Should I Work For a Church That Keeps Staff Who Are Living in Sin?

Should we stop working at a church if we know they've allowed someone on staff who is actively living in sin? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Now, we'll have our phone lines open for the next 20 minutes or so, so now's the time to call. You can also post your question on Facebook or Instagram. By the way, we're live on Instagram today. You can actually watch us in the studio seeing what we're up to. Watch Adriel as he answers your tough questions on our Instagram page. And of course, you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners.

This is from Marsha. My question was, how come Joseph in the Bible could marry women from Egypt? I thought they were only supposed to marry Israelites. And also, why didn't they go and bury Joseph?

They went and buried his father, but they waited and carried his bones up out of Egypt. Just curious on those two things. If you could answer that, that'd be great. Thanks. Bye. Hey, Marsha. Thanks for that.

Thanks for those two questions. I preached through Genesis. Well, I guess it's been some time now, but I loved preaching through the book of Genesis, and I especially loved preaching through the story of Joseph. That's a tearjerker, for sure. You read it, and it's hard not to shed tears.

You think about what happened to him and how the Lord really restored him. But your question is, okay, he marries an Egyptian woman. Wasn't that forbidden? Now, it does seem like, you read the book of Genesis, it does seem to be the case that even at that time in redemptive history, the people of God were primarily marrying within their own culture, family. And certainly later, in terms of some of the prohibitions that were given in God's law, you weren't supposed to marry outside of Israel. God rebuked his people for intermarrying with the pagan nations.

Some of those prohibitions came much clearer later. But it is interesting to read about Joseph. His wife was the daughter of a pagan priest, essentially. In Genesis chapter 41, verse 50, it says, before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph.

Asenath, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of An, bore them to him. Okay, so she was not raised believing in Yahweh. But there does seem to be some indication that she was open to and received Joseph's religion, Joseph's faith. And where I'm getting that is, if you just keep reading there, Joseph called the name of his firstborn Manasseh, for he said, God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house. In the name of the second, he called Ephraim, for God has made me fruitful for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. In other words, Joseph gives his sons, born to him by his Egyptian wife, he gives some Hebrew names that speak to what God had done for him in delivering him and causing him to forget his sorrows. And so there does seem to be some indication here that even though he's there in Egypt, marrying an Egyptian woman, he's still clinging to the faith of his childhood and the hope that he had given to him long before and that dream that he had that God was gonna exalt him.

And so that's what I would say. And then with regard to burying his father a little bit later in Genesis, in Genesis chapter 49, in particular, we see some instructions there with regard to the burial of Joseph's father. Genesis chapter 49, beginning in verse 28, all these are the 12 tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. Then he commanded them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephraim the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machmela to the east of Mamre in the land of Canaan.

Well, that's significant. So one, he gave instructions about being buried in the land of Canaan, but the land of Canaan was the land of promise. And so in one sense, there too, you had the great hope given to the patriarchs that God is gonna give you this land. And so he wants to be buried there in his home, if you will, where God had promised to sustain his people.

And so that's why he gives that instruction and that's why he's buried there. Thanks for your question. Interesting Old Testament history. And as you said, what a great book of redemption you read about Joseph's life and you can maybe apply to your own life if there's been a lot of bad things that have happened to you. God is still with you.

Yeah. Well, I just going back to that text in Genesis chapter 41, where it talks about Joseph marrying and he says he's 30 years old. This is verse 46.

It was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. That means that he was suffering for about 13 years, 13 years between being imprisoned and being in Potiphar's house and so forth. I mean, there was a lot of difficulty during that. We're talking about a long dark night of the soul. And yet the Lord was at work each day of those 13 years. And so, you know, we don't know what the Lord is doing behind the scenes a lot of times in the midst of our suffering, but the story of Joseph does help us to see God's providence at work and God's power to deliver and raise up his people.

Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Maybe there's a passage of scripture that's always kind of stumped you. You'd like some clarification on it. Adriel would love to engage with you on that.

Or maybe there's something going on in your personal Christian walk that you are having an issue with, struggling with. We'd love to hear from you. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Wallace calling in from Nashville, Tennessee. Wallace, what's your question for Adriel? Hello.

Hey, Wallace. How are you doing, Pastor? I'm doing well. How are you doing? I'm good. I'm good. My question is about First Corinthians 7, I think it is, where it speaks about a woman's half being of glory.

And also, we have a question in 11 cases. Jesus Christ is God's glory. Man is Jesus Christ's glory. And a woman is man's glory. And a woman's half is her glory. So my question is, should a Christian woman cut her half really, really short? And now it says also in Titus, it should be a distinct difference between a man and a woman.

You should be able to tell a difference between it. I think it's in Titus. Okay.

Hey, Wallace, thanks for that question. So you're actually talking about First Corinthians chapter 11. And thanks for just bringing us to one of the most controversial passages in all the Bible here at the beginning of our broadcast.

But let me read the text. So your question is, is it okay for a woman to cut her hair short? So Paul's discussion on head coverings, First Corinthians 11, he says in verse two, I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ and the head of a wife is her husband.

And the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. Now, the reason that's this picture of dishonor is because to, you know, to cut your hair, to shave your head, it was a picture of mourning in the ancient world, a sign of grief and disgrace. You see this even in the Old Testament, places like Isaiah chapter seven, for example. And so there is this sense there of disgrace, of sorrow, of mourning.

There was something symbolized there. For if a wife will not cover her head, he continues, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. This is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. And people are just, okay, now they're scratching their head because what is Paul talking about here? Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman. For as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman and all things are from God.

So look, a couple of things here. We have to understand the context of Corinth. Corinth was a Roman colony, and Greek and Roman culture differed on this issue with regard to head coverings in particular, head coverings in worship. And so it seems like there was some sort of conflict there in Corinth brought about by this cultural issue.

I think the broader point that the apostle Paul is trying to draw out here is the idea of authority and this symbol of authority. And I think that you're onto something, Wallace, when you say, well, it is important to recognize that men and women are distinct. And I would say, yeah, that's absolutely true. You think about today in our culture, it seems like people are trying to erase that reality more and more. And so I do think we should push back against that, but the question is, does the pushback look exactly like it did for the Corinthians there in 1 Corinthians 11?

Well, no, I don't think I would go that far per se. Again, we have to recognize that here he's talking about something that's taking place in the church at Corinth, in part because of the cultural issues that were brought about by Corinth being a Roman colony. And I would say that the big takeaway in this section, 1 Corinthians 11 through 14, is the importance of everything that we do in worship has to be done decently and in order. That's where his argument is going to go in chapter 14. And that's why he references the angels as well. The angels who are obedient to God's word, where you have this structure, this order, if you will, of God's heavenly messengers, he's saying, look, when we gather together for worship, it's as if the angels are present there with us. And so we should do everything decently and in order.

We should worship as God has called us to worship him. And that's some of the things that I would highlight. I don't think that this means that a woman can't get a haircut or anything like that, Wallace. But I do think that you're onto something and saying, look, one of the things that the Bible makes clear is that man and woman are distinct. It's not that we're different creatures or a different species or that we have different natures, human nature, but distinct. And that's how God made us to complement each other in our differences. And it's really a wonderful thing, a beautiful thing. But as I said, it's something that more and more in our culture and in our society is being erased.

Which is a real tragedy. And we talked about that before with the whole transgender issue and gender confusion and how it's completely contrary to God's word and the way he made human beings. Yeah. It's wild. I mean, it's crazy.

Yeah. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, you can call us for the next 10 minutes or so. Here's the phone number.

It's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Instagram page right now. In fact, you might be watching us. We're on Instagram Live and on our YouTube channel.

You can check out our studio. Let's go to David who's in Indiana. David, what's your question for Adriel?

Hi. I was wondering, how do you go about asking your pastor where the church funds go, like the tithe money and things like that, if they're not showing you an annual budget? Hmm. Yeah. Well, David, so there's no, just to follow up, so in your church, there's no, I mean, it sounds like no transparency at all.

There's no budget that's shown or no, hey, here's kind of how we're allocating the resources that are coming in through gifts and tithes and offerings, so everybody's just kind of in the dark. Is that what you're saying? Correct.

Okay. Well, I think that that's unfortunate. I mean, that's not a good practice. I think it is a good practice for churches to be able to say, hey, here's where the resources are going that God is bringing in and how they're being used for the advancement of God's kingdom. You know, we're paying the pastor's salary, we're paying rent on this building or whatever it is here, the missionaries that we support or the local outreach things that we support or the different men's and women's ministry things that are happening. And so I think it's just fair to say, and let me just go back to you, David, is the pastor the one who manages all this or is there like a financial committee or a board of trustees or an elder board or is it all in the pastor's hand? It's all in the pastor's hands.

There's no elder board at all. Oh, okay. Well, I mean, so that raises a lot of questions. And so it sounds to me like the only person to go to is the pastor.

And if there's a lack of transparency there, I would say that's a cause for concern, wouldn't you say, Bill? I think so, especially if the pastor has a brand new boat. You're kind of wondering where did that come from?

Well, how big is the boat? I mean, are we talking about one of the... Captain Cruiser. Well, one, that's just, I mean, just practically a ton for the pastor to have to manage. And if he's a pastor like me who has a hard time counting, you know, and this math is not my greatest thing, then there are some other serious concerns, but there needs to be some accountability here. And so some of it sounds, David, like just in terms of the structure of the church. Here we're getting into ecclesiology.

It doesn't seem like it's the healthiest situation. The church shouldn't be governed by one individual who has the keys to the kingdom and everything and isn't letting anyone else in. That's a red flag that the churches in the New Testament were governed by a plurality of elders who were accountable to each other and accountable to other churches, frankly. And they were working together with other leaders in the church to create systems and structures to help care for the needs of the people of the church. You think of Acts 6, the institution of the diaconate. And so when it's all in one, whether it's a pastor or maybe it's a financial secretary, when one person has all the power, things go south quickly, I think. And so what I would say, David, is you said, how do you go about finding out where your tithe goes?

Ordinarily in churches, I mean, I could tell you what we do in our church. We share quarterly updates about where we are in terms of budget and here's where our resources are going. Here are the things we're trying to support. Here's where we need help. So you want to have that kind of transparency. You want people to know like, hey, how exciting. This is what the ministry of the church is doing.

So in part, it should be an encouragement for the people of God. But if that's not happening, then I think it sounds like you need to go directly to him and raise the concern because it's not a healthy situation. And so I'm really sorry, David. Have you tried to bring this to your pastor before or have others in the church gone to him?

No, I have not, but I'm going to. What would I do if I found out that someone is misusing funds in the same situation? Yeah, man. Well, David, I mean, obviously I think that there would need to be confronting, right? I mean, this is a matter of qualifications for ministry because one of the things that the apostle Paul says is elders can't be lovers of money.

And so if funds are being taken, stolen, misused, right? We're getting into some serious issues here with regard to biblical qualifications. And I think you confront, you know, sin and abuse. The sad thing is in situations like this, and this is where, again, church government is so important, if there is no accountability, oftentimes nobody can do much. I mean, you can confront it and you can raise the concern. And I think you should. If there are abuses that are taking place, you should.

And people shouldn't give to, I mean, obviously, right? Like if the finances are being mishandled and if this guy is just pocketing everything and not telling people where those resources are going, I mean, this is a serious issue. But I don't know if there are outside organizations that your church is accountable to, or if there's anyone else that you can bring into this, but it sounds to me like there's a serious issue here. And I would say with humility and a lot of prayer, approach your pastor about this, just even in terms of the wisdom. It's a bad look, but just even as a pastor, if you're committed to the ministry of the word and the sacraments and prayer, if you're also devoting a ton of time to payroll and all the stuff that's associated with the money of the church, there's just a lot of red flags there. And so I think it's important to have this conversation. And I hope that you're not the only one in the church, David, who's concerned about this. And I pray that if there has been, I mean, I hope that there's nothing that this is just maybe poorly structured and that there isn't any misuse of resources.

So I hope that that's the case, but if it's not the case and there's a real issue there, then I would also say, rather, you should probably find a church that's duly constituted, where there's accountability and the focus is on the ministry of the word and the pastor, the elders have a team around them that are helping them with some of these other things. David, God bless, man. Thanks, David. I appreciate your call. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity.

Tough situation. By the way, we do want to mention here at the Core that we have some great Bible studies available for you. You can find those on our website. And the cool thing about these studies, you can use them personally for individual study or in a small group or Sunday school setting.

Yes, you can. And any of those ways, I think, will really be edifying. I love the idea of maybe going to the leadership of your church and saying, hey, here's some resources that are helpful and encouraging. And if we're looking to start a new Bible study for the summer, or once school starts up again, or whatever it is, we have studies through the Gospel, studies through books like the book of Hebrews, the book of Galatians, studies in the Old Testament, the book of Jonah, the book of Daniel, a lot of really helpful 10-week Bible studies. And so I hope that you take advantage of this resource.

It's available for a donation of $15 or more. And you can download our studies as a PDF, or you can receive a physical copy. And we also have leaders guides that go along with those too. Excellent studies, both the New and the Old Testament. You can find those by going to corechristianity.com forward slash radio. We do get voicemails here at Core Christianity.

And here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Tanya. My question is, should I continue to work in a children's ministry where our ministry leaders have allowed someone who is living in sexual sin to work in the ministry? Thank you. Have a good day.

Okay. Well, it sounds like there's a bigger issue here, Tanya, an issue of church discipline. So if there's someone who's living in open sin, unrepentant sin in the church, you're totally right. I mean, they shouldn't be serving. To serve in the church is really a privilege.

It's not something that we're entitled to. But the bigger issue here is it sounds to me like there's an individual who is living in sin, but the church isn't addressing it. And there is an example of this happening in the New Testament, also in 1 Corinthians. We're just talking about 1 Corinthians 11 in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. The Corinthians had permitted someone to continue to just sort of operate freely in the church who was in an illicit sexual relationship.

And Paul says in verse 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? In other words, just like leaven spreads and causes bread to rise, that's how sin works in the church.

Just a little bit begins to spread and permeate everything. Cleanse out the old leaven, he says, that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Then he goes on to say this, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. Now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one.

And I will not be one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you, he says. Okay, this is church discipline. The sin needs to be confronted. And if you don't confront it, what ends up happening is, well, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

It begins to spread. One of the marks of the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ is discipline, the fact that the leadership of the church do actually care about sin and want to confront it and address it and aren't okay with it just continuing to happen. And so there's a real issue here. No, someone who's living in an open sin should not have a position of serving within the church. And additionally, they shouldn't just be able to exist in the church like everything's okay.

Paul says, if that's happened, don't even eat with that person. They need to see that they're in a spiritually precarious place. And we don't do anyone any favors in the church by knowing that they're living in open sin and not addressing it. And that goes for the leadership of the church, but it also goes for the members of the church.

We're bound to each other. We ought to hold one another accountable. Now, we're not talking about things that aren't sin here. This isn't stuff that relates to a matter of Christian liberty, for example.

I just don't like the way you do your hair or, you know, whatnot. But we're talking about real issues of sin here. If that's happening and you just sort of let it slide, well, you're not being a good brother or sister to that person. And if the church is just letting it slide, watch out because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And so, I mean, this is something that needs, hopefully the leadership of the church knows this, or hopefully they don't know it, so they haven't addressed it and that's why they haven't addressed it. But they need to be made aware.

And the issue does need to be addressed if indeed this individual is living in open sin and not repenting. Hey, thanks again for listening to the broadcast today. God bless you guys and look forward to catching up with you tomorrow. Praise the Lord. We'll be back together.