I have been in constant contact with this Pastor and really feel the need to intercede on his behalf, we have met with him and his wife for hours at a time and I do see true repentance in his life....and regrets for his actions. How do we know this, buy taking the time to actually meet with him, pray for him, and pray with him.  Even so, if he has totally misled us, it is still not our duty to judge his heart, actions or determine his consequences. Neither one of us is perfect. The Bible says that the Lord (not us) weighs the actions of every man. It also says "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matthew 7:1-2

Being, if only for a short time, a part of the church body I understand the hurt feelings that came about after this disclosure but even so, when Paul speaks about sin in the church he always refers back to grace and forgiveness. I refer back to the word where it says " If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent- not to put it too severely, the punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge therefore to reaffirm your love for him." 2nd Corinthians 2:5-8

I believe none of this has occurred since the fall of this pastor, all he has received is condemnation, ridicule and attempts to destroy him as a man and to never allow him to EVER pastor again.  The problem with this is that in Psalm 139 it states that God knew him from his mother's womb and gave him his name, it also called him to ministry. God knew one day that King David would fall but he still anointed him king because he saw his heart.  Maybe this experience once this Pastor is restored may allow him to minister to other brothers who have fallen and committed the same sin. It can also be used by God to show his ever loving grace and mercy. Lastly, the persons who judge the harshest are the ones that have or are struggling with similar sin. I write these words not to offend but maybe to remind all of us that in God's eyes, all sin is the same and that Jesus shed his blood for ALL sin. We in the body of Christ need to try harder to show grace, mercy, and love to those who have fallen. As the song by Bob Carlisle says "The saints are just the sinners who fall down and get up." Let's not try to keep our brother down...Also, as we all know the story as it goes around gets bigger and bigger and we need to be careful to not continue to spread what we ourselves do not know to be fact firsthand."

 In Christ,

Tim & Naomi

Thank you, Tim & Naomi, for offering your words and allowing me the opportunity to respond.  In regards to the main idea behind your concern, and as conveyed through your quote of Galatians, great compassion was shown to both the ex-pastor and his wife immediately upon discovery of what had taken place.  Restoration of his family was the foremost concern of those other pastors involved, and Kayla and I offered our services by means of counsel, advice, or just an ear to hear. 

Aside from the church's promise of support - financial, spiritual, and emotional - to the ex-pastor's wife, with the only stipulation being that she and he seek all out restoration or that she do so alone were he to reject it, they both chose to remove themselves from their existing covering.  The ex-pastor specifically said he wanted nothing to do with the help offered him, and shortly thereafter his wife followed.  They made this choice of their own free will, a cowardly decision in the eyes of man and of God. 

Additionally, Kayla offered them both our support, guidance, counsel, etc...which they also rejected.  To do so Kayla took a huge risk, sharing with them issues of our past which she would just as soon forget.  You see, Tim & Naomi, as you already know, as do most (now all) readers of this blog, I am an adulterer, forgiven, restored, but guilty just the same.  So when this couple was faced with this tragedy Kayla immediately told the wife she could relate, and she was willing to help.  The pastor  was also told that I was more than willing to discuss the situation with him, not as an outsider or a judge, but as someone who had already traveled down that path.  Again, rejection was the answer we received.  It has been their choice, then, to go without the gentle restoration which was offered them...

"Judge not, lest ye be judged."  Perhaps the most misinterpreted and misused verse ever, seen as an umbrella of protection for those wishing not to be called out...I offer the full passage: 

Matthew 7:1-5

¹"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

    ³"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

According to scripture, we are called upon to judge others with the expectation of being judged in a like manner.  We are charged to ensure our own purity in those areas which we judge others, but never are we guided not to judge. 

Consider the words of Paul found in I Corinthians 6:1-5:

¹If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? ²Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! ⁴Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!^{[a] 5}I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?

While this passage refers specifically to lawsuits, and generally to petty matters amongst church members, does it not stand to reason that if man in the church is wise enough to judge these matters is man in the church not also wise enough to judge matters of greater severity, especially by your own reason that "all sin is the same?"  Paul says quite clearly that we (the saints) will judge the world and the angels!!  If the world and the angels, then why not those among us?  Paul goes so far as to say that he is attempting to shame those church members who chose not to judge their own...to make them feel sheepish is the desired result of Paul in this passage. 

So, as I see it, according the Words of God and those He trusted to share His Word, not only is it our right, but our duty, to pass judgment on those among us.  Lovingly?  Yes.  With the ultimate desire being restoration?  Yes.  But it all begins with judgment. 

Are we all qualified to judge everyone.  Probably not.  But who better qualified to judge an individual than someone who has committed the same transgressions as those of the guilty?  So, then, who better than me to judge another adulterer?  You say that perhaps this ex-pastor will be restored and then be able to minister to others who fall in a similar manner, yet you fail to acknowledge that perhaps that is exactly the purpose I am already serving.  Yet I say again, who better to judge a situation than one who has experienced it firsthand? 

Tim & Naomi, thank you again for words, your participation, your willingness to share.  To the rest of you, feel free to add your thoughts and opinions, ask some questions, or just read and contemplate...