The Body Against The Body-When Sin In The Church Needs To Be Brought To The Light

“Who wins?” 
My friend asked me that when I said we needed to be honest and open about an abusive false teaching in a church we’d been a part of.  
 
His point was that Satan would win if the church calls out the church on some sin. 
I don’t think so. 
I understand that it would be good if we were all unified and in solidarity, but we aren’t. 
Who should call out the church if not the church? 
It is better to be honest, name names, and call sin sin. 
Satan wins if we don’t.
But should we do this with the world watching?
Yes. 
They are watching anyway. You can’t hide anything today.
That’s a good thing, because the outcome of the truth is the right outcome. 
If the church needs to stand up to the church, then we should do it. 
What I’m not talking about is persecution and inquisitions. 
I’m not talking about violence and the initiation of force. 
The church standing up to the church in some eras meant some pretty nasty things. 
What I am talking about is calling out the church with words—spoken words, written words, true words, falsifiable words. 
A pastor with a dark and secret past once told me as I drew a boundary between us, “Please don’t speak evil of me.” 
What he meant was, “please don’t say anything true about me if it’s negative.” 
All I knew at the time was that he believed he was an apostle and allowed to control and dominate the wills and consciences of those under his authority (the members of about 25 churches). 
He didn’t want me talking about that. 
I did not know that he had agrivated criminal sodemy of a minor on his record from the time he took advantage of a young man in the youth group he was leading in his first ministry position. I didn’t know that.
Is it evil to warn people? No. It was evil of him to sodomize that boy, but not evil of me to tell others to watch out for him and that he is disqualified from ministry. 
It was evil of him to say of the people in his churches that “some sheep are for reproducing and some are for slaughter.” That was evil of him to say, but not evil of me to tell others, lest they be the slaughtered. 
I’ve been writing for several clients lately who were sexually abused, some by pastors. They are courageously speaking out, because that is what’s necessary.
This post is dark. But light only comes from the truth, and abusers only stop abusing if they are not allowed to abuse. 
Churches or church leaders who are in sin only stop sinning if there is a boundary drawn around them. Truth is the first step. Don’t be afraid to tell it. This applies not only to sexual abuse, but spiritual abuse (of which sexual abuse is a form). 
My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle. — Zechariah 10:3 (ESV)