First thoughts on the City
Harvest verdict
After a lengthy
trial, the verdict is in and those charged with various fraud activities in the
City Harvest trial are found guilty. The nature of the charges, the identity of
those involved and the prominence of the church make this a must-follow judicial
event. The text of the oral judgment is at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3A-00dAvijTNXAyaGEyLUtZdW8/view
The matter
remains ‘open’ until sentencing and appeals finish. However, there is already
plenty of conversation and commentary. What can now be said from a Christian
perspective?
Church and state
How does the
relationship of church and state plays out in such matters?
At times the
Christian church has sought to distance itself from the state and claim
independence from its processes. The parallel legal systems of canon and civil
law in the pre-Reformation church are an example of this.
This is not where
the Bible takes us. It teaches that civil government is a God-given institution
to which ‘every person’ is subjected (Rom 13:1a). The state is the means of
God’s judgement on wrongdoers (Rom 13:4). To resist the civil authorities is to
resist God (Rom 13:2). Rome’s rulers were anti-Christian when these words were
written, unlike the religiously neutral authorities in Singapore.
What does this
mean for churches and their leaders? Churches and leaders are not above civil scrutiny.
They are to be willingly accountable and submissive to civil authorities. The
state does not have a God-given mandate to interfere in the teachings or
spiritual governance and ministry of a church, but it does have a mandate with
criminal matters. It is therefore
right that charges of criminal activities inside churches come before civil
courts to try the accused and punish the guilty.
It is not
persecution for the civil authorities to try church leaders for alleged fraud. Providing due judicial process is
observed, it is God’s justice in action through his appointed servant. Even in
secular Singapore, the civil courts are the instruments of God’s blessing of
justice. Fraud is criminal, no matter who does it and to what end.
Church leadership
The City Harvest
trial was of church leaders.
The Bible teaches
that church leaders are to be honoured (1 Th 5:12-13; 1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:7).
High standards are set for them and exemplary behaviour is expected from them.
They must be above suspicion and reproach and of good public reputation (eg 1
Tim 3:1-13). The welfare of a church and the reputation of Christ in the wider
community depend much on the behaviour of church leaders (Zech 13:7; Ezek
34:1-6).
And there’s the
problem. Church leaders are like every other Christian person. They are created
in God’s image (Gen 1:26-28) and fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:9-23). They
are people who have been justified by Christ and are indwelt by his Spirit (eg
1 Cor 6:11). However, this sanctification is yet incomplete and remains so
until Christ completes his work of new creation (2 Cor 5:17). The struggle
recorded in Rom 7:14-25 is normal for every Christian person and this includes
church leaders.
So, church
leaders share in the frailty that comes to every Christian. As such they need
understanding, forgiveness on confession of sin, prayer, support and
accountability mechanisms. That is true for the leaders of City Harvest as much
as every other believer.
Church leaders
share additional temptations. It is a heady thing to lead a congregation and
especially to stand before a large group of people who see you as God’s
spokesperson. You are trusted with people’s lives, intimate secrets and eternal
welfare. It is very easy for leaders to lose perspective, succumb to pride and
to believe that they are someone ‘special’ who is above normal standards.
Given this powerful
mix of human sinfulness and the leader’s position, it is clear that no church
leader should be trusted absolutely, given absolute power or be exempted from
accountability.
These special
temptations require special preventative measures.
Plurality of
leadership is an important preventative measure. Jesus trained a group of 12
leaders to be apostles together and the
eldership is spoken of in the plural (eg Tit 1:5). Acts 15 shows how a
difficult issue in the early church was decided by leaders meeting, discussing
and deciding together. Where much
authority is vested in a single leader, it is almost inevitable that they will
stumble. (The history of the medieval papacy is a tragic example of this.) Plural
leadership should provide a mutually restraining influence that stops any individual
gaining much power and falling to its temptations.
A Presbyterian
style of polity exemplifies this. The Moderator of a Session, Presbytery or
Synod has very little power. The emphasis is on group decisions, not individual.
The theological foundation of this is a strong belief in total depravity and a
consequential refusal to trust none but Jesus absolutely. The separation of
powers and bi-cameral parliamentary structures that some constitutions are
built on the same principles and, in the case of the US constitution, are
directly attributable to Presbyterian influences. Churches with apostolic or
Episcopal structures face particular challenges here. These challenges are
increased when an individual leader is further elevated and called ‘prophet’ or
‘apostle’.
Transparency is
also important. It is good if the diaries and financial affairs of church
leaders are open to (at least) other leaders and perhaps to a wider circle of
appropriate people.
‘Appropriate’ is
a key word here. A leader who has been responsible for the conversions and
Christian growth of church members and has been of significant help to them has
great power over them. This increases if the church has risen from small
beginnings to large numbers. Who will question the leader to whom they ‘owe’ so
much?
From an
outsider’s view, some of these issues seem to have been factors in City Harvest’s
recent problems.
What to do now?
It is one thing
to say how such problems as those judicially found in City Harvest could have
been prevented, but what should happen now that the verdicts are in?
Ministry to those found guilty. Those found guilty need good pastoring
by people who will speak God’s truth in love, seek confession and repentance
where it is needed and speak of Christ’s forgiveness. Matt 18:15-19; Gal 6:1-2;
1 Cor 5:5 are just a few of the passages that speak of this process and its
goals. Good church discipline reflects God’s character in seeking truth, doing
justice to the guilty, protecting his flock and showing mercy to the repentant.
Prayer: This is a time to pray. Pray for those found guilty that they will be
open to God’s dealings with them and not hide behind the language of
‘persecution’. Pray for City Harvest Church as it rebuilds and for its members
who are apt to feel a mixture of confusion, betrayal, defensiveness and more.
Pray also for the reputation of Christ in Singapore – that his name is not
shamed by the misbehaviour of some of his followers.
Reframe: It is a dismal truth that any person and any church leader
can let us down. The only leader who will not do so is Jesus. He alone
perfectly bears God’s creational image and exercises kingly stewardship without
being prone to sin (eg 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15). He alone is worthy of
unquestioning loyalty and trust.
