Baptist City Blog

The Key to Not Quitting

Genesis 39:9

"There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

If anyone ever had a reason to quit, Joseph did. Joseph's life started well, but he went through a period when it seemed all hope was gone. While Joseph went through that period, he never seemed to waver in his faith in God. When he was sold into slavery, he continued to serve God. When he was falsely accused and thrown into prison, he continued to serve God. Was there ever a time when Joseph wanted to quit? Though the Scriptures don't show that time, I'm quite sure there was because he had feelings just like you and me. So, what was the key that kept Joseph from quitting? Let me remind you of the story from the verse above to show you this key.

Joseph worked for a man by the name of Potiphar. Potiphar was an influential man in the land of Egypt. Because of Joseph's work ethic and character, Potiphar entrusted Joseph with the care of the whole house. In other words, Joseph became the manager of Potiphar's work force. One day while Joseph was in the house, Potiphar's wife made a physical advance towards Joseph which he refused. She continued to make advances towards him, but he responded to her advances by asking this question, "...how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" This response was the key that kept Joseph from quitting. The key was that he was serving God and not man. He kept his eyes on God through everything he endured, and that kept him going when everyone else would have quit.

The key to not quitting in hard times is keeping your eyes on God. It is so easy to get your eyes on man that when man disappoints you, you end up quitting. I have watched many people quit on God when someone they love messes up their life. I have watched people quit on God when tragedy hits their life. The reason they quit is because they had their eyes on man, and man will disappoint you by not coming through or through sin.

One of the greatest needs of our day is for Christians to realize that they need to keep their eyes on God. Too many Christians are serving their preacher and not God. Too many Christians have their eyes on a college institution when they need to keep their eyes on God. What are you going to do when your preacher falls into sin? What are you going to do when the institution you follow goes liberal? If you are serving them, you will either justify your own sin, become liberal, or simply quit on God.

Be careful about putting so much trust in man that you follow man. Always remember that any man is at best a sinner saved by grace. Man will disappoint you, but God will always be faithful. Get your eyes focused on God, and when disappointments come or tragedy hits your life, you will continue to do right and serve God because God never changes. God teaches that we should do this in Psalm 62:6 when He says, "He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved." When you make God the One Whom you serve, nothing in life will move you from what you are supposed to do. Take your eyes off man and focus on God, that is the key to not quitting.

The Key to Not Quitting

Genesis 39:9

"There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

If anyone ever had a reason to quit, Joseph did. Joseph's life started well, but he went through a period when it seemed all hope was gone. While Joseph went through that period, he never seemed to waver in his faith in God. When he was sold into slavery, he continued to serve God. When he was falsely accused and thrown into prison, he continued to serve God. Was there ever a time when Joseph wanted to quit? Though the Scriptures don't show that time, I'm quite sure there was because he had feelings just like you and me. So, what was the key that kept Joseph from quitting? Let me remind you of the story from the verse above to show you this key.

Joseph worked for a man by the name of Potiphar. Potiphar was an influential man in the land of Egypt. Because of Joseph's work ethic and character, Potiphar entrusted Joseph with the care of the whole house. In other words, Joseph became the manager of Potiphar's work force. One day while Joseph was in the house, Potiphar's wife made a physical advance towards Joseph which he refused. She continued to make advances towards him, but he responded to her advances by asking this question, "...how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" This response was the key that kept Joseph from quitting. The key was that he was serving God and not man. He kept his eyes on God through everything he endured, and that kept him going when everyone else would have quit.

The key to not quitting in hard times is keeping your eyes on God. It is so easy to get your eyes on man that when man disappoints you, you end up quitting. I have watched many people quit on God when someone they love messes up their life. I have watched people quit on God when tragedy hits their life. The reason they quit is because they had their eyes on man, and man will disappoint you by not coming through or through sin.

One of the greatest needs of our day is for Christians to realize that they need to keep their eyes on God. Too many Christians are serving their preacher and not God. Too many Christians have their eyes on a college institution when they need to keep their eyes on God. What are you going to do when your preacher falls into sin? What are you going to do when the institution you follow goes liberal? If you are serving them, you will either justify your own sin, become liberal, or simply quit on God.

Be careful about putting so much trust in man that you follow man. Always remember that any man is at best a sinner saved by grace. Man will disappoint you, but God will always be faithful. Get your eyes focused on God, and when disappointments come or tragedy hits your life, you will continue to do right and serve God because God never changes. God teaches that we should do this in Psalm 62:6 when He says, "He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved." When you make God the One Whom you serve, nothing in life will move you from what you are supposed to do. Take your eyes off man and focus on God, that is the key to not quitting.

Sibling Rivalry

Genesis 25:26

"And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them."

The story of Jacob of Esau is a sad story that could have been avoided if their parents would have stopped the rivalry at the beginning. From the womb of their mother, these two young men fought with each other, and this rivalry continued until later in life. The sad part about this whole story is that their parents encouraged the rivalry by having favorites. There is no place for sibling rivalry in the home. It should be avoided and squelched immediately. Let me give you a few thoughts about sibling rivalry.

First, sibling rivalry is a result of selfishness. One of the main reasons siblings fight is because they want something that the other has. You will often see sibling rivalry rearing its ugly head when siblings fight over toys. God commands us in Philippians 2:4, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." When parents see their children being selfish, they need to stop it immediately because it will eventually pass on to relationships.

Second, sibling rivalry is often a result of a child needing their parent's attention. I have seen parents have a sick child and give all their attention to help that child only to starve the other children of attention. You must be careful not to let something like this happen in your home. Though a sick child may need extra attention, you cannot take attention away from your other children for this will drive a wedge between them, and could even cause them to despise the one who received all the attention.

Third, every child must feel that they are loved the same. One of the causes of rivalry is when couples who already have children get married, and now their children have to get along with each other. If your spouse already had a child before you got married, and then you had a child together, you must be extra careful that no child feels that they are not as loved as the other. Give time to each child to avoid this.

Fourth, parents must be careful not to play favorites with their children. Isaac and Rebekah contributed to the sibling rivalry by having their favorite child. As a parent, be careful about allowing yourself to have a favorite child. Yes, maybe one child seems to take to you better than the other, but you must love all your children the same. Never treat one child better than the other. Be just in your treatment of all your children.

Finally, if you are in a family where sibling rivalry is prevalent, don't be a part of it. Try to be a peacemaker in the home. It is better to learn how to work out your relationships for you will want to have a good relationship with your siblings later in life. If you are having a hard time getting along with a sibling, ask God to show you how you can mend that relationship. Sibling rivalry can be fierce and will hurt your relationship with your siblings in the future.

The Need of Clear Roles of Authority

Genesis 1:16

"And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also."

From the beginning of the world, God established the importance of authority. It is interesting that even creation has authority. When you look at the verse above, you will see that God made a greater and lesser light. In other words, one was the higher authority. In every area of life there must be clear roles of authority if we want to have peace. One of the main reasons there is strife in the workplace, home, church and society is because the roles of authority are not clearly defined. Let me give you some thoughts about establishing clear roles of authority.

First, always define what is the greater authority. Notice that God made it clear that the sun was a greater authority than the moon, and the moon was a greater authority than the stars. I often have pastors ask me how to stop the squabbling on their staff, and I always tell them that they need to define the roles of authority and which authority is greater. In the home, if parents leave a child in charge when they are gone, then they must make it clear to the other children. In every workplace it must be clearly defined who are the authorities and which authority is greater.

It is interesting that creation has clear roles of authority. Let me illustrate. A while back I sent my dog to get trained. We own a very powerful dog, and I knew that we needed to have him trained so that we could control him. When we picked him up from training, the trainer had a four hour orientation to give us the history of dogs and to show us the commands that we are to use with our dog. During the orientation he explained to us that dogs run in packs, and in each pack there are four levels of authority that dogs establish with each other. This is to keep them from fighting with each other in their pack. Now if dogs can clearly define the greater authority, then it would seem that we need to be careful to clearly define the greater authority in every place.

Second, the lower must always submit to the greater. The moon always submits to the sun. Why? Because the sun is the greater authority. You never see the moon come out and the sun stop shining. No, creation understands that the lesser must always give way to the greater. Likewise, once the roles of authority are defined, then the lesser must always submit to the greater. For instance, the greatest authority is always God. Underneath God there are still different levels of authority. The pastor is the authority of the church. However, when the pastor disobeys God, then the church member must submit to the greater authority which is God. You must always remember that it is the responsibility of the lower to submit to the greater.

Finally, if you want peace in your life, then the roles of authority must be followed. When a home follows the roles of authority, then you will find a peaceful home. When a church follows the roles of authority, then you will find a church that is filled with peace. When a workplace follows the roles of authority, then you will find peace in the workplace. Peace will only be achieved when the roles of authority are followed. Every person is a lesser authority in some area of their life. Wherever you find yourself as the lesser authority, be sure to follow the greater authority so that peace can be achieved.

Opposing the Devil

1 Peter 5:9

"Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."

Make no mistake, the Devil is out to destroy you. Verse 8 says that the Devil is your adversary. An adversary is your opponent, your enemy, the one who opposes and attacks you. Because the Devil is your adversary, that means you should oppose everything he does. Christian, he is not your friend. You should not go along with anything that the Devil may want you to do. Everything that he wants you to do should be opposed. When you study the Scriptures, you find there are several ways to oppose the Devil.

First, oppose the Devil by standing for the faith. The verse above tells us to be "stedfast." That means nothing should move what you believe. You need to be stubborn about what the Word of God commands you to do. Several times I have been told that I am stubborn and bullheaded about what I believe and that no one can tell me what to do. That is exactly how you oppose the Devil. Let me make this clear, the faith should not be up for discussion. You should never negotiate about the faith. Rather, you should oppose the Devil by not allowing your faith to waver.

Second, oppose the Devil by submitting to God. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."You will notice the way to resist the Devil is by submitting to God. In other words, placing yourself under God's authority is how you oppose the Devil. It does not say that you oppose the Devil by being loyal to man, but you oppose the Devil by submitting to God. Submitting to God is certainly being subject to the authorities that God has placed in your life, but when those authorities ask you to go against God's authority, then you should always oppose the Devil by submitting to God.

Third, oppose the Devil by using the Word of God. When the Devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus used the Word of God to oppose him. Christian, one of your two greatest weapons that you can use is the Word of God. You will never be successful at opposing the Devil if you don't study and memorize God's Word. God's Word will repel the Devil away from the Christian like oil repels water. Have a daily time to study God's Word. God's Word must be the most often read Book in your life.

Fourth, oppose the Devil by putting on the whole armour of God. Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." The Devil is out to destroy you. Because he wants to destroy you, you need every piece of armour God offers to keep you from being destroyed. Arm yourself with truth, righteousness, soul winning, faith and prayer so that you can oppose all the attacks of the Devil.

The Devil is your enemy and should be opposed at all costs. Ephesians 4:27 commands, "Neither give place to the devil." Don't let the Devil have any place to work in your heart and life. Oppose him with all your strength so that you can have a better testimony for Christ. The more you oppose the Devil, the better witness you can be for Christ. The better witness you are for Christ, the more souls you will be able to lead to Him.

Till Your Storm is Past

Psalm 57:1

"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast."

In my lifetime I have almost experienced every type of major tragedy. I have experienced seven tornadoes one night, the great San Francisco earthquake in 1989, typhoons, blizzards, hurricanes and a storm called a derecho. There is nothing enjoyable about going through storms. There have been times in some of these storms that the only thing I could do was pray for God to protect me throughout the storm.

Unfortunately, everyone will experience storms in their life. I am not talking about weather storms, but I am talking about tragedies and hard times. In the verse above, David was going through a storm as he ran for his life from Saul. While in the storm, he said that he would rest "in the shadow of thy wings...until these calamities be overpast." There are times when you have to wait out life's storm, but what you do during the storm will determine whether you come through it better than when you started. There were several things that David did while he waited for the storm to past.

First, he prayed during the storm. The very first words in the verse above are a prayer to God. All too often we run to people during the storms instead of God. The first person you should run to while enduring your storm is God. God is the only One Who can protect you during your storm. Don't run to the psychologist, but run to God. Don't run to your best friend, but run to God. Don't run and have a pity-party, but run to God. He is your shelter while you go through the storm.

Second, David exalted God in the storm. Verse 5 says, "Be thou exalted, O God,..." If you want to get God's attention then you would be wise to exalt Him. It is not time for you to complain about how God does not love you while going through the storm, but it is time to praise Him and talk of His goodness while you endure your storm. You are not going to get God's favor by complaining about Him. You are going to get it by praising Him.

Third, David got fixed on God. Verse 7 says, "My heart is fixed,..." When you are going through your storms you must determine that you are not going to quit. Years ago I determined that I would not quit in the hard times. Yes, you will probably want to quit, but you must get fixed on God and determine that no matter what you go through you are going to keep serving God. If the Devil knows that hard times will cause you to quit, then every time you start serving God he will trouble you. Get fixed and determine not to quit.

Fourth, David sang during the storms. Verse 7 says, "...I will sing and give praise." One of the best ways to keep a good spirit during the storms is to sing. Singing has a way of lifting your spirit. Memorize the hymns that you sing in church and sing them during your storm. Sing lively songs that will help your spirit.

Last, David stayed in his routines during the storm. David said in verse 8, "I myself will awake early." The best way to overcome the storm is to continue doing what you have always done. Don't let your storms change what you do, but keep doing what you have always done. Your routines are your safety-net to keep you doing what you are supposed to do.

Everyone will experience storms in their life. During the storm you will think it will never end. Let me assure you it will end; however, until it ends let these things help make you into a stronger Christian.

Hindrances in the Christian Life

1 Thessalonians 2:18

"Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us."

The Christian life is filled with hindrances that could be avoided if you will be diligent to avoid them. A hindrance isn't always a sin. A hindrance could be something that is not wrong, but it may hinder you from doing what you are supposed to do.

Let me explain this thought through illustration. When I was in high school, I was part of the track team. When we ran our event, we would do everything we could so that we could run the best race. We had the lightest shoes you could wear with spikes on them so that we would not be slowed. We would wear the lightest clothing so that we could freely move. We did this so that we wouldn't be hindered as we ran our event. Imagine if I came to an event wearing combat boots, full military gear and a loaded backpack on my back. There is nothing wrong with wearing combat boots, but they would have hindered me in the race. There is nothing wrong with military gear, but it would hinder me in running my event to the best of my ability. There is nothing wrong with a loaded backpack on my back, but it would hinder me from running as quickly as I could. These things in their own place are fine, but out of place they become a hindrance.

There are many things in the Christian life that are not wrong, but they may hinder you from being the Christian you are supposed to be. Whatever hindrance you may have, you must lay it aside so that you can be the Christian God wants you to be. The Scriptures show us that there are many things that can hinder us in our Christian life.

First, Satan can hinder you in your Christian life. You may think that there is nothing you can do to remove this hindrance, but I have found that prayer is the key to removing this hindrance. Don't let an anemic prayer life hinder you from being the Christian you are supposed to be. Many Christians are hindered because they don't pray enough. Don't let that be your hindrance.

Second, Galatians 5:7 shows us that people can be a hindrance. There are people who are not bad people, but they are a hindrance to your Christian life. You must be careful that the people you choose to be your friends are not hindrances to your Christian life. Any person who will hold you back from serving God the way that you should is a hindrance. It may not be that they are a bad person, but maybe their attitude hinders you from being what you are supposed to be. If you find someone who hinders you from serving God, then step away from them so that you can be the Christian God wants you to be.

Third, Acts 8:36 shows us that unbelief hinders your Christian life. There are many Christians who have hindered their Christian life because they don't believe something can be done. If God commands you to do something, then you need to immediately obey. Unbelief will cause you to not do something you are supposed to do. It will cause you to wait until belief comes. You must not let your lack of faith hinder you from obeying God. If God wants you to do something, then push your unbelief aside so that it doesn't hinder you from becoming the Christian God wants you to be.

Hindrances are bad because they slow you down. They will keep you from reaching your potential for Christ. If you find a hindrance in your Christian life, remove it. Hindrances are something we can control. Don't let the things you can control hinder you from reaching God's potential for your life.

Seasoned Speech

Colossians 4:6

"Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

There is nothing worse than looking at a plate of food that looks delicious, then biting into it only to find that the cook didn't season the food. Seasoning food brings out it's taste. Seasoning food makes the meal enjoyable. Food without seasoning is bland and can be very distasteful, and at times bitter.

God commands us to be sure to season our speech. You are marked by the words you speak. Your speech can actually cause others to take what you say in a wrong way. This is why you must be careful with how you talk. Let me remind you that you represent Christ everywhere you go. If you don't talk right, you could hurt the cause of Christ. If you don't add seasoning to your speech, you could hurt people for many years. God says to season your speech with salt. God used salt for an illustration because of the many uses it has. When you consider this, that means your speech should do for others what salt can do for you. Let me show you some things with which your speech should be filled.

First, season your speech with grace. In other words, don't be so sharp with your speech. Learn how to answer people in a graceful manner that will not hurt them. I am not saying that you should lie to people, for lying should never be a part of any Christian's speech, but I am saying to learn how to answer in such a manner that leaves people with their dignity. You don't always have to speak your whole mind about a situation or a person. When you answer people, answer people with dignity.

Second, answer with flavor. Salt gives flavor to food. In other words, learn to lighten up your speech by laughing and enjoying life. There is something about being around people who know how to add the right words that lighten up a heavy conversation. Don't be so serious all the time. I do believe you should take life seriously, but some people are so stoic in their speech that it has no flavor. Learn how to add flavor to every conversation.

Third, let your speech be with healing. Salt help heal wounds. God is teaching that your words should be healing words and not hurtful words. Gossip is not filled with healing words. Rather, use your speech to encourage others. Use your speech to help heal hurting and broken hearts.

Finally, let your speech be pure. Salt is used as a purifier. God wants His children to speak in a pure manner. Avoid dirty jokes. There are too many Christians who justify dirty jokes, and God does not want that to be a part of any Christian's vocabulary. Be sure that your speech is not filled with dirty words. Take the dirty words out of your vocabulary. Likewise, be sure that you don't talk in a suggestive manner about physical intimacy. There is no place in the Christian's vocabulary to talk like the world. Your speech should be pure, for you represent Jesus Christ.

Ask God every day to help you talk in a manner that would be glorifying to Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide every conversation. Remember that others are watching you, and you don't want your speech to sully your opportunity to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Simply put, only talk in a manner that you would talk if Jesus was physically present in every conversation. If you learn to talk right, then you will have a better chance of witnessing to others.

So Soon Removed

Galatians 1:6

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:"

I heard someone say one time that no work has stayed true to the fundamentals for more than ten years after the one who built it into a great ministry stepped down or passed away. I don't know if that statistic is true, but I have watched several great works in my lifetime go liberal. You would think that because of the teachings of these great men that they would continue to stand for truth, but rarely do they.

The Apostle Paul marveled at how quickly the Christians in Galatia left what was taught them. Can you imagine, these people heard the great Apostle Paul teach them in person, yet they quickly strayed from truth once he was gone. This reminds me of the children of Israel who in forty days strayed from truth when Moses was on the top of Mount Sinai receiving the ten commandments from God. What this tells me is that the greatest of people can quickly stray if they don't keep their priorities straight. It doesn't matter whose work you have been under, if you don't keep your priorities right, you could become like the Christians in Galatia who quickly strayed from truth. Let me give you some observations on why people are so soon removed from truth.

First, the Word of God is the final authority. You will notice that the people in the verse above went to another gospel. In other words, they left the true Gospel which was the Word of God for another authority. Everyone must keep the Word of God as their final authority. Personalities must never be the final authority, for at best they are still sinners. The Word of God never changes, and that is why you must stay true to God's Word and not to personalities or even institutions.

Second, troubles cause perversion from truth. Verse 7 says, "...there be some that trouble you,..." If you are not careful, troubled times will cause you to take your eyes off truth and place it on something else. When churches are without a pastor, they must be careful about allowing their troubled time to cause them to leave truth. The Devil knows what he is doing when he sends you through troubled times, this is why you must be extra careful during these times not to pervert truth.

Third, perversion leads to change. When you take your eyes off truth, you are bound to change who you are and what you do. Most of the time change happens to try and stop the troubled times; however, just because times are tough does not mean that you should allow them to change what you are supposed to do. You don't follow truth because it makes things easier, you follow truth because it is the right thing to do.

Fourth, change is offered by someone you know. Verse 8 says, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Notice, they allowed someone who preached to change what they believe. People don't listen to preachers they don't know. You listen to preachers you know and enjoy. Christian, just because you know someone doesn't mean that what they say is always true. Everything that anyone says should be backed up by the Word of God if it is to be true.

Whenever anyone tries to change God's Word for whatever reason, we ought to be loyal to truth. God's Word should be your final authority on what you base every decision. Be careful about being so soon removed from truth. Don't be guilty of one day looking back and wondering how you were so soon removed. Stay focused on the Word of God and you will have a better chance of never allowing any person to change what you believe.

Give Absalom a Break

2 Samuel 13:39

"And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead."

In our attempt to defend our heroes, we often make villains out of people who reacted in a wrong way. Yes, their reaction may have been wrong, but their reaction was caused by what someone else did. If we are not careful, we will destroy a person all because we are trying to defend our heroes.

Absalom is one of those people whom everyone seems to pile on. What Absalom did to his father is defenseless. What he did was absolutely wrong! However, if you read the whole story, you will see that Absalom responded the way he did because David did not deal with sin like he should.

Absalom's rebellion happened because his sister was raped by his half-brother, Amnon. Amnon's sin was not just a sin of uncontrolled passion, but his sin was thought out to exactly how he would defile his own sister. His sin was evil! When David heard what happened, he did not deal with the sin; however, it was Absalom's sister who was raped. Absalom expected his father to deal with this in a proper manner only to see him let Amnon get away with his sin. David's inaction of dealing with sin in a proper manner led to bitterness in the heart of Absalom. That bitterness led to Absalom turning on his own father and eventually he lost his life in the whole thing. All of this would have never happened if David had dealt with the sin like he should have. I believe we ought to give Absalom a break and lay much of the blame on David. Though Absalom was responsible for his own actions, it was initially David's inaction that caused the whole mess.

Leaders must be careful about letting sin go unpunished. As I travel, I frequently preach in conferences with other men of God. This allows me to hear other men of God preach, which I always enjoy. One of the common themes I hear coming from the mouths of preachers is the sinfulness of disloyalty to their pastor. Truthfully, I am one hundred percent behind what they say; however, I never hear a preacher mention that many times disloyalty is caused because of how a leader dealt with sin. When people see sin go unpunished, many times it will drive them to disloyalty. Unpunished sin will cause many to become frustrated with leadership. They often know that if they were to do the same thing, they would not get away with that wrong, which will eventually lead to bitterness. Their bitterness often comes out in the form of disloyalty. Though disloyalty is a sin, we must remember that the leader who doesn't properly deal with sin is the initial cause of the wrong.

When someone does wrong, they must be punished. It doesn't matter whether or not they are related to you or are a part of your church staff, their sin must be dealt with in a proper way. Sweeping it under the carpet is as wrong as the sin itself. God never sweeps sin under the carpet. God always punishes sin. If, as a leader, you can't deal properly with sin even when it is someone close to you, then you need to give that authority to a person who will deal with it in a proper way. Just like a judge must recuse themselves from a case because of personal ties, if you must recuse yourself from dealing with a sin because of heart ties, then do it so that unpunished sin won't lead to disloyalty.

Finally, if you have a leader who swept sin under the carpet, be careful that you don't allow it to make you disloyal. The leader's sin does not give you a right to sin. You must simply continue doing what you are supposed to do and let God deal with it. God always deals with it and will make sure that it is dealt with in a proper way. Don't become an Absalom because of a leader's improper action. Ask God to help you keep the right attitude so that you don't do something you will regret for the rest of your life.