New Testament Standards For New Testament People (November 12, 2006)

The name of King David has been coming up lately in discussions among evangelicals. It always does whenever a leader falls as badly as Ted Haggard did recently. The template for the discussion seems to be that great men of God often stumble into adultery and other crimes when they let their guard down. It is understandable - they have all these pressures from being so great. Satan has put a big target on their backs, and tempts them a lot harder than he does you or me. When they fall, the important thing for us is to love them, and, despite our disappointment, forgive and restore them. We're not saying Haggard's sin was o. k. - it was bad of course - but so was the sin of King David. So let's forgive him and show how much we care for him.

Here's my problem with that.

It implies that nothing has changed with the coming of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church. It suggests that despite the cross, despite new life in Christ, despite the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, despite the inauguration of the Kingdom, we really should not expect our leaders and shepherds to behave any better than Old Testament kings and patriarchs.

I reject this pessimism. There is a fundamental change between the Old and New Testaments. The standard is higher now that Messiah has come.

Consider for example the sins of lying, stealing and adultery. Old Testament leaders lied often: see Genesis 20:2; 26:7; 33:13-17 and 1 Samuel 21:2 for lies of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. Jacob was a thief (Genesis 27:35), Judah picked up a prostitute by the side of the road (Genesis 38:15-16), and David was an adulterer (2 Samuel 11).

But when you get to the New Testament, where do you see lying, stealing or adultery among the apostles of Christ or other church leaders? I can only find one lie, and that is when Peter was reduced to desperate prevarication in order to save himself from death by torture - Mark 14:66-72. (The other liars, Ananias and Sapphira, died
on the spot - Acts 5:1-10). There was only one thief among them, and it was Judas the Betrayer (John 12:6). As for adultery, there is no record of any apostle or church leader cheating on his wife. On the contrary, the unnamed adulterer of 1 Corinthians 5 was kicked out of his church, and repeat offenders were said to be shut out of the kingdom of God! (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 6:19-21).

After the resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the church, just what sins do you see among the apostles and church leaders? Well, Paul confessed to coveting (Romans 7:7-8). Peter refused to eat at a Gentile table (Galatians 2:11-12). John Mark turned back from a dangerous missionary journey (Acts 13:13). Compared to Old Testament iniquity, this is pretty tame stuff! Yet though these sins were relatively minor, they were dealt with severely: Paul agonized over his covetousness (Romans 7:14-24); he rebuked Peter to his face (Galatians 2:11,14); and he refused to give John Mark a second chance (Acts 15:37-40) until much later in life (2 Timothy 4:11).

That was for lesser sins! When it came to major transgressions, the New Testament response was "Die" (Acts 5:5,9); "May you and your money go to hell" (Acts 8:20); and "Hand him over to Satan" (1 Corinthians 5:5).

I'm really fed up with Old Covenant indulgence of New Covenant sin. I don't want to hear King David's example invoked next time we have on our hands one of those stinking preacher-adulterers like Ted Haggard, Gordon MacDonald, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert or Rev. Jesse Jackson. Enough is enough! The New Testament rule is in Ephesians 5:3: "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."