Why Churches Persecute Gospel Ministers.

Recovering from something as traumatic as cancer and its very demanding treatment is a challenge, and patients need as much support as they can get.  Family is always a source of support and comfort, as are friends who call and help with food, etc. 

Yet, it is noteworthy just how little it takes to upset the equilibrium that has been enjoyed.  Satan is always looking for an opportunity to attack, and sadly there is no lack of springboards from which to launch such attacks.

What some people will not believe or accept is how many times the “Christian” church is at the forefront of attacking Gospel ministers.  “Oh, the church would never do that,” they say in defense of their own denomination.  “The minister must have done something very wrong for our church to remove him.” 

Well, on that point they are quite correct.  The great wrong that these men did was this: they preached the Gospel with power and passion in congregations that simply did not want it preached, which very thing the churches do not want.  And they have applied Gospel principles to and within their congregations, another unwanted church commodity.

Today’s liberal and anti-Gospel churches are still removing Gospel-preaching ministers from their charges, while they leave the ‘good churchmen’ to get on with their lives, not to mention their ministries.  What are ‘good churchmen’?  ‘Good churchmen’ are those who never disturb the consciences of their hearers, never question their professions of faith, never expect their faith to be seen in everyday life, never ask uncomfortable questions of the church, and never question the spirituality of the church.  They just turn a blind eye to religious formalism and outward respectability, and as long as the church is functioning “as it was in the beginning, is now, and evermore shall be,” all is well. 

But once God’s transforming Gospel arrives in such churches, it is as if all hell is let loose – against the minister and those who support the minister because he preaches the everlasting Gospel.  As Dr John Stott calls it, the Gospel is Christian Counter Culture.  It challenges everything, particularly those whose religious and eternal well-being is dependent solely on a mere profession of faith.  Such people imagine they are genuine Christians and are regarded as such, why?  Because the church’s eldership accepted them as Christians, so they must be Christians.  And woe betide anyone, minister or otherwise, who raises any questions as to their spiritual standing. 

The other side of the argument is that those whose eternal well-being is dependent upon Christ alone and their relationship with Him, love the Gospel, want to hear it preached faithfully and passionately, and will bring other hungry believers to where this message is proclaimed.

And remember this; the persecution of Christian ministers does not only happen in far away lands like India, Pakistan, China, etc.  It is happening right in front of our eyes.  

And do you know what makes this particularly heart-breaking?  God’s people in these churches stand back and refuse to challenge such treatment of the servants of Christ, thus implicating themselves in what their leaders have done to Gospel men.  It shows just how little they care for the Gospel after all.  Why do they do this?  Because their ecclesiology is essentially Roman Catholic, and by that I mean that whatever the church does is right, infallibly right. 

Thank God for those ministers who, out of love for their people and for Christ and His Gospel, are prepared to challenge a religion of mere words.  Formal religion is useless when faced with death, and we have discovered the reality of a living faith in such a situation.

How true are the words of C. H. Spurgeon that that man is surely lacking in grace who is not concerned about the spiritual well-being of the Church.  True Gospel ministers will give their all for the good of the church for they know that then only foundation the church has is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Rip away that foundation and not only will the collapse of the church be certain but whatever calls itself church had forfeited any right to that noble name.

Two ministers have already been put out of their charges by their respective denominations, one has been forced to resign to take effect in about five weeks time, and another is on sick leave because of “work-related stress;” he joins some 35 other ministers from one denomination who are off on similar grounds.  Congregations are divided right down the middle, and in most cases, this is over the Gospel, a most unwelcome commodity in many churches today. 

This happened to me twenty years ago, and it is still happening to Gospel ministers today.  And when your wife is suffering from cancer and hears about the re-enactment of such evils by churches, it does nothing to help her in her recovery.  It brings back bad thoughts of what was done to us by the church.  You don’t need me to tell you what kind of churches they are that throw out Gospel preaching ministers, do you?  If these churches loved Christ and the Gospel, and if they even loved the church of Jesus Christ, they would treasure the servants of Christ, not toss them aside as you would an empty packet.  Because these are Christ’s chosen vessels for the propagation of the Gospel, those churches and ministers will have to answer to God for the evil they have inflicted on God’s men.

Now this kind of situation needles both my wife and me.  It causes anger to arise within us, and takes us back to the days when we were going through such church-inspired persecution.  In fact, it re-traumatises us.