan replied, "It
is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. Among the
plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins, and a
bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I
took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the
silver buried deeper than the rest." So Joshua sent some men to
make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden
there, just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the
rest. ... They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains
to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of
Trouble ever since. So the LORD was no longer angry.
Covering
up a crime discussed: Genesis 37:26 NLT Judah
said to his brothers, "What will we gain by killing our brother?
We'd have to cover up the crime.
False
prophets (and pastors
and other religious
workers today) cover up
sins:
B1 Ezekiel 22:28 NLT And
your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and
making lying predictions. They say, 'My message is from the Sovereign
LORD,' when the LORD hasn't spoken a single word to them.
B2 Another translation:
Ezekiel 22:28 GNB The
prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with
whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They
claim to speak the word of the Sovereign LORD, but I, the LORD, have
not spoken to them.
We
are not to cover up but to expose.
Proverbs
28:13 NLT People who
conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn
from them, they will receive mercy.
We
are to hate evil, not cover it up: Romans 12:9 WEL Love
must be sincere. Hate what is evil. Stick tightly to what is good.
The
Lord Jesus exposed sin:
B1 John 3:20 NLT All
who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their
sins will be exposed.
B2 John 7:7 NLT The
world can't hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of
doing evil.
The
prophets exposed sin: Amos 5:10-11 NLT How
you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth!
You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair
rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will
never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never
drink wine from them.
The
purpose of exposing sin is to bring conviction
and repentance. Consider King David after he had raped Bathsheba and
ordered her husband to be murdered.
B1 He acknowledges his sin:
Psalms 51:3 NRSV For
I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
B2 He acknowledges his sin is
against God: Psalms 51:4 NRSV Against
you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you
pass judgment.
B3 He acknowledges original
sin (the sin nature that all humans have except for the Lord Jesus):
Psalms 51:5 NRSV Indeed,
I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
B4 He acknowledges God’s
value placed on truth. God knows everything, so we might as well
agree with God’s opinion. Psalms 51:6 NRSV You
desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my
secret heart.
B5 He acknowledges that only
God can forgive sin: Psalms 51:7 NRSV Purge
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow.
B6 He acknowledges that only
God can fix what is broken in a person’s soul: Psalms 51:10 NRSV
Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
B7 David doesn’t ask for
happiness; he pleads for joy in his soul that only God can give:
Psalms 51:12 NRSV Restore
to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
B8 He acknowledges that God
doesn’t want penance, instead God wants a broken (that is not
proud) attitude: Psalms 51:17 NRSV The
sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite
heart, O God, you will not despise.
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