A dull chisel becomes a hazard to the wood against which it is meant to shape and to the craftsman handling it. Sharper instruments and knives are safer than dull ones, because dull ones cannot accomplish the job for which they were created, but worse, they tend to become misdirected, bind, and kickback, endangering the hand of the user.

A file is designed to give a sharp edge to cutting tools. Similarly, a forger’s hammer and anvil are sure implements to fully restore the temper and edge to any old iron cutting tool. In my mind’s eye, I can imagine the rasping of the file and pounding of the hammer are temporarily unpleasant to a dull tool, but afterward, it yields a result that makes the tool useful and desirable again. If a dull tool is ignored, it becomes unwanted, placed on the "shelf of damaged tools" and is never used again. That is an insult and a disservice to both the tool and its creator.

Friendship and brotherhood are the very core of Christian relationships--see 1 John 4:21. At times, it takes a brave and loving man to look at his friend and brother and tell him a sharpening is going to occur. "Friend, here is Scripture that indicates you have something you need to improve…" "Brother, the Bible says you must stop doing this…" Far easier to simply ignore the situation, let the brother with the problem remain unaware and allow him to be put on the shelf rather than for his friend to become the file or the hammer, or so the faulty reasoning process goes.

Love, as defined in the Word (see Vine’s dictionary and not Webster’s), is: doing good to another for their benefit. Sharpening another is love. Leaving another to become ignorant, dull, and put on the shelf, is selfishness and self-pleasing, a form of hatred that kills the church (Revelation 2:5). Let us revive our love for God, for the church, and for our brothers and begin again to sharpen one another with the truth. The truth undisclosed is like a light hidden under a basket, it illumines no one.

In a blog essay posted June 1^st of 2007 which was entitled Lies, Cursed Lies, and Deceptive Silence, I noted some examples of committing a lie merely by staying silent. Two of the examples were an elder board which covers up a pastor’s long time drug addiction, or a pastoral staff which chooses not to tell police or parents that a minor child has been raped by someone on the staff. And the challenge: How is it that these two examples are genuine lies? Could there not be legitimate reasons for keeping these sins undisclosed?

At the core of that question is likely a sincere heart of compassion for the drug addicted pastor or the morally-sick elder who committed the rape. In both instances it is commendable that the elder boards would like to get the pastor detoxification therapy (so as to help him kick his drug habit) and to get the rapist into counseling (so as to again make him a productive member of the Christian community). How can such compassion be considered lying?

Pastors/elders are obligated to be "above reproach" and "not addicted to wine" (Titus 1:6-7). And not merely obligated, these are requirements for holding the office. Once the requirements are no longer met, the man becomes unqualified (or unfit) for service. Presumably, once a man overcomes a problem, he may become qualified once again, but that is beyond the scope of the question under consideration.

Assuming we are not going to hold to the letter of the law but adhere instead to the spirit of Titus 1:7, we must admit that pastors may not be addicted to any use of a chemical substance, be it the drug alcohol or narcotic drugs which can, under controlled use, properly be used to relieve pain. Once the addiction is confirmed, the man is no longer qualified to lead, for both his mental abilities and his moral stance have been compromised.

It is a fine idea to enroll such a man into rehabilitation, but at the same time, he must be withdrawn from leadership. To keep him in leadership as a pastor/elder, and to hide his addiction from the congregation, is to tacitly tell the congregation, "This man is still fully qualified according to the Scriptures to be the pastor of this church." That is simply untrue, and is therefore a lie.

Similarly, an elder who has committed rape does indeed need counseling, however, his conduct is no longer "beyond reproach." Further, a married elder who has raped a minor child has committed a sexual deviancy of the sort that may cause the wife to invoke the clauses regarding infidelity, a happenstance that further raises questions regarding the man’s qualifications to remain on as an elder. Finally, rape is a violent crime, and such a crime that requires removing the man from contact with other children. This cannot be done until the crime is made known to the congregation. We will not even discuss the immorality of not contacting the victim’s parents, or, for that matter, the police as soon as the matter is found out.

Such a man is immediately disqualified because he is no longer "above reproach." That phrase, "above reproach," means that no unconfessed sin, unresolved morality issue, or ongoing wrongdoing remains for which that man may rightly be accused. No man is utterly sinless, but one who is above reproach has handled such sin through confession, repentance, paying restitution, or even serving prison time. In other words, the debt of his misdeeds are fully repaid and are no longer a valid issue to bring up in the future.

A rapist holding the office of elder, whose crime is covered up, is not above reproach, for he has not confessed his sin, has not made restitution, and has not paid his civil penalty. Worse, he may still be given access to the children of the church, in contradiction to common sense and biblical mandate. Such a cover up is an attempt to make public claim that the man is still biblically qualified to continue to serve as an elder, though obviously he is not. That is an intentional lie communicated by simple silence.

When one church used silence as a means of giving sanctuary to a public sexual sinner, the apostle Paul called them to account for their arrogance (1 Corinthians 5). He called for their mourning over their lack of interest in pursuing holiness among their own congregation. Pretending such persons are innocent is a lie, a cursed lie, a deception by silence.

Watching a child steal a forbidden cookie is often intriguing, if not downright humorous. My own son, who was not yet old enough to talk, found a way to communicate with a child his own age, also not yet a talker, to commit a master sugar heist. He and his friend went into the kitchen, where the cookies were safely out of reach by the sink. They found a one-step stool we kept in the kitchen by which we could reach the upper cabinets. The friend climbed up the stool while my son literally used both hands to push against and support his legs and his balance. The friend managed to grasp the edge of the countertop and snagged two cookies from the open container while my son helped him back down from the stool. They picked up their blankies and waddled into the living room, never knowing I was watching the whole stunning enterprise (yes, I let them keep the cookies).

A couple who became recent acquaintances to my wife and I came over for dinner last night. The wife asked, "Why did God put temptation into the garden? It was like he put a cookie on the table in front of a starving toddler and told him not to touch it."

But that is not how it was. God had given every vegetation that grew on planet Earth to Adam and Eve for food. Everything! There was not yet any curse and so, no death, therefore, animals were strictly off the menu. But all plants, all fruits, all vegetables were laid out like an endless feast in front of Adam and Eve. Anything they wanted to eat, they could eat. In fact, there were also no laws to obey. None. No way to do anything bad or wrong.

Ok, in fact, there was only one rule in all the Earth, "Don’t touch the rat poison." They could do anything they pleased, or eat anything that was edible. All except for the fruit from the one tree. God told them, "It is poison to you. Eat the fruit from that tree and die. It is rat poison, don’t eat it."

It would be like your parents setting a vast feast for just two kids. The children are given all manner of cakes, food, grilled cheese sandwiches, and chocolate milk, and then told to eat as much as they like. Then the parents add one rule, "There is rat poison in the kitchen cabinet, don’t eat it or it will kill you." And what do the kids do? They pull up the step stool, ignore the cookies and other good things, and eat the rat poison.

So it was with Adam and Eve. God did not tempt them. He gave them every good enticement to avoid sin. And sin was reduced to breaking only one single rule. And it was an incredibly easy rule to avoid breaking. God did not tempt mankind. God demonstrated to mankind that he was incapable of being holy on his own. Ever. Even in his most perfect state and perfect corporeal situation that could ever exist.

Before the world was created, God knew man would sin. So He planned a means of salvation and even selected His adopted children prior to their creation, before the ocean currents flowed, and before the first breeze wafted by. God did not tempt man, man simply always chooses to sin, even if the sinning requires work and great cost. And every man works quite hard to commit sin.

Praise God He loves us anyway, and through His love, gave us the gift of faith and salvation. God did not merely give us the good feast, but He provided the rat poison anti-dote for His precious rebellious children.

Our gracious Heavenly Father has allotted to each one of us spiritual gifts to be used for the common good of the body and His Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 contain wonderful lists of the types of things the Holy Spirit has enabled us to do for others and for Him. And as His children, we delight to spend our gifts in His service and in the service of others.

Yet, a person who is unable to utilize his spiritual gift inside a Christian community reminds me of my son trying to buy ice cream for the family. The spiritual gift is like the money, it is intended to be spent for the good of the community. But for whatever reason, the child of God is left standing on the roadside, money still in hand, desperately wishing to benefit the community, but no one will allow him or her to do so. The ice cream vendor does not realize the size of the contribution to his bottom line that one child is about to make, or he simply is preoccupied with things other than the heart of a child, but in the end, no one benefits from the child’s offer.

That child of God must turn to the Lord, holding out his hand still clutching the spiritual gift he desperately wanted to spend for Him. Does the Father grieve for such neglected children?

Within a Christian community we must be always diligent to nurture the gifts of all God’s children. That is a mighty undertaking, to be sure. To accomplish this, we must not only know the names of all those around us, but we must be familiar enough with them to find out their gifts and then actively seek means by which such people can spend their gifts profitably. Yes, it is true, many of God’s children will not bother to come out into the street with their gifts ready to be spent, but that means that those that do should never be forsaken for they are all the more necessary.

---