Are You An "Accomplice"?

ACCOMPLICE, ac·com·plice [uh-kom-plis] - a person who knowingly helps another in a crime or wrongdoing, often as a subordinate.

Are you an accomplice to another person's crime or sin? How is it that many church going people can allow church leaders to get away with so much wrong doing and turn their heads to ignore it? They give sickening and idiotic cliche excuses such as, "Well, that is the man/woman of God so let the Lord deal with them." Really?!? There's an old drug making a comeback called "Stupid". It's stronger than ever and quite abundant among bastions of religion like mega-churches, the "stupid-spiritual" who act "super-spiritual", and even more so when it involves celebrity ministers. I still can't fathom how Eddie Long still has a congregation of followers after settling for multi-millions of dollars for being accused of homosexual molestation and adultery. He calculatingly groomed young men from their teenage years so that he could sexually seduce them as soon as they hit the legal age of consent. What made it so much more disgusting and despicable was the fact this man is a Christian pastor who is suppose to represent Christ as the epitome of morality and protect others from people like himself. It was further exacerbated by the "fraternity of celebrity preachers" who backed him. In Revelation 18:4 GOD tells his people to come out of sinful Babylon and not be a "partaker" of hers sins by remaining. Babylon represents the false religious system just like many of these false churches and ministers today. COME OUT! 

REVELATION 18:4; "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

I was bewildered when Creflo Dollar told people who may have left Eddie Long's church after the scandal broke, and were seeking refuge that he didn't want them there because all Eddie had was a wreck, he was his brother, and for them to go back. I saw T.D. Jakes continue to support him, even preaching a message at New Birth calling this pervert pastor the church's "spell breaker", and in an interview throw the victims under the bus and dismiss them by saying they were consenting adults. Neil Ellis also continues to be a staunch supporter of Long and invites him to speak at his conferences. Meanwhile, there's been no admission, confession, or even an apology by Eddie Long for all the damage he's done not only to those young men but to the many thousands who once followed him. I wondered in disappointment how could Creflo, Jakes, and Neil Ellis say and do what they have among others or how the remainder of the congregation hasn't left, and then it hit me... These weren't just friends and followers but accomplices! Maybe it's just me, but when I read scriptures like 1st Timothy 5:22 it is quite clear the LORD regards those who fraternize with unrepentant and habitual sinners as being just as guilty. It seems very few in church these days seems to care or listen.

1st TIMOTHY 5:22: "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure."

CHURCH GOERS: Please stop going around saying, "Well, that is the man/woman of God so let the Lord deal with them", or "Well, if the Pastor don't say nothing then leave it alone", or "If the Pastor hasn't said anything then it must be alright", or "If the Pastor brought them in to minister then they must be alright."  This is a large part of the problem today as to why there is too much scandal and abuse in churches all over. People have made the pastors their crutch and excuse for their own lack of a true moral backbone and for being spiritual punks. THE PASTOR IS NOT GOD! Here are a few things to consider as to why those statements and line of thinking is often wrong and makes you an accomplice to the wrong:

1. "Well, that is the man/woman of God so let the Lord deal with them"... This saying deserves to be in the "Fool's Hall of Shame". Folks mix this with misused scriptures such as "touch not God's anointed." If we are all saved aren't we all "God's anointed" too? What about when they are the ones doing the touching of others who are also anointed? I am absolutely sure Christ died for and anointed more than just the pastor. They should be the first obeying this! This is the popular line many "accomplices" give to okay their leaders fornication, abuse, manipulation (which is witchcraft by the way), pedophilia, molestation, rape, thievery, and lack of accountability and transparency. They are just as guilty as if they were doing it too, and probably are because they feel justified due to their leader doing it. I'm always amazed at those who always say pray for the guilty preacher but never for their victims.

2. "Well, if the Pastor don't say nothing then leave it alone"... One singular pastor can't see everything that's going on among the members and may not even know. If you know then why don't you help? You also have a responsibility and authority as a born again believer to address certain issues in your own home first and in the assembly of believers in a decent and orderly manner that is in line with the scriptures. All pastors aren't bad, but if you are one or have one that has to do and know everything then they are being stupid and not like Christ. If they won't change you can always leave, but if they aren't that way then don't make them your excuse for non-involvement. There are many reasons why pastors are quitting or committing suicide, but it normally boils down to a leadership pattern set by egomania and non-biblical examples.

3. "If the Pastor hasn't said anything then it must be alright"... Just because the pastor doesn't say or do anything doesn't make it right, nor does it excuse the wrong being done before the Lord. Far to often do church members hold the pastors up on an "untouchable pedestal" almost as if they are Christ himself, and this is idolatry. We make stuff up to justify the wrongs spiritual leaders do and excuse them from accountability because we have drunk the "Kool-Aid" of ignorance and their own hype. This is a major contributing factor to violence against pastors where there is spiritual abuse. There's more than just the devil behind why some pastors have been killed or assaulted. It's often a foolish and unchecked leader with complicit followers.

4. "If the Pastor brought them in to minister then they must be alright"... In this day and age of celebrity ministers and the infiltration of the secular world into the Church we see more and more ministers trying to exalt their own names by making connections with other celebrity ministers they want to emulate. Never mind the person is a known homosexual, pedophile, whoremonger, drug user, abuser, bad influence, or a known "profit" (not a true prophet) who "prophe-lies" fresh "devilations" (not revelations) to trick the congregation out of their money or women out of their panties (some trick men out of their drawls). If you don't have enough discernment and good sense to see their obvious carnality and recognize their errant doctrines then you might as well empty out your pockets and pull your undies down so they and the pastor can screw you too since you seem to like it so much anyway, and don't care when they do it to others.

Yep, if you feel the convicting and biting sting of truth in anything said on this blog or in this article it is probably because you are guilty of being an accomplice. If I was you I would immediately turn state evidence against these wolves in sheep's clothing and snitch, snitch, snitch!!! The reason they get away with it is the same reason many crimes go unreported, because nobody wants to tell or get involved. The law of men may not come for you on the earth but there is a higher power from which you will not be excused for your silence, and his ruling is final and absolute. His name is Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and he pleads the case of the fatherless, the widows, the elderly, the children, the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the lonely, the abused, the neglected, the rejected, the despised, and the outcast. Everyday he hears the voices of the ones you ignore and one day, sooner than later, he's going to make you answer them in judgment.

PSALM 50:18-22 (ESV); "If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers. 19) You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. 20) You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. 21) These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. 22) Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!"

YAH the LORD ain't no joke and he is not playing games. While we sit in church pews week after week and thank God for his many blessings there are many of us also thanking God secretly we're not going through the hell the church and ministry are putting other folks through or ignoring while they go through. God Almighty was so disgusted with Israel concerning their idolatry and indifference to their fellow man that he destroyed his own temple more than once and scattered his people to prove that point. Don't you dare think for one second that your church building or ministry is any different. It's better to speak out and risk rocking the boat, rather than remaining silent and turning your head away from the oncoming iceberg that is going to eventually sink the boat. Like Mordachi told Queen Esther if she didn't take action on behalf of others in ESTHER 4:14 (ESV); "For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  This same principle still applies to ALL of us.  ~ I.J. West