In a Facebook post made public to over 700,000 fans this week beginning, the worship leader at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston Israel released a public statement, where he revealed that he sinned in his marriage five years ago which led to the breakdown between himself and his wife.
This statement came as a shock to the Christian Fraternity however, the 44-year-old singer-songwriter and five-time Grammy Award winner called for privacy so that his children could overcome the matter.
For several years, he has been leading people all over the world in worship, many of whom refer to him as a role model. He has done some fantastic things for God, and if we should be reminded, he is man, as flawed as us all.
Although his actions cannot be overlooked, rather than react with any contempt, many will agree that we should pray for him and his family that God comforts them during this time.
But what does that mean? How “good” do we have to be to be “good enough” to minister before God? What’s a life of integrity look like? One thing’s for sure—it’s not about perfection. Paul makes that clear in Philippians 3:12. He speaks of his own life and writes, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ has taken hold of me.”
He was making progress in his Christian life. From his example, we understand that the integrity that empowers our ministry isn’t a standard to be met—although standards are involved. Rather, integrity is a process—a daily process of “pressing on” with Christ. Choosing to actively engage in this process is a big part of what it means to live a life worthy of imitation.
When we, as worship leaders or preachers, are careful to “press on” in our own spiritual lives, we serve as visual aides for younger believers trying to grasp what it means to follow Christ, we learn to respond to life’s circumstances God’s way, we help those we preach to do the same. When we sin, we can show them what it means to seek forgiveness. When sinned against, we can model what it means to forgive. When we grieve, we can demonstrate how to grieve with hope.
Situations like this ring us to an understanding that in all the ‘good’ we see in people, we should only see God.
When the young man calls Jesus good, Jesus is quick to state that only God is good and questions why he calls him that. We know that Jesus is God, so he is most certainly good, but this should speak to us about the esteem we hold others in. If only God is good, any goodness we see others exhibit can only come from him and is to showcase his glory.
I am 55 years old and am not going to refuse sex. But health starts to fail every now and then. My wife was disappointed. But I do not give up. I’m taking Levitra tablets right now. Of course I looked at the composition well. So it causes no harm to heart and liver. Now I’m telling my wife to take her words back. A man must be a man at any age! Read more at https://hh-today.com/order-levitra-online-usa/.
With any role models that we may have, it is important that we remember this. When we look to them, let’s see God and all his majesty in the gifts and talents that he has given them. And if they fall, as men are likely to do, let’s not forget to pray for them to be restored, so that God can show his goodness through them again.
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Contribution by Aaron and Nathan Jones.
