Disgrace – the loss of respect, honor, or esteem; ignominy; shame (dictionary.com)
The Bible speaks of being “above reproach” or “blameless” as one of the distinctive marks of those who aspire to the office of elder or deacon within the church.
If you are familiar with the Bible at all, you know that it makes it clear that none of us are sinless. None of us are blameless. If Paul meant that only sinless, blameless people could be leaders, there would be none but leaderless churches.
The standard that Paul was establishing was one in which a person’s general lifestyle and demeanor is one that is characterized by honorable moral living. Humans can fall short, Humans call fall hard. All humans can slip and fall off the road of righteousness into a pit of shameful and disgraceful behavior – even Christian leaders.
The real issue is what do they do afterwards. The test of a person’s heart is if and how they get back up from the fall. It goes without saying that there will be naysayers after the rise. There will be those that for the rest of their life point to the fall and not to the resurrection. There will be those that never forgive. Time usually tells all about what is genuinely in one’s heart.
Only God knows what is in our hearts and can see the real us. God is a forgiving God and we, His people should be likewise forgiving.
As king David said, “see how the might have fallen”; but David, more than most of us, knew how to get up and walk in the light again, so he knew how the mighty can get up again.
We should all hold to the truth of that old saying, “there, but for the grace of God, go I.”
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For His glory,
Jim