Holiness and the First Stone

"Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy." Leviticus 19:2


I was hanging out at one of the Roman Catholic churches near our congregation yesterday and was able to catch the 7pm mass there. The priest was talking about the issue of holiness and how men of the cloth are often misunderstood -- because of the scandals involving priests that have plagued the Roman Catholic Church [and even in other denominations].

As the priest was speaking, the Lord spoke to me about His requirement of holiness. People always have this high standard of holiness measured against priests, pastors and ministers without realizing that God requires holiness from all His children, not just from those chosen to minister in front of people.

Parishioners and congregants have this glossed over idea that their clergy, church leaders and ministers are in a higher plane of holiness simply because they appear in front of the masses. While it is true that there is a higher level of accountability for priests and pastors, I believe God requires the same standard of holiness for everyone, whether we are the shepherd of our flock or a sheep in the flock.

In Leviticus 19:2, God clearly states that requirement: "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy." He does not give this command to a chosen few of his people but to all His people. "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel..." God says in verse 1 before giving the mandate of holiness to the people of Israel.

Immediately, what came to mind when the priest was sharing his homily was the story of Jesus and the sinful woman who was about to be stoned by the people because she was caught in sin. I was reminded of how easy and quick it is for us, the bench warmers and the pew-packers, to turn into a mob once we see our leaders, pastors or priests falling into some form of sin and immorality. Almost everyone of us wants to be the one to cast the first stone, without first checking if we ourselves have been living in complete, untarnished holiness and if we have managed to avoid every temptation that came our way.

Two questions came up while listening to the preaching last night:

1) do we, as congregants and parishioner, apply the same high standards of holiness in our own personal lives that we expect from our leaders?

and

2) do we pray for our leaders and cover them and the ministry that they do?

See, it's easy to point fingers at the mistakes of others, especially if they are front line ministers, people who have been called to serve us in front of many. But who's pointing a finger at our own mistakes? I can only hope we're are as adamant at our own failures as we are at the failure of others. Otherwise, we'd all be like the Pharisees and Sadducees who lived a life of hypocrisy. If we demand such high standards of holiness on priests, let us remember to apply the same high standards of holiness on ourselves because God doesn't have a holiness discrimination -- He requires and expects holiness from all of us, whether we are pastors or lay ministers or churchgoers. He requires it from all of us because He is a holy God.

Also, if our leaders fall into sin and fail, let's check ourselves to see if we did our part in covering them and supporting them in prayer. Paul encouraged Timothy -- and all of us -- to pray for all people and to "pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God"[1 Timothy 2:2]. As much as our leaders and authority figures are accountable to God for their own lives and for leading us, we are also accountable to God for our own lives and for spiritual support [among others] we are to give to our leaders. It takes two tango you know, and if our priests fall into immorality or our pastors fall short in the area of holiness, chances are we didn't do our part in covering them with our prayers.

I have heard many people [and I was one of these before] complain about the weaknesses of their leaders; complain about the duplicity of some priests; criticize the flaws of their pastors; point fingers at the inadequacies of their ministers; bawl about how the pastoral style is not to their liking; whine about the holiness and purity issues in the clergy; while we ourselves did not take time to check our own lives and our standing before the Lord.

Our leaders, pastors and priests are only human... and still human regardless of the titles attached to their names or the priestly garments they put on their bodies. They face the trials and testings as we do; encounter temptations like we do; they feel lust, pride, jealousy, anger and hurt like we do. They've not shed their vulnerability to the flesh just because their names are prefixed with Fr. or Rev. It just means that they are called to serve where they are. They have a calling and they have heeded that call. That doesn't make them holier or stronger or better than the rest of us. They are still human beings like you and me, but they are just called to that area of ministry.

This is not to excuse the sins and shortcomings that our ministers and leaders commit and fall into. Far from that actually. The Bible tells us to confess our sins and repent of them. It also tells us to correct and rebuke when ever a wrong comes up. I believe that if our leaders fall into issues of immorality and sin, they should be subject to disciplinary action as much as any member of the flock is. But the point I'm trying to make is this: to expect others to abide by a certain measure of holiness without adhering to the same measure ourselves is foolishness. It's like the old saying "do as I say; but do not as I do." Or saying something like "I expect you to be flawless and blameless, but never mind shining that light on my life."

If we expect our leaders to be good examples of holiness and righteousness, we must first have a realistic view about the issue. The truth is NONE OF US IS HOLY ON OUR OWN. That's why we all come to Jesus and adopt His holiness and righteousness as our own. The moment we start to think that we are holier than others, is the moment that God will begin to humble us and remind us that our righteousness as just like filthy rags before His eyes.

Jesus was very much against the issue of duplicity. He warned people about living pious public lives while leading sinful ones in private. If we are quick to point out the faults of our leaders -- even of our brethren -- we must be reminded to "first remove the plank from our own eye". Yes, there are priests who are errant, there are pastors who transgress, but we have been taught by the Lord Himself to forgive, to be compassionate and to carry each other's burden.

We all make mistakes, we all fall short of the glory of God. Instead of wanting to cast the first stone in the public square, let's put ourselves in the shoes of our leaders, priests and pastors -- or of anybody who sins for that matter -- and show the compassion of Christ to the sinner, while remaining hateful of the sin. "Separate the sinner from the sin. Love the sinner, hate the sin," is what I often hear from the first row from the pulpit where I sit. And it is sound advice. Jesus Himself adhered to it -- this was the message of His life. He extended His compassion and forgiveness and mercy to us. Why should we not do the same for our brothers and sisters?


Imagine what it would be like if Jesus was the one eager and ready to throw the first stone at you!