"Be Ye Clean"

It was a terrible blow! I had always admired Elder Blank. He was a dynamic leader. His preaching never failed to stir my heart. To me as a student in college he was the very epitome of all that an Advent­ist administrator should be. Surely the report could not be true!

Unfortunately it was true. Elder Blank was out of the work and his credentials had been taken from him. I was not the only young person in the union whose faith was severely shaken by the moral fall of this popular leader.

"We are nearing the judgment," wrote the servant of the Lord, "and those who bear the message of warning to the world must have clean hands and pure hearts. They must have a living connection with God." One of the greatest tragedies of the work is to see a man who has enjoyed the respect and confidence of his brethren forced to leave the work and bring re­proach upon the cause of God because of indiscretion or a moral fall. Such "painful developments of evil are one of the great­est evidences we have that the end is near."

We should not be surprised when Satan directs his attack against the ministry—leaders in the cause of God—for we are living in the last evil days of earth's history, and he will vent his rage and employ his subtleties against God's chosen ambassadors in a special way. He knows that when a minister falls his influence will probably cause others to lose their faith and perhaps fall by the wayside also.

And what should alarm every Adventist worker is the sad truth that none of us is out of danger. No matter how long we have been in the way, nor how impeccable our record has been, nor how responsible the position we hold, we are not safe a mo­ment if we tarry on Satan's enchanted ground.

Some "affairs" begin innocently enough —too close association with workers or members of the opposite sex—many times in the line of duty. Sometimes it is night work or overtime alone in the office. On other occasions there are car rides—perhaps on business. Even such spiritual pursuits as pastoral counseling in the home or in the school may become involving factors. Satan blessed his ministry. Within a few months twenty-two new believers were preparing for baptism. Then Satan began his cunning work. The man was too friendly with one of his baptismal candidates. Suddenly he disappeared, leaving his wife and family behind. When another minister came a few weeks later and sought to pick up the threads of the interest he was met with a cold reception. What assurance did the newly interested people have that he would be straight morally? Only a few of the twenty-two were finally garnered into the church.

A moral fall brings untold misery, heart­ache, and shame into the homes of affected parties. The confidence of wives and chil­dren has been shattered when the truth has become known that husband and father have been disloyal. The man they had re­spected and looked up to has been suddenly swept from his pedestal by his own indiscre­tion. Innocent hearts have been shattered with shame at the cruel turn of events.

Moral deviation breaks down confidence among members and workers and brings reproach upon the cause of God. "The de­portment of a minister of Christ gives gos­siping tongues facts as subject matter to discuss."' As Nathan said of David's adul­tery, "By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blas­pheme" (2 Sam. 12:14). When a minister or other leader falls, the impact of his trans­gression is as widespread as the influence of his office. All too frequently others, losing faith because of disappointment in their fallen leader, sooner or later give up the truth as well. Young people and weaker members are especially affected by such ex­periences.

Moral laxity binds the hands of leaders. Of David, after his great transgression, the messenger of the Lord wrote, "A sense of his guilt kept him silent when he should have condemned sin; it made his arm feeble to execute justice." ⁴A leader's hands are tied in dealing with the indiscretions of other workers if his own skirts are soiled —if the accusing finger is pointed at him.

Indiscretion and weak morals waste God's money. Sometimes acts, short of gross indiscretion, so weaken the influence of a minister or leader that he must be trans­ferred to another location. Occasionally missionaries have to be sent home from the mission field. Many thousands of dollars are spent because of misconduct—money which might otherwise be spent for the advancement of God's cause. Sometimes foolish behavior creates rumors that are as damaging as acts of indiscretion and work­ers have to be moved or sent home. The Lord's money is wasted!

God Calls for Action

"Destroy the accursed from among you," God demands (Joshua 7:12). "Cleanse the camp, for there is an accursed thing in it."⁵ There is no questioning God's hatred for sin in the camp of Israel. He will not toler­ate it. Neither should we as leaders.

"Cleanse the camp of this moral corrup­tion, if it takes the highest men in the high­est positions. God will not be trifled with." A position of trust is no protection against the temptations of the flesh. God is clear on how such situations should be dealt with when they arise.

"When men and women of large experi­ence, who have been considered patterns of piety, are revealed in their true character, —unsanctified, unholy, impure in thought, debased in conduct,—then it is time for such to be dealt with in a decided man­ner."'

But Be Sure Before Accusing

In no disciplinary case must a leader be more certain of his grounds than when he deals with the accusation involving the good name of a worker. Through the years I have known rumormongers who sought to discredit another person whom they did not like. In some parts of the world the first accusation to be laid at an enemy's door is that of moral deviation. On occasions it is discovered there are no grounds for such accusations and the innocent person against whom the charge was cast suffers and the troublemaker goes free.

Sometimes persons pretend to know much, but when it comes to facing an ag­grieved brother they do not have the cour­age—because they do not really have the evidence. They have accepted only hearsay, or at most, circumstantial evidence that would not stand the weight of investiga­tion.

In one field I received an anonymous let­ter laying moral charges against one of our finest young workers. I was heartsick. Should I face the young man with the charge or not? If I did and he was innocent. it would be a terrific blow. Even though he might be cleared he would always feel I had a question about him. After several days of wrestling with the problem I de­cided to keep my eyes open and my mouth shut since his accuser had not sufficient courage to sign his name.

How thankful I was years later when, after transferring many thousands of miles away, I received another anonymous letter in the same handwriting. "Dear Elder Pierson," it read, "some years ago I wrote accusing Elder Blank of adultery. Since that time I have been converted. Please forgive me. Elder Blank was never guilty as far as I know. I was only seeking my re­venge upon him for a supposed slight he had shown me."

It is a terrible thing to accuse an inno­cent person of moral deviation!

Our Need As Workers

"Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord," the gospel prophet admonishes (Isa. 52:11). Or as the Berkeley transla­tion lays it down: "Purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord." God's clean message demands clean messengers! Our only safety is to stay completely off Satan's enchanted ground—to nip in the bud any tendency that might ultimately lead us into compromise and fall.

"Abstain from all appearance of evil," Paul admonishes (1 Thess. 5:22). "Shrink from it and keep aloof from it—in what­ever form or whatever kind it may be" (Amplified).* Our safety is to "steer clear of evil in any form" (Phillips).⁺

As workers in the cause of God we dare not play with fire. "Can a man take fire in his bosom," the wise man asks, "and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?" (Prov. 6:27, 28).

This warning turns the red light on contacts, no matter how casual or appar­ently harmless, which might lead to moral disaster and heartbreak.

Thank God, there is help for us in this wicked world. We are not left to fight the battle alone! There is One who is able to keep you and me from falling, and to "present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). When all our emotions are under His control, then and only then are we truly safe. If we are to be clean as we bear the vessels of the Lord, "we must keep close to our great Leader."