There but for the grace of God

I received a heartbreaking email from GodTV the other day containing a public statement that Todd Bentley and his wife are experiencing marital difficulties  and have separated. This is after over 150 days of powerful meetings in Lakeland (which I spoke about in previous posts). There are two things to be learned here. First of all for all of us who are in leadership, we NEED to protect our marriages and families. God always comes first but ministry ALWAYS comes after family. Todd was at almost every meeting, 7 days a week, which must have put huge strain on his family life. In our western corporate styled church we work our leaders and evangelists hard and often treat them either as one dimensional celebrities or as people there for our benefit. We consume, like customers of McDonald’s or Starbucks,  and I’ve seen leaders get consumed and sucked dry. Leaders are partly to blame too, being flawed human beings. We are often goal orientated, single minded and insecure and eager to please.

Secondly I’m just waiting for the “I told you so” judgments from the church. I’ve been saddened over the past few months at the venom of the church in how it judges. Often Christians show the least mercy and love when we should be showing the most. We should use this opportunity  to break this spirit of judgment (which comes from our own corrupt insecurity) and bless and pray for our brothers and sisters who fall, or are having a hard time. Jesus is all about restoration and grace. The measure we use to judge others is how we will be judged, be careful. It can happen to any of us. So, when you pray tonight, pray for your leaders and pray for their families, remember leaders are human too.