Recently as I read through some of the mail that came across my desk I felt a great sadness. One person talked about being molested as a child. This story, however, was not about being molested by an uncle or a step father. Rather, it was the story of systematic molestation by a church deacon! And – according to the story – the church was aware of the deacon’s behavior, because he had done it before.

Before I could recover from the sadness of this story, I came across another that talked about “coming out.” After 35 years of hiding his true nature from his sisters, this gentleman shared his ‘secret’ with them. In predictable fashion, these good church women suggested that he was living in sin; had been tricked by the devil; and needed to repent.

Although I have left out a lot of details, what we have here is a broken system. We have a system where church leaders create profound sexual confusion in young boys on the one hand; and then well-meaning church members use the Bible (or their understanding thereof) to destroy honest men on the other hand!

The core mission of the church is beautifully articulated in Luke 4:18. The church’s mission of rescue and recovery has been completely abandoned in favor of legalism and dishonesty. The imperative for the church is to put in place a new infrastructure that (1) does not tolerate dishonesty from its leadership; and (2) supports – rather than condemn – all of its members wherever they are in seeking to find and be who they are authentically.

Luke 4:18 says:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;

he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted,

to preach deliverance to the captives,

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty them that are bruised…

 That message of rescue and recovery sets in stark contrast to the condemnation and alienation so rampant in churches today. Instead, churches have become major political power houses – standing on platforms that play well to their constituents. While that is smart business, and promotes church growth, it doesn’t rescue the perishing; it doesn’t heal the wounded soul.

As I was in mourning over this dilemma of the church, the Spirit spoke to me and simply said, “It’s Harvest Time.”

Matthew 13: 30 says “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

It’s time for those whose hearts are not right to be weeded out.

I have already begun to come under criticism as my book, The Making of a Preacher: Naked in the Pulpit, hits the marketplace. I am praying that God’s Spirit will strengthen me for the battle that lies ahead as I courageously stand up for what I believe.