Though Saul had been trying to capture and kill David for years, David twice refused to lay a hand on him when he had the chance. But when Nabal repaid David’s protection with a refusal to feed David’s men, David gathered 400 soldiers and swore to kill Nabal by morning.
Why the difference? David respected Saul’s anointing. “I won’t lift my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed” 1 Samuel 24:10.
Today many use this verse to defend pastors. I have heard it from pulpits all my life: “Touch not mine anointed!” But does the verse apply to New Testament pastors? No. The Bible only applies this concept to Old Testament kings. At no time does Paul, the great teacher of church doctrine and practice, speak of pastors as men we are to “touch not.” To put it another way, if Paul confronted a pastor embroiled in adultery, immorality, or criminal sexual activity, do you think he would hesitate to “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh,” as he did in 1 Corinthians 5:5? He would not.
Being ordained for ministry is not some secret force-field that insulates a man from the consequences of his evil actions.
Those in ministry, paid and unpaid, should be subject to a criminal background check covering every jurisdiction in the nation. Convictions for sexual or financial crimes disqualify a man from the ministry for life. (Yes, people can change. But experience proves the need for “zero tolerance” following sex and fraud convictions.) Convictions for other crimes may be publicly considered by a church board, but if the board allows the man to serve, the details of the conviction should be prominently disclosed to the entire church[1].
This rule may seem harsh, but frankly everyone convicted claims innocence, and few are as persuasive as the professional talkers that work in our churches. Too many innocent people–many of them young people–have been burned by men who cry and plead that they were falsely accused.
Because Christians are so deeply motivated by grace and forgiveness, we yearn to believe the best about people—we have a deep need to believe in our leaders and to trust them when they say they were wrongly accused. But our compassion must never put children at risk—and the only way to prevent that is with a rule that allows no exceptions for the convicted. (And of course, this rule does nothing to protect us from those who have not yet been convicted. We must be vigilant.)
To read more about this by a grandson of Billy Graham whose law practice focuses on abuse in the church, click here.
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[1] (For example, convictions for non-sexual crimes committed before a man was converted might be easily explained.)
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