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| Pastor Jack Schaap |
"Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless..."--Titus 1:7
Jack Schaap admits that he acted like a fool. And indeed, he did.
Who is Jack Schaap? Until recently, he was the pastor of the 15,000 member First Baptist Church located in Hammond, Indiana. Now, Schaap is a convict and that will be his title for the next 12 years after U.S. District Court Judge Rudy Lozano sentenced him to prison for having sex with an underage girl.
The girl originally came to Schaap for counseling a few years ago and she wound up being seduced into a sexual relationship by the popular pastor. The girl claims that Schaap even had the audacity to text her from his pulpit during church services. According to the girl, Schaap actually claimed that God himself had ordained the relationship and that it would be beneficial for her.
The relationship certainly didn't turn out to be beneficial for the pastor after First Baptist church officials learned of the affair and confronted Schaap with their suspicions. Schaap not only denied the affair, he tried to get rid of evidence such as pictures and text messages. He also fired a church employee who evidently found out about what was going on between Schaap and the 16-year-old girl.
But Schaap wasn't able to get rid of all the evidence and the truth finally caught up with him after police confronted him with that evidence along with the girl's statement. "Photographs taken at (Schaap’s home) feature the defendant grinning like a
Cheshire cat while rubbing cheeks with the victim, and, in another shot,
engaging the victim in what one witness described as a ‘very romantic
lip-lock,’" prosecutors said.
Schaap embarrassed himself, his family and he was fired from First Baptist Church after serving as its pastor for many years.
Worse yet, Jack Schaap brought shame and embarrassment to the overall Church of Jesus Christ. His behavior reinforced the worst stereotypes about Christians in the minds of those who are already highly suspicious of Christians who openly profess Jesus Christ as Lord.
Schaap's behavior made it that much harder for honest, hardworking pastors, missionaries and apostles to convince skeptical unbelievers that they need to repent of their sins and serve Jesus Christ as Lord. If pastors such as Jack Schaap, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart etc. aren't willing to obey Christ's teachings, then why should anybody?
Has Schaap repented of his sins? Sort of. He admits that the relationship was wrong. His wife and children have forgiven him which is indeed commendable.
But like many people today who get caught doing something wrong, Schaap tries to deflect responsibility. He blamed his behavior on prostate problems, stress and exhaustion.
It's no wonder why Christianity has such a terrible image throughout much of the world. When church leaders such as Jack Schaap can't even take responsibility for their own sinful behavior, then Christendom has become a modern circus act with a cast of grotesque clowns such as Jack Schaap who are laughed at by the world and taken seriously only by fools.
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