There remain many faithful pastors humbly doing God’s work. God not only has a remnant of faithful believers, he still has many pastors faithfully holding to God’s Word and proclaiming it weekly from their pulpit. Some of these men are not well known outside their congregations or their association of churches.
Of late many high-profile apostasies have rattled evangelical Christianity. Some of the men who have departed from the faith were much admired and loved for their earlier writings and teachings. After all, they were pastors and Christian leaders. News of their exodus from the Promised Land back into Egypt exploded on social media.
Fear and anxiety is sometimes the result of hearing such news. Or even, for some, nagging doubts arise over the truthfulness of Christianity. Some wonder, “What did these “pastors” know about Christianity that I don’t?”
I don’t want to address the specific apostasy of any one individual. Instead, I want to remind us of some important facts that tend to get lost in explosive, scandalous nature of such stories, especially when they happen in a string.
#1 There is still a remnant. God always has a remnant. Let’s say (God forbid) all the celebrities comprising T4G apostatized tomorrow. The Scriptures teach that God still has elect chosen by grace (1 Kings 19:18). Even today, there is not only a “remnant” of Gentile believers throughout the world, but there is even a remnant of Jewish believers as well, members of the church of Jesus Christ, throughout the world (Rom 9:27; 11:5).
#2 Apostates have no secret knowledge. Christianity is an open book. The Bible’s teachings are perspicuous. Pastors do not have some secret knowledge. Skilled pastors grow in knowledge of God’s Word and its truth. They grow in faith in what Scripture has revealed. Seminary training is very important to this end. While seminaries do offer in-depth teaching of Scripture, seminaries don’t impart secrets. Your pastor doesn’t have some kind of cryptic code or insider knowledge. The teachings of Christians throughout the history of the church are not under some guarded lock and key. Everything we believe is right there in Scripture, for us to receive by faith. All Christians have a responsibility to grow personally in their knowledge of divine truth. As the old catechism question goes:
Q. May all people use the Bible?
A. All people are not only permitted, but commanded and exhorted to read, hear, and understand the Holy Bible.
