Five Verses About Exposing Sin That Get Taken Out Of Context

What Do “Culture of Honor” and “Accuser of the Brethren” Really Mean?

Recently, Jonathan Friz sketched a portrait of what the Holy Spirit is doing in purifying the Church in America by exposing the sins of many high-profile leaders. He expounded on the biblical process of confronting personal sin among church members (Matthew 18:15-17) and addressing the sins of church leaders (I Timothy 5:19-20). The article offered us hope that God is “cleaning house” because He is planning to visit! In today’s article, I want to build on the foundation that Jonathan laid.

I agree with Jonathan’s assessment that, in this season, it is the Holy Spirit who is at work to expose the hidden sins in the lives of many pastors and ministry leaders. I believe that this is a work of the Lord.

“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Luke 8:17

Yes, there are good and bad actors in the process. Yes, it's a mess. Yes, the enemy is trying to hijack and distort what God's doing (as always). But God is using all of it to shine light in dark places, discipline His children, and purify His bride.

It is painful and heartbreaking to see scandal after scandal emerge with stories of spiritual abuse, lies, sexual misconduct, fake prophecies, financial improprieties, a culture of cover-ups, etc. However, this painful exposure is necessary to address the sin and compromise that have infiltrated the American Church.

You can nitpick the details of various stories that have emerged over the last few years, if you want, but don't miss the broader sweep of what God is doing. He is cleaning house, and this is ultimately a good thing. And if God is doing it, we must be careful not to resist the work of His Spirit. Rather, we should ask God if there are any ways that we can partner with Him in what He's doing to shine light in dark places.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them. Ephesians 5:11

However, when God begins to work in the Church in this way, it makes many people uncomfortable — myself included. I have been very uncomfortable over the last few years as the exposure of leaders has ramped up significantly. It has taken me a few years of prayer, reflection, reading, and Bible study to understand better what the Lord is doing. Part of my journey has been to unravel some unbiblical concepts I had about confronting sin, church authority, spiritual abuse, and honoring leaders. Perhaps this article will help “unravel” a few unbiblical ideas for you, too.

As the exposure has increased, I have seen some common pushbacks to what is taking place. Many times, these rebuttals take the form of Bible phrases that have been taken out of context. While these out-of-context phrases may provide a quippy social media comment, they do not accurately reflect the full truth of Scripture. Here are some thoughts on five of the most common comments that I have seen (be sure to check out the honorable mentions at the end!).

1. A Culture of Honor

One teaching that has fueled hesitancy to confront sin is the idea of a “culture of honor” from Matthew 13:55-58:

Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:55-58

The original “culture of honor” teaching from Bill Johnson, as I understood it, was that Jesus could not do miracles in his hometown because the people there did not honor him. Therefore, if people want to establish an environment of miracles, they should cultivate a “culture of honor.” I believe the original thrust of this teaching focused on honoring all believers in the body of Christ. I heard teachers talk about “finding the gold” in people and seeing the positive aspects of every person.

Honoring all believers in the body of Christ is a biblical concept and harkens back to other passages, such as Paul’s teaching about spiritual gifts in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12. However, this concept can get distorted or misapplied in a number of ways.

A variation of the “honor culture” teaching has been used to justify the cover-up of the persistent sin of church leaders. This exaggerated teaching would never allow anyone to say anything negative about a leader or to expose their sin publicly under any circumstances. Yet the New Testament provides a process for this in certain scenarios.

Paul told Timothy that church elders who lead well are due special honor, but he also gave specific instructions on how to confront elders who persist in sin. Honoring our leaders does not include ignoring sinful behavior. The passage makes it clear that when multiple witnesses bring forth allegations of sin, and the leader persists in that sin, then it must be exposed publicly.

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching…. Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. I Timothy 5:16-20

The biblical principle of honor does not negate other clear biblical instructions about leaders humbly serving their flocks (1 Peter 5:1-3), the importance of confronting sin (Matthew 18:15-17), or the need to publicly expose unrepentant sin (I Timothy 5:16-20). Christian honor should flow in all directions — up, down, and all around — not just upwards to the leadership. Leaders are still part of the body of Christ and should honor those whom they serve.

2. Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

"Love covers a multitude of sins.” I Peter 4:8

Whenever unrepentant sin is exposed publicly, this verse is thrown around to counter those who are exposing the sin. But is Peter saying that we should cover up the persistent sin of church leaders? No. We must take this verse in the context of the passage in Peter 4 as well as consider other verses in the New Testament that encourage exposure and confrontation of sin.

The context of Peter’s admonition is that Jesus is returning, and therefore, we need to avoid sin and pursue loving Christian community. The full verse says:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

The primary encouragement here is for Christians to love one another. The idea is that an environment of love and care in a church community will build relational equity among the church members and make it much easier to forgive one another when there are inevitable conflicts. Wayne Grudem says:

“Where love abounds in a fellowship of Christians, many small offenses, and even some large ones, are readily overlooked and forgotten. But where love is lacking, every word is viewed with suspicion, every action is liable to misunderstanding, and conflicts abound – to Satan’s perverse delight.”¹

This verse is by no means a license to continue in unrepentant sin or a discouragement from other passages that describe confronting sin. It is a word of wisdom regarding a healthy church community and forgiveness. If a local church cares for one another well, then less egregious sins can be quickly forgiven, and everyone can move on without major disruption. But this does not give an excuse to ignore egregious sin or ongoing patterns of sin. As John Ortberg says:

'The Bible is very clear, continual or serious sin is not to be ignored but addressed. While “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8), it doesn’t ignore them or cover them up.’²

3. Let Him Without Sin Cast The First Stone

Another common phrase that is used whenever a believer attempts to confront or expose sin is “let him without sin cast the first stone.” This is a quote from John 8:7, from the story of the woman who is caught in adultery.

Jesus' command was aimed at the spiritual leaders of his day who were threatening to stone the woman. It was the religious leaders who needed a rebuke. The adulterous woman was simply told by Jesus to “go and sin no more”. Yet, Jesus boldly confronted those with power in his culture (men and religious leaders) to not take advantage of those in a lower position (a female prostitute). This verse gives no precedent to cover up the sins of powerful leaders. It is not an instruction to victims to hide their stories or to never speak out. Rather, it is a warning to leaders to treat those under their care with compassion, grace, and forgiveness.

4. Do Not Judge

Let’s also consider another one of Jesus’ phrases that’s thrown around similarly: “Do not judge.” Here is the phrase in context:

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus describes two brothers. One has a plank in their eye and is trying to remove a speck from their brother’s eye. The analogy is clear: how can someone with sin in their own life confront someone else who is in sin?

Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t say that the plank-eyed brother is wrong for wanting to remove the speck. Rather, he is told to repent first and then help the other brother. Jesus told him to remove the log so “you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye”.

The end goal was not to avoid confrontation. Jesus did not say to leave the speck in the other person’s eye. Rather, Jesus encourages the one with the plank to help the other brother with the speck. He just needed to deal with his issues first so that he could approach his brother humbly and clearly. The goal was always that both brothers would be freed from their sins!

The idea that one sinner can never confront the sins of another sinner is simply unbiblical. That is not what Jesus meant by “do not judge”.

5. The Accuser of the Brethren

When sin is exposed publicly, whistleblowers are sometimes accused of having a “spirit of accusation” or partnering with the “accuser of the brethren.” This is a reference to Revelation 12:10:

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Revelation 12:10

This verse describes Satan as the accuser of Christians. If that is true, how can we hold each other accountable to holiness without partnering with the enemy's accusations? We must learn to confront sin as a vessel of the Holy Spirit rather than as a tool of the enemy.

Here is the difference. The enemy condemns. The Holy Spirit convicts. They both point to your sin, but their messages are very different. The accuser of the brethren uses our sin to condemn us and lead us into shame (Revelation 12:10) . The Spirit uses our sin to convict us and lead us to repentance (John 16:7-8).

The enemy causes us to question our standing before God. He lies and says that because we have sinned, we are not worthy of God's love, forgiveness, and grace. The Holy Spirit confirms our standing before God. He reminds us of the Gospel: that it is the work of Christ on the cross that makes us worthy of God's love, forgiveness, and grace.

The accuser makes us self-focused. The Spirit makes us Christ-focused. The enemy's goal is to break our communion with God. The Spirit's goal is to restore our relationship with the Father. The enemy loves to operate in darkness and secrecy. God brings things to the light to bring truth and healing (I John 1:5-7, Ephesians 5:11-14).

It is inappropriate to bring up a “spirit of accusation” every time sin is called out or exposed. Ironically, those who shout “accuser” are themselves accusing other believers. The truth is that there are biblical times and ways to confront and expose sin (Matt 18:15-20), even the sins of church leaders (1 Timothy 5:19). As Jonathan elaborated in his article, due process is essential. When we do this, we partner with the Holy Spirit’s work in the Church to bring conviction and repentance.

Honorable Mentions:

Here are a few other common pushbacks to the exposure of the unrepentant sin of leaders.

1. “Look at the fruit of their ministry”. It is possible to have a successful and fruitful church/ministry that is led by corrupt leaders. Jesus said that there would be those who cast out demons and perform miracles in his name, yet He would say, “‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23). Some leaders are gifted but lack the character to steward that gifting with integrity. We should not ignore unrepentant sin in church leaders just because their ministry is having an impact.

2. “You're just offended.” Just because someone is confronting and exposing sin does not mean that they are harboring unforgiveness in their hearts. Confronting/exposing sin can be an act of love that is in the best interest of the sinner and their community. Only God knows the motivations of people’s hearts. A whistleblower may be vengeful, or they may be acting sincerely in love. If allegations of sin are brought forth, we should address the evidence itself rather than question the motive of the victim.

3. “That leader just isn't very pastoral.” Some act as if “apostolic” and “prophetic” leaders should be allowed to mistreat people because they are wired differently than someone who is “pastoral” (i.e., caring and compassionate). This is an unbiblical lie. Every Christian, regardless of their gifting, should cultivate the nature of Christ and the fruits of the Spirit, including love, kindness, and gentleness. If anything, apostolic and prophetic leaders should be spiritual fathers and mothers who set the example for how to love and care humbly for those under their leadership.

4. “You’re creating disunity.” Jesus prayed for unity in the Church (John 17), and we should too. One of the greatest hindrances to unity is unrepentant sin because sin is destructive. Unity does not increase as we tolerate sin. Unity flourishes as the Church grows in maturity and purity (see Ephesians 4:13-16). Confronting sin is a way to contend for unity by rooting out that which would hinder holy love. A confrontation may create temporary relational strain, but it will ultimately result in either repentance or excommunication (see Matthew 18:15-17), which both help to purify and unify the Church.

1 https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-peter-4/

2 https://c2cfamily.org/2023/11/equipping-thoughts-for-leaders/church-discipline-covering-sin-without-covering-it-up/