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Originally Posted by SavedbyGrace
From the post above, I felt that your concern was that brothers working in LSM are often like despotic dictators lording it over churches and her leaders.
Since I do not know the brothers working at LSM, I do not have an opinion about them. You have an opinion about the brothers in LSM because you interacted with them or know people who interacted with them.
But, I never read the books published by LSM because the brothers working in LSM were more spiritual than me. I read the books because the books helped me enjoy the Lord. And, I would continue to refer to the books as long as I benefit from it.
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This post brings up the difficult question, "
Is the character of the minister at all important, or should I ask, how important is it?"
SavedByGrace's point of view is that the character of the minister is secondary, as long as he personally is helped to "
enjoy the Lord" with the other saints.
Perhaps this speaks to the heart of the matter. How crucial is the moral character of our leaders/ministers? When do their personal failures become cause for alarm? How much "perfection" should the church demand from them?
SavedByGrace is definitely not alone in his point of view. I'm still surprised to see certain televangelists back on TV after shameful failures.
In a recent post
SavedByGrace noted the following:
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Solomon wrote the Song of Songs and went astray. But, that does not mean the Song of Songs is bad. Similarly, Peter disowned the Lord and separated himself from Gentiles when the Jews arrived. But, I cannot reject the books of Peter.
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These are pertinent examples. Solomon has great and wise proverbs on marriage to teach us all, yet none of us would recommend or condone 700 wives and 300 mistresses. Apostle Peter also had a few notable failures, yet none of us would recommend that his books be purged from scripture.
Yet ... what do we do with all those scripture which stress the character of the Lord's servants, how they should be above reproach, so that they can be patterns to the Lord's children, and not bring shame to His name?
What saith thee?