Another Fallen Pastor

It grieves me. It angers me. I get a stomach ache every time I hear of another one.Sadly, it is also not new to me. The preacher who spoke the night I dedicated my life to full-time ministry later left his ministry due to infidelity. The pastor who married Linda and me was fired for having an emotional affair. The first pastor I served under as a young youth pastor committed adultery. The pastor who preceded me at this church later left the ministry because of an affair. I’ve had to dismiss three pastors in my 30 years of pastoring due to moral failure.And just today, I became aware of another high profile pastor of one of the largest and most respected churches in the midwest, stepping down due to infidelity.Some takeaways for us...

• The guy on the platform is just that, a guy. He is a fallen human being who is dealing with the same crud we all have to deal with. That’s not an excuse. He’s also a spiritual leader and he has higher expectations and accountability before God (James 3:1). He is to be held to a higher standard and there are qualifications for pastoral leadership (1 Tim. 3). But in essence, ministers are sinful people, in need of Christ’s work for their own forgiveness and sanctification.
• If you are not growing, you are eroding. These guys who have had affairs did not just slip into an indiscretion one day. There was a process of sliding away from God as they let themselves go spiritually. All of us need to continually grow in our relationship with God, and continually engage in spiritual war with the enemy. Instead of truly growing, I think there are too many who are faking it for the sake of optics. And that leads to disaster.
• For every one who falls, there are thousands who remain faithful. While it appears like an epidemic to me, a few high profile religious leaders skew our perception. In reality, sexual misconduct among evangelical pastors is far lower than other professions. It’s just that we have higher expectations of pastors (which we should), so their moral failures are magnified. But I have many friends in ministry who have been unquestionably faithful to their spouses, love God genuinely, and seek to honor him in their private lives. Thousands of airliners take off and land safely every single day. But what makes the news are the one or two annually that crash.

It’s a horrible thing every time it happens. And I want it to anger me, grieve me, and give me a stomach ache. But the reality is, Jesus is the one I ultimately follow. When respected leaders let me down, I’m not going to turn back. I’m committed to following Jesus no matter what, not another frail human being, who needs Jesus as much as I do. Follow him with me.