It’s a sad thing to have to stand before your congregation and say that sexual sin and abuse should never be tolerated in the church. It’s heartbreaking to have to say that accusations shouldn’t be dismissed, that no person is above temptation to sin, and that the church should always investigate claims of this nature. But worse than all of that is the realization that there are lives left in shambles, devastated families, tarnished reputations, and unimaginable pain that the victims of these sins have to live with everyday.
DISCLAIMER: This is not coming from something going on inside my church. I am just seeing evangelical leaders fall at far too fast a rate.
Church, these things out not to be.
It is intolerable to God that the church leaders, or anyone for that matter, would behave in such ways. Intolerable, however, does not mean unforgivable.
The Seriousness of Sin
Let’s see how seriously God takes sin.
Try and picture what I am about to describe. Really picture it in your mind.
The Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—create a perfect world and put mankind in it. He loves his creation, but most of all the people he created, his crowning achievement in creation. But he did so knowing that they will sin, knowing that they will break his law, despise him, reject him, betray him.
But this didn’t catch God by surprise. He knew it happen. And he knew that he would go on the most daring rescue mission imaginable. He would become part of his creation to rescue them from themselves, and from him.
So at just the right time Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, submits himself to being born into his own creation. He subjects himself to all the rules of humanity. He gets tired, hungry, and hurt. He is dependent upon his Father in all things.
For 33 years he lives in perfect obedience to God, to God’s law, to his Father and Mother. There is no sin in him. No cross word. No disobedience. No disrespect. No idolatry. No lust. Nothing but absolute perfection.
He is betrayed by one of his closest companions, tried by Jewish leaders, tried by Herod, and tried by Pilate. Herod and Pilate can find nothing wrong in him. The Jewish leaders had to pay people to bear false testimony against him. And even still he is committed to a brutal death.
He is beaten beyond recognition with a bag over his head. He has a crown of thorns jammed upon his head. He is whipped so severely that he likely would have died from his injuries if his torture would have stopped there. But it didn’t
He was nailed to a tree to die.
Can you see it? That’s how much God hates sin.
It’s also how much he loves you.
A Display of Love and Hatred
The cross is often spoken of as a symbol of God love. And it is! Infinitely so. But it is also a symbol of his hatred for sin. It shows us how much God hates what we have done.
But, oh how he loves us that he would bear that kind of consequence to rescue us from it.
Forgivable Doesn’t Mean Acceptable
Every sin will be punished. Not every sin will be forgiven.
Either we will bear the consequences for our sins for eternity, or Christ will have born them on the cross. But either way, every sin will be punished.
So how can Christianity explain the fall of its leaders and why such a big intro? All of that is to make the point that God takes these sins seriously and we should too. But no sinner is beyond the saving grace of God. These men should be removed from their positions of leadership in heaven, but they will not lose their standing with God in heaven if they were saved in the first place.
Finally, the Explanation
Christianity can explain its leaders failures because it can explain the fallen nature of people. Consider the following verses…
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understand; no one seeks for God.”
Christianity can explain for the sins of its leaders because it understand that “no one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). We do not believe that people are fundamentally good. We believe that people are desperately wicked, though this does not mean that everyone is as bad as they could be!
We are all sinners. We are all prone to failure. We all stray from the truth and from righteousness. We all need a savior.
Jesus alone is that Savior. Jesus alone will never disappoint. He will never sin against you. He will never abuse you or take advantage of you.
What Can Churches Do?
So what can the average church do to help fight against this from possibly happening in your church? Here are some brief, practical ways that I can think of.
Plurality of Leadership: In the New Testament there is no example of church that is run by one man. There is always a group of men, called elders, leading the church.
Accountability in Leadership: In Galatians we get an account of Paul’s correction of Peter. This isn’t the only example in Scripture, but what it shows us is that the leaders gave and received correction. So should we.
No Pedestals: We often put church leaders on pedestals because of the more public nature of the gifts they exercise in the body. But this shouldn’t be. They, like you, are recovering sinners saved by grace.
The Power of Invitation: Invite your pastors into the ordinary things of life. If you treat them like ordinary Christians (which they are), it won’t take you long to see them as ordinary Christians. Note: I do not believe that seeing them as ordinary Christians is in any way a lack of honor
Provide Counseling: Paul Tripp, in his book Dangerous Calling, suggests always making counseling available to your pastor or his family, to be paid by the church. Even if he never uses it, this is fundamentally a statement that you don’t believe he has to have his act together all the time.
Don’t Invade Family Time: I learned long ago that church members will rarely ask you for your time if you already have an appointment scheduled, but they will ask for your time if it’s set aside for your family. Don’t ask your pastor for his family time.
Grace and Truth: Do your best to ensure that every interaction in the church, including with your pastor, is an environment of grace where conversations of truth can take place.
This list isn’t exhaustive. Neither is it bullet proof. But the more you can see Christ as the head of the church and not your pastor, the better. The less you put him on a pedestal, the better. The more he can normally interact in the church as a receiving member and not just a giving leader, the better.
There is grace when we sin. May God’s grace keep us from such sins.