Age Old Problem For Church Leaders: “Duck and Cover” followed by, “Paper Over It.”

Before we get to today’s article, I just want to mention that am writing from the perspective of a man that has experienced many of the challenges of which I write…. and those spiritual battles continue daily. The articles are implications of what it means to obey the commandment to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. They require some reflection and are particularly for Christians who, as Peter would say, are diligently seeking to confirm their calling and are making every effort to supplement their faith. Said more succinctly, serious Christians. If you know other believers who desire to walk more faithfully with the Lord, please forward an article to them and tell them to sign up for future articles. Thanks so much!

Age Old Problem For Church Leaders: “Duck and Cover” followed by, “Paper Over It.”

Not too long ago, I was a front row observer of how one elder board responded to a threat to their church. For the record, I am not telling you about something that happened in my church. Not that it couldn’t happen in any church, but this story is about another church where I had intimate knowledge of the situation due to the fact that I was asked to counsel the man accused of a wrongdoing.

What happened? An accusation toward an elder from a person outside the church was mailed to one of the elders and the first reaction from the elder board was to “duck and cover.” Some of you may not be familiar with this term which was very common in the 1950’s and 60’s during the time that America lived in fear about a possible atomic war. Schoolchildren would practice for such an event by crawling under their desks and putting their hands on top of their head. There they would remain until the teacher gave the “all clear.”  

Such fear is not uncommon among church leaders, even those who regularly preach that we serve an all-powerful, sovereign God. But even if we give a pass on to those men who are prone to an initial reaction of fear, we cannot give a pass to church leaders who follow the duck and cover with a series of actions designed to “paper over” the situation at hand.

Merriam-Webster gives this definition for paper over: to gloss over, explain away, or patch up (differences, disparities, etc.) especially in order to maintain a semblance of unity or agreement.

Every threat to the church introduces an opportunity for church leaders to do one of two things: they can either go straight at the threat with the goal of uncovering the truth and dealing with it appropriately, or they can deflect the threat by bypassing the truth and finding a way to appease the one who brought the threat.

If they choose to confront the threat, the church leaders will have to be prepared to “slog it out” through a fact finding, deliberative process that may inflict damage on the church. To take this route, the leaders will have to trust God for the results and live with them, whatever they may be.

If they choose to deflect the threat, they will have chosen what may seem to be the most expedient way (“paper over it”) and hope it go away. They will not do it God’s way (what is true and just) and should the threat fail to go away, they will be locked into further efforts to paper it over. In the process, people will unjustly become collateral damage.

Why do church leaders often choose to “paper over it?”

1. Financial Fear. When a church has little or no assets, they have no problem trusting God through a threat to the church because they have nothing to lose. However, as a church grows and acquires more things of value (ex. church facility), there is now the temptation present to do what is necessary to protect those assets. The equation is a simple one: loss of a lawsuit or some kind of scandal = loss of church members + loss of revenue. And loss of revenue = loss of ability to pay debts + reduction in personnel needed to balance the budget. Sadly, due to the spiritual weakness found in most congregations, getting the church’s “junk” out into the open often leads to more people leaving, but church leaders must remember that they have not a charge from God to protect assets; they have been charged to be faithful. It is the Lord’s church, and He will do as He pleases with it.

2. Mistakenly perceived security. This is related to the first reason for fear. As the years pass, church leaders age and somewhere along the way, a man imperceptibly flips the switch from, “Lord, I will go anywhere for you” to “I just don’t know what else I would do if I didn’t work here.”I had those thoughts during the last of my 22 years as Headmaster of a Christian school and it can certainly pervert your decision process. I also recall many conversations through the years with others about financial security concerning the issue of being in a salary job versus a commission job. Most would say that the salary position is a more secure income source, but that’s just bad theology. The truth is for the elder or anyone, it is the Lord who raises people up (prospers) and the reality is there is no such thing as job security apart from the Lord.

3. Insufficient Human Resources. It is not unusual to find a situation where there are too few elders to properly serve their congregation’s needs. As a result, elders may choose to take “short cuts” to compensate. These short cuts can undermine God’s wisdom in the plurality of elders and bypass the built-in wisdom that the church needs to handle the multifaceted problems.

4. It “seems” like we should handle it this way. When church leaders don’t follow God’s precepts for running the local church, they are now trusting in human wisdom instead of God’s wisdom, and that’s not going to work for God. He may be gracious for some time, and it may appear that He is not doing what you expect Him to, but eventually His Love for His people and His requirement for perfect justice will compel Him to bring the hammer.

5. Pride. As a former leader of a Christian institution (school) I was often faced with the decision to make an incident public or keep it private. Sometimes there are truly God- honoring reasons to keep things under wraps. However, there were other times when revealing a problematic situation would necessitate revealing how badly I had handled it. Enter the pride monster. Pride can make us hide things, hope that we are not asked any questions about a situation, refuse to acknowledge that there are growing fissures in the ministry, terribly misjudge people and motives, or justify almost anything.

Clearly, this is not trusting God and not living in light of God’s goodness and sovereignty. It is fear- led church leadership that attempts to dodge the potential pain of leading in a fallen world by duck and cover followed by attempts to paper over it.  

This isn’t a 2024 problem. This is a leadership problem that Paul addressed to Timothy. Paul was speaking from experience and knew what not only Timothy would face, but all church leaders. The bottom line for Timothy: it will be hard and at times, ugly and painful. But no matter, you must be faithful in your ministry. Paul says to Timothy-

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. (2Timothy 3:1-5)

”I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Timothy 4:1-5).”

 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality (Timothy 5:20-21).

If you are a church leader and you’re in the middle of at least one of these kinds of situations, I encourage you to gird up the loins of your integrity, deal honestly with the sheep, and fully trust God for whatever happens. May God give you the strength to do so.

If you are a member of a church, that is exhibiting this kind of behavior in the leadership, you need to remember three things in order to keep you from becoming angry and bitter.

1. Injustices will happen within the church. We need to remind ourselves again that all men are proficient sinners at best and the men who are running the churches are fallen creatures just like you and me. They are dealing with all the implications of their fallenness in their personal life, and their lives as church leaders. Because of that, you must accept the fact that they literally cannot be 100% objective in all of their decisions and therefore, mistakes and even sinful ones will happen. More than anything else, they need our prayers.

2. God is perfectly capable of running His kingdom. Whatever happens on this planet is the will of God, because guess what? It happened. Scripture teaches us throughout the Bible that He is in control of all things, and there is a perfect, holy purpose in Him permitting sinful behavior.

3. We serve a God of perfect justice and ultimately, every wrong that has been committed will be accounted for. It may not be in our lifetime, but it is going to happen, and God tells us that we must leave it to Him and focus on what the Lord has done for us. King David wrote Psalm 37 he was greatly distressed by his view that injustice was pervasive in the culture and the Lord was doing nothing about it. Look at what David says in the first few verses and then what he says later in the Psalm.

Verses 2-3: But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Verses 16-19 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

I believe if you can do these three things, God will remove the burden that is not yours to carry and return you to a times of refreshment and joy like the water that Jesus gives and “becomes in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Thanks for listening.

THIS WEEK’S SPOTLIGHT:

Title: All Things For Good Written By Thomas Watson And Read By Michael Lee

Description: One of the great Puritans, Watson writes based on the great promise from God that all things work together for good to those that love God. The book will expand your faith in God’s promises and His attributes and give a great comfort to your soul.

Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-things-for-good-by-thomas-watson-and-read-by-michael-lee/id1703108941)

YouTube (https://youtu.be/cCMPuNsv6dE).

Read it online at www.ModernPuritans.com

Title: Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God, By Jonathan Edwards And Read By Michael Lee

Description: This famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards will sober you up to the awesomeness of God. It is updated in modern English by Modern Puritans.com

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-sinners-in-the-hands/id1695783947

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQjGDaS1xyeRC8vUJFwsxxaX

Title: The Duties Of Parents From The Booklet By J.C. Ryle. Read By Michael Lee

Description: From the famous booklet written by Pastor J.C. Ryle. Pastor Ryle gives us 17 points of Christian parenting on which to focus our attention. His words are timeless and apply to parenting today as much as it did 100 years ago.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-the-duties-of/id1676664853

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQgfoZGiRgzptFs7g07vkwU5

“Why Should I Believe Anything About Jesus Christ?” Written By Various Authors And Read By Michael Lee

Description: This Podcast features three famous recordings of booklets written by John Blanchard that will strengthen your own understanding on the death and resurrection of Christ and also serve as a great evangelistic tool for a friend or family member. The first booklet is called, “Ultimate Questions.” The second booklet is called, “Why The Cross?” And the third booklet is called, “Jesus, Dead Or Alive?”

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-why-should-i-believe/id1692832161

YouTube: Each of the John Blanchard booklets has its own recording. See below.

Ultimate Questions.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQggMxnbCbkLux2C6QB1W0VG

Jesus- Dead Or Alive? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQjeqfP9L1olkHULFCNHVDDF

Why The Cross? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQgJEuKxJL0dgjCDM85tyqrQ

Christian Behavior, written by John Bunyan. This is a wonderful fairly short book written by the great John Bunyan to help Christians understand that their lives should be full of good works! Bunyan takes us to Titus 3:7-8 and brings practical application to all areas of the Christian life. You will be blessed by this great saint!

Apple Podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-christian-behavior-by/id1716196912

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQjUQ_MpGbnqwrBVi7TgRKi3

Choose Your Master: God Or Money. The links are immediately below-

Description: This is one of the most written about topics in the Bible because it is one of the most dangerous to the Christian. Listen in on the good and bad experiences of the author and strongly consider the Bible’s teaching on stewardship.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-choose-your-master-god/id1683382182

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQiHoB3-tBm1qDDbxxpQAvTl

Title: All Things For Good Written By Thomas Watson And Read By Michael Lee

Description: One of the great Puritans, Watson writes based on the great promise from God that all things work together for good to those that love God. The book will expand your faith in God’s promises and His attributes and give a great comfort to your soul.

Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-things-for-good-by-thomas-watson-and-read-by-michael-lee/id1703108941)

YouTube (https://youtu.be/cCMPuNsv6dE).

Read it online at www.ModernPuritans.com

Title: Critical Considerations For Christian Parents About Your Child’s Education, By Michael Lee

Description: As we search the Bible for answers to the question: How shall we raise our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” we can see that the system for educating children was done primary by the parents in the home. However, the world in which we live now is quite different and the vast majority of parents use an educational system that is outside of the home and is that system is called the public schools, or the government schools.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-critical-considerations/id1678162250

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQjnvjc7QuytT2V3lVr53oqa

Title: From Religion To Christ, Written By Peter Jeffery And Read By Michael Lee

Description:  Tired of the many systems of religion that you have observed or been part of in the past? Are you ready to say goodbye to religion? The author Peter Jeffery, agrees! Doing “religion” is empty and will not get you to heaven. There is something more-something much greater. Take a careful listen through this podcast and discover what a real relationship with God actually looks like.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-from-religion-to-christ/id1687134464

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQg_lCngBTcjs_dXT1VYvYWA

Title: Rediscovering The Lost Treasure Of Family Worship. Written By Jerry Marcellino And Read By Michael Lee

Description: Family Worship was once the normal practice that most Christian parents led in their homes. Led by either parent, the children would be taught daily from the word of God, pray and sing songs. It was considered to be a vital part of the Christian life.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-rediscovering-the-lost/id1692401602

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQgNq7asslVBsKyq0FC3arMs

Title: Thoughts For Young Men From The Book By J.C. Ryle. Read By Michael Lee

Description: A wonderful book of Biblical truth and advice for young men. Helpful to parents as well as the young men themselves. Full of wisdom for a life filled with Christ. J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) served God in England as a pastor and teacher for more than 40 years. His words are still being used by the Lord today and are applicable to all Christians in all times.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-thoughts-for-young-men/id1673847428

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQixZIaBE95_JRojVSkzq1nl

Title: Stand Firm Written By Peter Jeffery and Read By Michael Lee

Description: So you just became a Christian and now what? Get ready for a life of walking with the Lord and experiencing the joy of knowing you have peace with God. However, you also have an enemy- the devil. Peter Jeffery wants to help by teaching you about the battle with the wicked one and how you can STAND FIRM against his attacks!

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-stand-firm-written-by/id1681861976

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQjhDFeGYG5Tt5EWjeuz-e1p

Title: The Duties Of Parents From The Booklet By J.C. Ryle. Read By Michael Lee

Description: From the famous booklet written by Pastor J.C. Ryle. Pastor Ryle gives us 17 points of Christian parenting on which to focus our attention. His words are timeless and apply to parenting today as much as it did 100 years ago.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-the-duties-of/id1676664853

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQgfoZGiRgzptFs7g07vkwU5

Title: Choose Your Master: God Or Money. Written And Read By Michael Lee

Description: This is one of the most written about topics in the Bible because it is one of the most dangerous to the Christian. Listen in on the good and bad experiences of the author and strongly consider the Bible’s teaching on stewardship.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-choose-your-master-god/id1683382182

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQiHoB3-tBm1qDDbxxpQAvTl

Title: A Call To Prayer By J.C. Ryle. Read By Michael Lee

Description: This is a passionate plea from the famous preacher and teacher, J.C. Ryle. Although these words were penned more than 100 years ago, the need and application for today’s Christian is greater than ever.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-a-call-to-prayer-by/id167288080

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAh2MVKU1VQjaXXgO8P1U-bBFkEMCwdYR

Title: Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices From The Book By Thomas Brooks. Read By Michael Lee

Description: (This is one that you can listen to a “precious remedy” each day). Thomas Brooks, born in 1608, was a Puritan preacher who wrote a number of essays during his time with possibly the foremost entitled, “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices.” In writing the book’s dedication, he wrote, “Christ, the scripture, your own hearts, and Satan’s devices, are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched. If any cast off the study of these they cannot be safe here, nor happy hereafter.” Brooks believed that all Christians have particular weaknesses in their faith and those weaknesses would be exploited in some way by Satan.

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherish-ephesians-6-4-presents-precious-remedies-against/id1671364198

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Last modified: March 14, 2024