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FORGIVE AND FORGET? A growing trend in the ministry is that of preachers and ministry leaders committing great sins and then trying to remain in positions of authority on the basis of God's forgiveness. "God has forgiven me, so why can't you?" seems to be the thinking. Personally, I am always very suspicious of anyone with this attitude. A truly repentant person feels unworthy of holding an authority position after committing sin, so much so that even in the unsaved world it is not uncommon to find men voluntarily resigning positions after having committed sins. Yet, far too often in the IFB world, it's just a matter of moving to another church, and sometimes not even that. "The Lord's ministry has suffered enough, so let's keep quiet about this," they'll say, while trying to hang on to every ounce of power, prestige and profit that they can muster. That's not the spirit of humility and repentance, and it has no business wearing the name of Jesus Christ. Granted, some sins aren't as serious as others, so perhaps full restoration can be enjoyed sooner in lesser cases. Obviously, forgiveness itself can be enjoyed as soon as genuine repentance is realized (Luke 17:3-4; Jer. 36:3; II Chron. 7:14), but even that sometimes requires a "space" (Rev. 2:21), and actual restoration to an authority position might require a great deal of space, and sometimes it shouldn't happen at all. I know an adulterer, for instance, who was in charge of a girls home. If he knows what's good for himself, he will stay away from girls homes and girls in general for the rest of his earthly life. Christians forgive, but only fools forget. A preacher who has committed great sins is no longer "blameless" and "of good behaviour" (I Tim. 3:2), so he's no longer worthy of the high calling, or at least not until he has had "space to repent" and has shown some genuine and consistent fruits of repentance, and the same remains true with deacons, who must be "proved," "blameless" and "well" (I Tim. 3:10, 13). These things take time, and discerning people know it. For those who have sinned and scarred their testimonies, there are many ways in which they can still serve God, but authority and leadership positions are usually off limits. Beware of anyone who disagrees.