Exposing Evil
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Ephesians 5:11
Hobo. The word is still in the dictionary but I’m not sure if it is politically correct.
I was listening to an older man’s boyhood memory of living along a railroad line and having his home visited by “Hobos.” Hobos would hop off the train they had jumped onto for transport looking for someone who would feed them.
When, like this man’s mother, they found a willing provider, they would mark the house in an unknown way. Other Hobos traveling through would then know it was a “safe place” to ask for food.
As the unexposed sexual sin of the Catholic Church came out this week, the number of priests involved in sin of sexual assault on children in their flocks was mind boggling! It is as if the church is marked so predators know they can do as they please.
I know of another story in an evangelical church where two Pastors were asked to resign because of accusations of inappropriate behavior with underage girls. In one case, the church threw the man a going away party…presumably to protect the congregation from knowing what had happened.
I am worried, that like the Hobos of an earlier time, these predators have learned to mark the “safe places.” Though I am grateful for people willing to feed the hungry (hobos or not), it breaks my heart that any church would be a “safe place” for any sexual predator.
Ephesians 5:11 tells us to “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
When the Church of Jesus Christ allows these men to remain in the ranks of leadership, or encourages them to quietly leave the area with no consequences for their actions (right after the going away party!), it puts more young people at risk. Perhaps not in the church they are in, but in the next one.
When we fail to enact church discipline against a predator:
- the congregation is deceived about the departure of the man
- the next place is not warned or their “sheep” protected
- most importantly, God’s Word is not obeyed
Though these experiences do not leave a visible mark on the church building, I do believe there is something lacking in vetting the new hire. Churches that allow these predators among their ranks are not looking for Shepherds. They are looking for a hired hand (John 10:11-13). We hire the next man with the same lax principles of interviewing that skips over the hard questions about why they left their previous positions (or their use of pornography – a topic for another post).
There is not a problem with a Hobo who tells his friends where to find a free meal. But Church, please be aware of who is leading your flock. Men who come in and make a quick meal of our young people are predators whose evil needs to be exposed.
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