When A Church Leader Falls

The past couple of years has seen two high profiled Christians fall. One accused of leadership abused and the other has an affair, which that same leader has admitted to more affairs months later. Both men are preaching pastors and well known authors (you probably have an idea of whom I am referring to).

Cases like these do not just happen to men who are well known in the public eye. I will never forget what happened on SuperBowl Sunday in 1997, when the pastor of the church I attended during my college years resigned without preaching a sermon. He said he is resigning due to continuing health issues. A couple of months later, the truth came out that he was addicted to prescription drugs and had an affair with a college freshman student. This had a negative effect on the church for some time and even a negative reception in the community. Thankfully, they were able to recover from what had happened.

What should a Christian do when a leader in the church falls because of unconfessed sin or sin that would cause them to be disqualified for ministry? Many would say anger is the appropriate response. For those in the church that it happened to, they feel betrayed, and they have every right to feel that way. I don't think anger is the appropriate response because we are all prone to the same sin that your church leader can fall into. There should be no place for pride, thinking it would never happen to me or to this other church leader you have set on a pedestal.

When a church leader falls, when I say church leader, I am not just referring to a pastor, a church should mourn. Fellow Christian outside that church should mourn. What are we mourning for? We mourn for the leader who committed the sin that caused them to leave their ministry. We should also mourn for their family regardless of what the sin is. Granted the sin could result in a divorce but it could also result in lack of trust within the family. We should mourn for the church the leader was involved in because trust has been broken.

Another thing is to pray. We should pray for the repentance of that leader. We should pray the church does not hold a grudge but loves that leader in the grace of God. We should pray for the restoration of that leader. Pray that he gets wise, godly counsel.

When it comes to restoration, I know for many churches, the first thing many want to do is throw the leader out, which may be the appropriate response depending on the circumstances. I have a friend that went to another state for ministry where his wife unexpectedly left him. He loved his wife and cared for her, but she wanted nothing to do with him. She went back home to her parents while he remained at the church.

However, he developed an inappropriate online relationship, which, by the grace of God, came to his senses and got out of the relationship. He confessed the sin to his church and resigned immediately. Thankfully, he stayed with the church as a member while the pastor and other church leaders counseled him and restored him. I wish I can say he and his wife got back together but it did not happened. He wanted to work things out, but she did not. My friend is now a worship leader in another church in another city knowing his past, and graciously loved him as the church should.

Just because a church leader falls, it does not mean the end of the world. There are some circumstances that they may cause a leader never to be given a leadership role again, but it does not mean God is finished with them. God is not finished with all of us until he calls us home or when Christ returns.

Praying for our pastor and other church leaders is one of the most loving things a church can do. They can fall into temptation as easily as the man in the back pew. They battle the flesh as much as you do.

Pastors and church leaders, having an accountability partner is a good thing for your walk with Christ and your ministry. Don't make it sound like the church is keeping an eye on you, but a loving way to protect your integrity, your family, and your church. It could be someone outside your church that knows you and is not afraid to ask the hard questions.