Tonight, Church Senator Reverend Louis Wade is weighing in on Pastor Kevin Tzib’s arrest and reports that leaders at Dunamis Ministries failed to act swiftly when the allegations first surfaced. Wade says churches must welcome sinners, but they must also guard against what he calls “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Here’s how he explains it.
Louis Wade
Louis Wade, Church Senator
“We are all fallen, however Jesus said that separate from people who fall, there will be wolves in sheep clothing and I believe that is determined by the level and the volume and the length of time that these kinds of acts are perpetuated. So while we as the body of Christ and church leaders cannot dictate or we cannot regulate how an individual lives their lives, certainly we are able to be judged by how we deal with the matter, how promptly we deal with the matter. Whether we create safe environments in our church communities so that children and young people can be safe and then if something happens, God forbid, do we have the safe environment where victims can come forward knowing that they are going to be heard and that the pastor, or the leader or the perpetrator is not going to have a heavier weighting of testimony than the victim, that there is a level playing field where wisdom is able to weigh what is brought forward. Certainly a person is free to go directly to the police and we encourage that, but man times victims want some kind of justice done within the body of Christ and we need to make sure they don’t fail when they come to the church and if a church feels that they are incapable of dealing with the matter, well then call in people from other churches, because some of these churches are independent. So, I am also disappointed in the way this particular situation was dealt with.”
The National Evangelical Association of Belize says it is deeply troubled by the situation involving Pastor Kevin Tzib. In a statement, the association described such cases as alarming and shameful, saying they violate biblical standards for holiness, leadership and integrity.
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