There is such a thing as “professional courtesy” where one professional provides services for a fellow professional out of courtesy. That’s fine. But there’s one expression of professional courtesy that is frustrating to me: Sometimes in the circles of big name Christian ministers/leaders, when one of the leaders has a serious moral failure related to sex or money, etc, it seems that others in that circle often, perhaps out of professional courtesy, don’t make a big deal about it, and even support that person’s continuation in ministry without requiring any signs of genuine and demonstrated repentance or discipline or period of restoration. Because of this, the seriousness of sin is not acknowledged or taught, and the reverence for God and His holiness among the faithful in those circles is adulterated. Cheap grace.
I’ve heard teachings by leaders and their followers that ascribe to those concerned about things like this that “they have a religious spirit.” Yeah, right! One teacher I heard advocated that a worship pastor who had an ongoing adulterous affair with another man’s wife in the same church for four years should be able to continue in ministry without any period of discipline or re-earning the trust of the church or testing his repentance, because he cried and admitted, after he was caught, that he had been doing wrong. No matter that the other marriage and family was decimated. No matter that the church’s understanding of the serious nature of sin was diluted and regard for God’s holiness was distorted beyond recognition. How sad!
I also recently heard a teaching on fear of man versus fear of God. And it occurs to me that this kind of professional courtesy that I am referring to here is definitely an expression of the fear of man. When leaders are afraid to confront blatant sin for what it is, or afraid to be seen as uncompassionate to the point where they do not hold fellow leaders accountable for blatant sin, that is certainly fear of man, and not fear of God. Something’s gotta change!