We Have Lost the Fear of the Lord

Something happening in an Ohio courtroom ought to make every Christian—especially every person in ministry—stop and examine his or her heart. Caleb Flynn is currently on trial, accused of murdering his wife, Ashley. He has pleaded not guilty, and a jury will determine whether the prosecution has proved those charges. But regardless of the eventual verdict, something else has already been openly acknowledged and testified to in court: while married and involved in church worship ministry, Flynn was carrying on a secret adulterous relationship with another woman connected to the worship ministry.

According to her testimony, the relationship continued for more than a year. They exchanged more than 100,000 messages—approximately 300 a day. They even got matching lightning-bolt tattoos because they had bonded over Harry Potter. Hers was on her forearm. His was hidden in his armpit because, she testified, he did not want his wife to see it. But here is the part that troubles me as a pastor: ministry continued. The secret life and the public ministry existed side by side.

Think about that. You can stand under the lights. You can hold a microphone. You can sing about holiness. You can raise your hands. You can lead an entire congregation in songs about surrender while refusing to surrender the very area of your life God is confronting. And apparently we have become so accustomed to separating gifting from character that this no longer shocks us as much as it should. It should.

Where Is the Fear of God?

What has happened to us? How did we get to the place where people can minister publicly while knowingly cultivating a private life that contradicts everything they proclaim? This isn’t just about worship leaders. It is about pastors, teachers, prophets, evangelists, church leaders, and every Christian who names the name of Jesus Christ.

If you are going to serve the Lord, serve the Lord. If you have fallen into sin, don’t hide it behind ministry. Repent. If necessary, step down. Get your life right with God. Get accountable. Make things right with the people you have harmed. Don’t use a microphone, a title, a platform, a ministry or your spiritual gifts as camouflage. Your gift does not cancel God’s requirement for holiness.

Sin Thrives in Darkness

Numbers 32:23 gives us a warning that our generation desperately needs to hear: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” We seem to think secrecy means safety. Delete the text. Change the password. Hide the relationship. Create another account. Tell another lie. Construct another explanation. Keep smiling. Keep singing. Keep preaching. Keep everybody convinced that everything is fine.

But there is Someone you cannot deceive. God sees. Hebrews 4:13 says: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.” Nothing. The conversations nobody else reads. The relationship nobody knows about. The browser history. The hotel room. The secret account. The hidden resentment. The private fantasy. The lie behind the public testimony. God sees it all.

That should terrify the person determined to continue in sin—but it should also be an invitation to the person who wants to be free. Come into the light.

We Have Confused Falling With Practicing

Yes, Christians can fall. I have fallen short. You have fallen short. Every person reading this has needed—and continues to need—the mercy and grace of God. But Scripture makes a distinction that our modern church desperately needs to recover. There is a difference between falling into sin and fighting to get out and building a house in sin and deciding to live there. There is a difference between stumbling and practicing. There is a difference between temptation and surrendering yourself to a lifestyle of rebellion.

Paul wrote: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.” —1 Corinthians 6:9. Notice those words: DO NOT BE DECEIVED. Why would Paul say that? Because apparently it is possible to deceive ourselves into believing that God’s grace means God no longer cares how we live. But grace does not make sin acceptable. Grace makes obedience possible.

The Most Dangerous Place Is Religious Hypocrisy

One of the most frightening conditions imaginable is becoming comfortable doing spiritual things while your heart is moving farther and farther from God. You can sing and be in sin. You can preach and be in sin. You can prophesy and be in sin. You can build a ministry and be in sin. You can have thousands of followers and be in sin. You can make people cry during worship and still need desperately to repent yourself.

Spiritual gifting is not God’s endorsement of everything happening in someone’s private life. Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” —Matthew 7:21. Those words should make every one of us examine ourselves. Not our neighbor. Not the person across the church. Ourselves.

Step Down Before You Fall Down

If you are reading this and you are serving in ministry while deliberately maintaining a secret sinful life, please hear me. I am not telling you that there is no hope for you. I am telling you exactly the opposite. There is hope—but hope begins with repentance. Stop pretending. Stop covering. Stop managing appearances. Stop worrying about what everybody will think if they find out. Worry about what God already knows.

If stepping away from ministry is necessary, step away. A platform can be restored. A reputation may be rebuilt. A ministry assignment can come again. But you cannot heal what you refuse to expose to the light. James 5:16 tells us: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” There is freedom on the other side of repentance.

Christians Are Called to Warn

Some people will call a message like this judgmental. But there is a difference between condemning someone and warning someone. If I see you driving toward a washed-out bridge, love doesn’t tell me to stand alongside the highway applauding your freedom to choose. Love warns you.

The church has become so afraid of offending people that sometimes we refuse to warn them about the very things Scripture says can destroy them. We are never called to celebrate sin. We are never called to redefine sin. And we are never called to make someone comfortable while they are deliberately walking away from God. We are called to speak the truth in love.

Fear the Lord

Church, we desperately need the fear of God again. Not terror that causes us to run away from Him, but holy reverence that makes us unwilling to play games in His presence. The platform is holy. The pulpit is holy. Worship is holy. Marriage is holy. And the God whose name we sing is HOLY.

If there is hidden sin in your life today, don’t wait for somebody to discover it. Don’t wait for the text messages to surface. Don’t wait for the affair to be exposed. Don’t wait for your family to be devastated. Don’t wait for your ministry to collapse. Don’t wait until your private choices become somebody else’s public tragedy.

REPENT NOW. Run to Jesus. Confess it. Forsake it. Make things right. Find godly accountability. And remember the promise of 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” There is mercy at the cross. There is forgiveness at the cross. There is restoration at the cross. But we must stop calling darkness light and pretending that public ministry can compensate for private rebellion. It cannot. Fear the Lord. Come into the light. And if you’re going to serve Him—SERVE HIM.