Years ago, I met a friend from out of town at our local Starbucks. We got our coffees, sat down at a table and began to catch up. At one point, my friend said, “It sure is sad about ______. I can’t believe he would get involved with another woman.” I was stunned. I had looked up to this minister. My mind immediately raced back to some years earlier, when I was a young minister. I had met this same preacher for lunch. Before our lunch, I had watched him interact with someone in his office that left me feeling very uncomfortable. At the time, I quickly discounted and dismissed this feeling, because after all, I looked up to this man. This couldn’t be true. That day at the Starbucks, I learned that it was true. Now, this preacher who at one time had a great deal of influence, had to leave his congregation and deal with the mess in his life.
One of the most awkward moments that has taken place in far too many churches is for an elder or other church leader to announce that a preacher will no longer preach for that congregation. Why? This preacher has become involved in sexual sin of some sort which may even include adultery. (Of course, there are numerous other reasons why a preacher may be terminated. However, far too many congregations across the country have experienced watching a ministry end due to sexual sin.)
At some point, in that preacher’s ministry with that congregation, there was a last sermon. The sermon series would not be completed. There would be no real closure. The end.
Of course, this was not the end. It was not the end of pain for families involved. It was not the end for that minister’s family. It was not the end for those who looked to this church leader as a spiritual leader and example. It was not the end for those in the congregation who say to themselves, “I will not trust a preacher again.”
At some point, this preacher will crash. Five minutes later, he may begin to see that he has not been living in reality and is now staring at the wreckage of a ministry.
Now I realize that this may not be the most pleasant post to read.
However, do you know that you can actually be right in the middle of an immoral relationship and read something like this and it might not even phase you?
As a young minister, a church member once told me about a time in his life when he was having an affair and yet never missed being in a church assembly on Sunday mornings. I asked him how he could sit in an assembly each Sunday and yet be right in the middle of an affair. His answer? “It did not bother me at all.” He went on to talk about the hardening of his heart and conscience and how this anesthetizes you from any sort of pain from guilt.
We are living in a time in which the bad behavior of a number of high profile church leaders has been revealed. A number have been removed or have resigned from their roles. All of this should bet our attention.
Yet, the evil one would love to see us play the fool. He would love to see us minimize ungodly behavior with the refrain, “Well nobody’s perfect!” He would love to see us toy with temptation, be irresponsible with boundaries, and arrogantly think that somehow we are too smart or too spiritual to fall.
This is no time for any of us to be smug, self-righteous, or to act as if we could never make a poor, ungodly decision.
It is a time to remember how desperately we need the Gospel of God. It is a time to remember how much we need God’s presence, his power, and his daily cleansing. It is also a time to pray for families and churches who have experienced such destruction. It is a time for all of us to remember how much we need the Lord.
May God help us all.