A Troubling Situation

Over the past year I have been troubled by a number of occasions of marriage and divorce by people in leadership. One was a renewal leader who was reported to lead gatherings with great healings, signs and wonders. It was discovered that this leader was having an affair with a female worker. A group of leaders sought to intervene, but as reported, the renewal leader was unwilling to break the illicit relationship, divorced and then married the worker. Another prominent leader took him under his wing and restored him to ministry. To my knowledge, there were no biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage.

Today, such a situation is not at all unusual - even in the Messianic Movement. Often the final arbitration in these situations is left to the conscience of the minister. There is no final accountability to a group of senior leaders who are charged with investigating the matter and determining a judgment. Some years ago I wrote the book, Due Process, A Plea for Biblical Justice Among God's People to address these kinds of issues. In this article, I want to revisit some of the most important themes of this book. The Body of Believers is in a crisis of moral failure due to a misunderstanding of the Gospel and of the nature of the covenant community that is to be formed from the preaching of the Gospel.

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