Thursday, 07 August 2008
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Question of the Day: When Pastors Fall
In the past five years or so I have heard stories of several pastors admitting to having extramarital affairs or stealing money from their church. Each time I heard the news I was completely shocked and disappointed. I know pastors are human and we are all sinners but being that they are our spiritual leaders and held to a higher standard by God this type of news is totally shocking to me. 
Some of the pastors stepped down from ministry altogether and others ended up resigning from their churches and starting new churches. My friend attends the church where the head pastor had admitted to having an affair resulting in a child and divorce from his wife. She said that the pastor's honesty and struggle with sin makes him more real and his messages more relatable. While I believe in forgiveness and change, I'm not sure if I could attend a church where the pastor is a known criminal or adulterer.
What about you? Could you attend a church where the pastor has a questionable past?
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Comments (56)
While I admire your heart to have faith in "men of God", the truth is that only God is good. When we place our trust and faith in men rather than Christ, we will invariably be disappointed.
The Western church is due for a massive restructing that God is arranging as we speak. Pastors will no longer direct the affairs of His worship.
I pray that I live to see the fruits of His work in this.
The Bible is VERY clear on the qualifications of a deacon and a pastor. A divorced man should never hold those positions. Period. It is not a matter of forgiveness. Of course God forgives all if we come to Him sincerely and humbly. But it is a matter of listening to scripture and it is quite clear on that subject.
If God called me to that group of people and to be under that spiritual leader, then yes. I mean, ideally, that's how we're all supposed to find our churches anyway right?
The church I went to nearly all my life before getting married went through two senior pastors, two youth pastors, a missions pastor, and a worship pastor in the span of about 15 years. The first senior pastor admitted to the misuse of pharmaceutical(sp) drugs and the second was forced to admit to an affair as well as manipulation. The first one has pastored again in different churches; the second, I have no idea what he's doing. Never mind all the gritty details; I just want to make the point that people seem to put altogether too much faith in the leadership of men. My "home church" was nearly torn completely apart by these events. I find that disturbing. Youth pastors in my area have been found guilty of these "awful" sins and the kids and parents feel betrayed and like they can't credit any of the teachings they received--some feel the whole of Christianity is now bunk because of the sins and/or lying of one man.
What I decided for myself, because I identify with these emotions, is that if God used such a man to teach me His truth (which you will be able to recognize when you know Him and His Word), who am I to reject the truth because of the packaging? It makes it harder to swallow at times, but it doesn't change the truth.
~Victoria
Questionable past, perhaps, but not likely in the way you've stated. A questionable past before he became a pastor, perhaps. But, as is stated above, the pastor's family is part of the qualifications for the role. If he is good to his family he may be qualified, if he is not he is disqualified according to Paul. Being the husband of one wife is a requirement.
" if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach." - Titus 1:6-7
"Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive," - 1st Timothy 3:2-4
@Hecalmsthestorm@xanga - I completely agree...saved me a bit of typing!
i guess it would depend on the circumstance. i'd think the pastor would need to step down at least temporarily to sort out his life and seek counseling/therapy before leading the church again.
my friend told me about the church he grew up in - amazing, huge, a complete blessing to him. then they found out that the pastor had been having not one, but TWO extramartial affairs. obviously everyone was devastated and the pastor had to deal with the consequences of his sin, but it didn't take away from the blessings that my friend received at that church. that was all from God and it was real and meaningful, even if it came through a broken person with some deep sin issues.
Depends entirely on whether or not he sincerely repented.
hmm, i would think isn't it the same idea of saying you cannot be friends with anyone that has wrongful past? Jesus explained that once sinned, and that a person repent, forgiven, God don't remember the past. He does not hold the sins against you.
then again, if unless a person will continue in their weakness, then they are not deserve to be leading. they are needing help, instead.
it is hard for US to forgive and forget. But God can and He does. So we should do the same. Jesus came for sinners... those who are weak and lost.
I would possibly still attend.
My pastor reminds us that just because she is a pastor doesn't mean she's any better than us. Pastors still have to face temptation, and it is just as hard for them as it is for us. I am sure many of us know people with questionable pasts (or presents), so why not a pastor?
I know a pastor is a lot different than a friend, and it's a tough
situation. If the pastor seemed truly sorry about what s/he had done,
it's probably okay to continue attendance. You may learn something
different than you're accustomed to.
We all need to stop thinking that we are 'better' than those people who commit adultery, pocket money for themselves etc. We've all broken the Ten Commandments a thousand times over-- even if you don't think you have broken certain ones.
In the past five years, you have heard about this more than ever. We all have. Truth is, it's always been happening. The only difference is no one caught it. Or no one wanted to believe a pastor would do such a thing, so they didn't want to catch it.
Have you ever taken into consideration the great men and women from the Bible and their personal circumstances? There are liars, murderers, thiefs, and prostitutes. Yet, God not only changed their circumstances, He used them to shape the history of His work.
I'm not condoning failure by any means. But forgiveness and restoration is possible if the heart is sincere and the problems are dealt with in a way that honors God.
To be a Christian, I believe, is to be a spiritual target. You've announced that you no longer want to live by the world's view; you want to live your life submitted to God. Satan, and many people in this world, don't like that. You've become a target for their hate, their blame, their ridicule and their misunderstanding. Leaders are even larger targets. These people stand on stages and platforms around the world in an effort to defy the world, spread God's message, and care for His people. Is it any wonder that, if Christians fail on a regular basis, a Pastor/Deacon/Minister/etc. will fail as well?
I don't mean to say that failure of the kind you're talking about is innevitable; it's doesn't need to happen. Christians, pastoral and "clergy" alike, need to live lives of transparency and honesty. Accountability and trust are tools God has given us and ideals He has commanded us to live by. He knows our weaknesses and has given us Himself and each other so that we might not fail.
Even if the pastor truly repented, I would feel uncomfortable around a man who thus betrayed his calling and caused disruption and division in any Bible-believing church. I would have no problems with such a man being a part of the fellowship, given his true repentance, but I do not think that someone who has sinned that grievously should be in the ministry.
Nope. The pastor of the church you attend is the man who will be giving you spiritual anointing. I'd have a lot of trouble with a philandering pastor in the pulpit.
The last church I was a part of had this very thing happen. The pastor admitted to an affair only after they were outed, and several months after they had been confronted and denied everything. Under pressure from the association, he stepped down and things ended amicably. However, the church ended up dissolving because so many people had left in the months leading up to the "confession". There was much drama afterwards and I believe he is still having the affair. I am so disillusioned right now from the whole thing. While God is perfectly capable of restoring him as a Christian, I don't think he should ever be in a position of power in the church again.
"a known criminal or adulterer" is better than an unknown child molester.
Besides, isn't the christian mentality honesty? Confess and all is forgiven or at least not held as a grudge for all eternity in hell or so you hope....BWAAAHHA
While I agree there is a lot to learn from the great heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews 11 and many of them were used mightily of the Lord in spite of their failings and sins.
I don't know off the top of my head of one NT leader, apostle, disciple or 'example' of someone who was in a position of leadership where this type happened and they were restored to leadership.
Does someone else know?
x
I think we need to remember that in God's eyes all sin is the same. Murder is the same as lying. Adultry is the same as stealing. We as humans have levels of sin. That being the case, what's the difference between a pastor lying and a pastor have an affair. They both hurt people. They both are sin! We as leaders in the church sin, whether people see the sin or not, it's there, and we are not banished from ministry.
I would be ok with it, if the Pastor was up-front about it, and had gone through a time away from ministry and gone through conseling, and continued to have accountability. If he had stopped doing that thing. Before he gets back into ministry, he needs to make sure everything with his family is on track. That should be his priority.
Everyone should read And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers. Its a great book about this topic!
I believe it all depends on how the pastor handles the situation. He should definitely be away from the ministry for a period, but if there is true repentance and a change has been made in their life, I think it would be appropriate to ease them back into ministry. That being said, the pastor should insist upon restrictions being put into place that would help limit the amount of temptation and that would prove to his congregation that he is going above and beyond what is needed. As a minister my heart always grieves when I hear about another minister losing his ministry because of sin, usually sexual. I think this is why it is of the utmost importance that we are continually praying for our ministers and their families and that God would keep them strong.
I am somewhat baffled at so many references to how bad the kind of sin is. Is a sexual sin in a pastor "the last straw"?
~V
@GodZchiK@xanga - I love Francine Rivers' books! I really enjoyed the Mark of the Lion series. I'll check out And the Shofar Blew. Thanks!
I could. It depends on how he reacted to that "fall" and how he allows it to affect his life now. In fact, I think I may be a little bit leary of a pastor who claims to have had nothing wrong in or stumbled at all in his life. I don't expect him to share every sordid detail or even go into any specifics. But sometimes there's just comfort in knowing that your pastor doesn't seem himself as "superhuman" or "holier than thou."
But that's just me.
We don't need spiritual leaders. We never did. All we need is God.
"Questionable past" ? Sure. How many people in the Bible did god use who had questionable pasts? I mean...David was a murderer and Rahab was a hooker. You can't really get more questionable then that.
A pastor at my parent's home church was recently fired in the last few years because he was stealing the church's money in order to satiate a gambling addiction. He was also having an affair. He had been a lawyer before becoming a pastor, so not only was he stripped of his pastoral title, he was de-barred (is it de-barred? unbarred?). He went to jail for a while. I don't know where he is now.
I always liked him, so I was very disappointed. I disagreed with him theologically, of course, but I always thought he was a decent human being. He was well-liked by the church and it came as a huge blow to them.
He will never again serve in that church and hey, I wouldn't want him to. He proved himself untrustworthy. If he straightens himself out and stops stealing money and actually stays faithful to his wife, great. That's his own journey. Doesn't mean my parents would ever feel comfortable with him as the head of their church.
"1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Matew 7
AND
"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." John 8:7
Is that really matter what kind of sin he commited? Who, OH who of you never did anything wrong being a christians? I want to meet that person! And bible says if you ve broke 1 THE SMALLEST ONE commendment you are guilty. So who is better: thieve? adultier? lier? drunk? All our righteous like a dirty rags.
I agree with what your friend said. It's makes them easier to relate to and makes you realize that just like you they are also only human. People make mistakes.