Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
March 22, 1987
When A Christian Falls
2 Samuel 12:1-14
It can happen to anyone. The man had a demanding job. He was constantly under intense pressure, and always in the spotlight. The woman was beautiful, but lonely. The came across each other by chance. Soon they were having an affair. A man in his position could not risk a scandal, so he covered it up. Very effectively. In the end, the two of them got married and no one knew the better.
Except God. The situation I have described occurred 3,000 years ago but it is as up-to-date as this week's headlines. By now most of you are aware of the sudden resignation of Jim and Tammy Bakker. They are among the best-known Christians in the United States, if not the world. And now everything has fallen apart for them.
I had another sermon all set for today, but I feel God is leading me to deal with these events. Any way you look at it, it is big news. In a few years they had built one of the largest TV ministries in the world. They had fantastic entertainment, lively discussions, and a Christian resort complex that boggled the imagination. And it was not just for entertainment - thousands of hurting people feel that Almighty God has used Jim and Tammy to heal their distress. Anyone should be able to recognize that they have done a lot of good.
There has also been a huge amount of controversy. I think any successful Christian is going to face opposition. Jesus promised we would. The Bakkers have had their fair share. Tammy has been criticized for her makeup. Both have been criticized for their very lavish lifestyle. All along, there have been accusations that they misuse money that is sent to them. The Charlotte Observer newspaper has made it a crusade to bring them to task on this.
All of the opposition has taken its toll. About seven years ago they almost divorced. This month, Tammy was hospitalized to overcome a 17-year addiction to prescription drugs. This week the crowning blow came. Jim admitted paying over $100,0000 in blackmail money. Apparently someone in his own office found out he had sex with a woman, and blackmailed him. Maybe the whole thing was a set up. Maybe not.
You may think of it all as a huge tragedy, or just a joke. But it will be very damaging to the cause of Christ. This is the kind of event the world like to point to. On a TV interview program called "Crossfire," the newsman Tom Brokaw said all the TV ministers were fakes. Bakker's downfall was just the icing on the cake. The others have not been caught yet. Jerry Falwell said, "I am not naïve enough to think that a ministry of the magnitude of PTL and Heritage USA could go through a dilemma such as this without creating a backwash that could hurt every gospel ministry in America, if not the world."
How do we respond to all this? I have never been a fan of Jim and Tammy Bakker. Neither would I tear them down. I see many things in their ministry that have been used by God to help people. Other things they do seem too extreme for me. The program can come across as very shallow and unbalanced. Be that as it may, it is not for me to judge them. God will do that. But there is a lot we can learn from what has happened.
For one thing, Christians are not perfect. From God's perspective, we do not even come close. Even from a human perspective, believers can fall deeply into sin. I have been asked if a true Christian can really commit adultery, or lie, or murder. According to the Bible, they certainly can. King David committed all three of these sins, but he was still considered the apple of God's eye. The apostle Peter denied Jesus and sealed it with a curse, but God kept him as a leader in the church.
Any Christian can fail miserably. All Christians will fall short at one time or another. Inside we know this is true, but we often do not act like it. A believer falls and we immediately write them off - "No way God will ever be able to use him again. He's ruined for good!" When David and Peter sinned, God forgave them. His followers should be able to do the same.
It is said that an army general once boasted to the evangelist John Wesley, "I never forgive." Wesley responded, "Then I hope, sir, you never sin." Before we condemn people we had better remember our own failures.
True Christians can do horrible things. But they should not. Whenever a Christian leader falls, people react two ways - one group wants to write them off, while his really dedicated followers want to ignore it. I have already stated that I believe in forgiving fallen Christians. But I also believe in calling people to account. We do this for non-believers, so we should be able to do it for our own.
Whether we like it or not, Christians are called to live a higher moral lifestyle than others. It is not enough to be no worse than your neighbors - we must try to be better: more forgiving, more loving and more disciplined. This is especially true if the Christian is a leader. Most of us cannot perform miracles in God's name to convert the unsaved. The most effective way for us to win them is to set an example of excellence.
When we do not, we must set things straight. This is probably the hardest thing to do. Can you imagine how the Bakker family feels right now? Celeste and I watched the show where the family explained Tammy's problems with addiction. Their 17-year-old daughter never looked into the camera. All of them were devastated.
I think we can learn a lot by the way they are handling it. First of all, Jim has confessed to the sin. I have noticed that other Christian leaders have stayed away from that word. They have called it a slip, or a problem. Only Jerry Falwell has plainly called it a sin. If we cannot recognize it, we cannot deal with it.
Ignored sin tends to grow into bigger sin. King David's adultery became a contract murder. Jim Bakker's adultery became expensive blackmail. Tammy's abused prescriptions became full-blown addiction. Deal with sin now rather than later.
I wish Jim Bakker had not waited seven years to come clean, but I can understand it. Even King David tried to evade his sin. He did not face up to it until the prophet confronted him. But there are people who always try to avoid confession. The Bakkers have not.
They have also dealt with the effects of the sin. Jim has resigned from PTL. He has turned it over to a respected ministry. When you have built something from the ground up, giving it away would be hard. True repentance is always costly. King David not only lost his closeness with God, he lost his baby son. To me, this is one of the great paradoxes of the Bible. Salvation is free, but it costs you a lot.
Celeste's home church in New Hampshire has had to face this. Their denomination had a young pastor who led a small church in Maine. He became involved with another woman in the church. Their involvement deepened. One day he made a fateful decision and left his wife, his young children, and his church. He moved in with the other woman. A few weeks later, this woman told him she did not want him anymore. He slunk back to his wife. Swallowing her humiliation, she took him back. They moved to Celeste's area and attended her church, which knew all about it. Gradually, they accepted him. They even came to appreciate his gifts. One day their pastor resigned and moved on. The pulpit committee asked this young man to take over. He declined. As the price of his sin, he had made a commitment to the denomination that he would not pastor another church for 15 years.
Sin is a serious thing. It always carries a price - in this life. But Christians should not let it defeat them. Every disaster is an opportunity to start fresh. The Bakkers are probably closer as a family than they have ever been. I believe God will still use them in the future.
Many here in this sanctuary may be facing a fall. I often wonder if it will happen to me. If you have fallen in any area, give it over to God. Confess it, repent and change direction, and accept God's forgiveness. As a church, we must also be forgiving. There is nothing anyone here can do that puts you out of the grace of God. Our sins may be great, but his love for us is even greater.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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