All This ... Seriously?

In October, The Kings Way Baptist Church (KW) ousted their Pastor of 15 years, Bill Wininger, for sexual misconduct (and this is putting it mildly for some of the allegations).  As I sit here tonight, I can’t help but think about all the people that have been affected by this one man’s actions.  I’m not just talking about his victims and their families, which in most cases is a lot of destruction in and of itself.  I am talking about the church as a whole. 

I think about all the people that have left because of these allegations and how the church hid what was going on in plain sight.  People that have had their kids in one private school all their lives has now been forced to remove their kids and put them in another school; another school with new people and friends to get to know, new teachers they have to get use to.  The school is literally disintegrating before their eyes.  After the Christmas break and at the start of a new semester, I bet there won’t even be a quarter of the student body there that has been there.  All this because one leader put himself and his needs above all else; but above the needs of the children, seriously? 

I think about the people that graduated from KW Christian School and in their adult life they have been members of this church their whole adult life; but now they are moving to a new church and Pastor.  Some of these people were not only members of the church, but they were employees of the church and school; but due to these allegations, some have been fired along with the Pastor and others have just walked out.   It has been speculated that the ones there were employees were brainwashed to believe what they were seeing wasn’t real; I personally don’t agree with that.  I was a member of this church for 5 years and trust me, no one there was brainwashed; they believed and followed everything Bill Wininger told them with blind faith that he was right.  They never questioned anything because it would mean being kicked out of the church like I was, or it would mean they lost their social status to the congregation.  Oh, if you were one of the Bill Wininger’s favorites, he would build you up to the other members to the point that you were right under his name (and in his eyes, his name was above God himself).  All this because one leader put himself and his needs above all else; but above the needs of the people, seriously?

I think about the ministries that have taken a hit because of the removal of Bill Wininger; my favorite being Reformer’s Unanimous (RU).  I personally think this is right up there with the children that were hurt.  I think about all the family members that were seeing a change in their loved one that was drug addicted because of the RU ministry; only for their loved one to find out that Bill Wininger had more addictions than any of them.  This man would get up and preach to them about the change they were making and how to make this change and the whole time he is sitting there with an addiction to sexual immorality.  I just shudder to think of all the people tonight that are out looking for drugs because they refused to go to their RU meeting and hear how they needed to continue making a change and the church they are meeting at is literally falling apart before their eyes.  All this because one leader put himself and his needs above all else; but above the ones that are too far gone in their addiction to not let this deter them, seriously? 

Yes, I have a very heavy heart tonight.  Tonight was Friday night and RU should have met tonight, but I bet there were people that didn’t come because of all that is going on.  School will start back next week and there were probably people that went this past week during the break to find another school for their kids.  Why is it that people will put one man above everyone else?  Is everyone else really that small in your eyes that they don’t have as much worth as this big balloon of hot air seems to think of himself?  Yes, he is a leader of a church; but he is not God.  You know what is right and wrong in your own eyes, why do you need this man to tell you it isn’t wrong or that you don’t see it?  Why does his opinion of you seem to be more important than the feelings of the ones that have been hurt by his actions (and technically your actions because you believed him)?  Just out of curiosity, what is your opinion of yourself now?  What do you think his opinion of you is now?  Has your pride taken the same hit as his did?  At this point, I just throw up my hands and think, at least it is only your pride … there have been lives that have been ruined because of this … families will not spend time with their loved ones this Christmas because RU was no longer able to reach them … people that cannot see themselves going to another church and serving God the way the once did because at this point, they don’t who they can trust and who they can’t.  Seriously, all this because one leader put himself and his needs above all else; but above the pain and hurt of others, seriously?  If that is the Christian life, then you can have it.