What does the Bible say about a church leader who has unrepentant sin in his life?
Matthew 18:15-17
15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
1 Corinthians 5:11
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is... a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
1 Timothy 5:19-20
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
Shyheim Harris has swindled money from 2 elderly grandmothers, and stolen a piece of musical equipment. Pursuant to the instructions in Matthew 18, Jacqueline Smith made numerous attempts to confront Shyheim regarding the money he took from her, and has gotten not response. Taking the next step, she asked me to help her find 2 or 3 witnesses to confront him. I have made multiple attempts to contact him, and he has not responded. I have spoken to Pastor Jacob Thompson, Scott Ballenger, and Sabrina Ross as witnesses, and we are continuing the Biblical process.
Step One
On May 8, Shyheim Harris borrowed $150 from Jacqueline Smith, a 62 year old grandmother on Social Security, promising to pay her back quickly. Here are the screenshots of the transactions.
Once Shyheim cut off this method of communication, Jacqueline then contacted him by Facebook Messenger.
When Shyheim refused to answer by Messenger, Jacqueline then posted a simple request on his Facebook profile. I could not get a screenshot of the post because Shyheim took it down and blocked Jacqueline from his Facebook account. But the message was simple: "Shyheim, call me about the money." At this point, it was still not a public accusation, simply an attempt to be obedient to Matthew 18, to go directly to the person who has done you wrong, and confront him. Nevertheless, another elderly grandmother from the church saw the message, and contacted Jacqueline. She asked if Shyheim had stolen money from Jacqueline. When Jacqueline told her he had, this woman told Jacqueline that Shyheim had also stolen money from her, as well as a piece of musical equipment.
At this point, the first step of Matthew 18 had been unsuccessful. "But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."
Step Two
At this point, I contacted Pastor Jacob Thompson of The Oasis Church to ask for advice how to proceed. Since 1 Timothy 5 tells us that if someone is a public leader in the church and is engaged in unrepentant sin, he must be rebuked publicly. And it was not an isolated incident -- he swindled money from 2 elderly women that we are aware of, so we don't know how many more there are that we are not aware of. He agreed that we both would attempt to contact Shyheim, then proceed accordingly.
On July 25, I called Shyheim and left a detailed voicemail, asking him to respond. I then sent him the following text message.
I then sent him the following message on Facebook Messenger.
When he refused to respond to these messages, I then sent the following email on July 27:
On July 27, witness Sabrina Ross sent me this message regarding her attempts to confront Shyheim:
On August 1, Scott Ballenger sent me this copy a message he sent to Shyheim.
On September 2, pastor Jacob Thompson of the Oasis Church sent me this email.
On September 4, I began trying to locate his home church, in order to continue the process. "If he refuses to listen to them (the witnesses), tell it to the church." I sent a Facebook Message to Love & Faith Ministries in Snellville. Apostle Chris Boatman and Senior Pastor Lady B both called me. They indicated that Shyheim has been in and out of the church over the past several years, and they have had some concerns and issues regarding his integrity, including dishonest financial dealings. I even discovered that when Apostle Chris had heard that Shyheim was going to the Oasis Church in Hampton to work as a worship leader, he sent a Facebook Message to Pastor Jacob Thompson, asking him to call. He intended to tell Pastor Jacob about some of the problems they were having with Shyheim, and to warn him; but the connection was never made.
Once Pastor Chris Boatman told me he was going address this issue, Shyheim texted me on September 6. The text neither expressed any remorse or repentance, and did not address the other grandmother from Oasis Church whom he had defrauded.
On September 11, Pastor Chris called me again. He told me that he had preached a message at his church that addressed the issue of leaders in the church practicing dishonesty, and that he had told some of the elders in his church that there was an issue that would have to be addressed regarding Shyheim. He also told me that he was discovering that Shyheim had borrowed money from other people in his church, of which he knew nothing, including his own daughter. His daughter told him that Shyheim had paid her back today some money he owed her, so he asked me if Shyheim had paid back any of the money he owed people from the Oasis Church. I told him about the terse text message, and that I was waiting to see if he ever called me, Jacqueline, or the other grandmother from whom he had taken money, to repent, show remorse, or make restitution. Pastor Chris said their church was planning a meeting to deal with Shyheim, and I promised to let him know if Shyheim made any efforts at repentance and restitution with us.