When Leaders Fall
In this blog post, Andrew Rutten, one of Providence’s co-pastors, writes how we as Christians should respond when prominent Christian leaders fall.
By Andrew Rutten, Providence Pastor and Co-Planter
Over the last few years, it appears Christian leaders are “falling” at an alarming rate. If you keep current on news, it seems as if a Christian pastor or theologian is being fired or has had some moral failure every other week. These stories can explode on the national Christian scene, but multiple pastors in our own city over the last few years have fallen from positions of leadership because of moral failures.
I became a Christian in college. As a young man looking for pastoral role models, I quickly clung to, from a distance, a handful of men. Ten years later, half of those early role models have been disqualified from ministry at some point because of immorality. This unfortunate reality rears its ugly head quite frequently.
For many, these stories are disorienting. We attempt to hypothesize why leaders fall. We engage in the unhelpful rhetoric of “I knew something was wrong with that person…” And ultimately we begin to wonder who in the world we can actually trust.
One of the latest horror stories has come from widely-acclaimed Christian apologist, Ravi Zacharias. He passed away in 2020, and after his death a number of claims were made against him. Numerous stories were reported and an investigation was conducted. Recently it was concluded that most of the accusations against him were true. He had lived in utter evil and wickedness for years.
“At this point, the church must ask, “What do we do when leaders fall? What should our response be to these horrific and heart-breaking stories?””
At this point, the church must ask, “What do we do when leaders fall? What should our response be to these horrific and heart-breaking stories?” I want to suggest a few encouragements to us as we encounter these moral failings.
Grieve.
A first response to stories of Christian leaders that fall must be grief. Sin and wickedness grieve the heart of God and therefore we should grieve when sin is exposed. If our first response in these situations is apathy or an “I-told-you-so” mentality, we have missed the heart of God. It is also wrong when we immediately assume innocence because they have had large, public ministry fruit. Sin being exposed is often God’s kindness, and for that we trust His sovereignty and goodness. Yet, we must be heartbroken over the sin that was committed and especially for the victims of the sin.
Honor Leaders and Hate Sin.
Unfortunately, these two commands seem to be paradoxical in situations where leaders fail. But here is why both are important. Paul commands leaders in the church not to be accused lightly (1 Timothy 5:19) and we are given the commands to honor and obey our leaders in the church (1 Timothy 5:17, Hebrews 13:17). However, when allegations do come to light, we must take them seriously, and when sin is exposed we must hate it and stand against it.
One of the main issues about leaders failing today is that anyone can hear of it and give an opinion on a situation and on a leader we have no knowledge of. Meaning, when Christian leaders become celebrities and then they fail, anyone can hear of it and anyone can speak into it. Our impulse to protect and defend men that we have never met or do not truly know is unhelpful, almost always. This is yet another reason the local church is vital. The local church should be leading in discipline and rebuke and help authorities conduct any necessary investigations. From afar, let us not fight to defend situations we know very little about. And once someone is found guilty of immorality, respectfully condemn the behavior and support those who have been hurt by it.
Continue to Trust Leaders.
A scheme of the devil in these situations will be to sow seeds of distrust in your heart for all leaders. Fight the lie that because some leaders fall, all leaders deserve skepticism. Leaders that fail are not a new phenomenon, and certain leaders will continue to fall. But the vast majority of churches are led by pastors that are faithful to God, to their spouse, and to their flock. Do not let a handful of sinful men taint your view of God’s great gift to the church, godly leaders.
Hold Leaders to a High Standard.
With that being said, do not lower the bar of integrity and character for leaders. Paul’s requirement for elders in the church is that they be men of high character (1 Timothy 3:1-7). Above strategic thinking, a charismatic personality, or leadership prowess, Paul says leaders in the church must have great character. We must never slip into the belief that because everyone is sinful, leaders can slip up and it is no big deal. That is not how Paul communicates about leaders and that is not fitting of the office they are called to serve.
Church, it is okay for you to expect your leaders to live a holy lifestyle, and it is okay for there to be accountability structures in your church to promote this. In fact, that just may be the way more pastors fight sin and remain holy. Don’t be afraid to expect your leaders to be accountable to others, to routinely repent of sin, and to be above reproach.
Cling to God.
The deeper problem at play in the church is that we often look to these famous leaders to be what only God is: perfect. And we look to them to do for us what only God can do, namely sustain our faith. We expect that they would never fail and therefore when some do it crushes us. Why does it crush us? Because we often put too much hope and faith in these leaders.
This in no way negates my previous point; we should expect them to have integrity and honor. But if we realize they are still flawed men who are pursuing Christ, then if one of these men falls, it doesn’t wreck our view of Christianity. Let God be God and His servants be His servants. We should expect much of our leaders—but not perfection.
“Once we hold leaders in their proper place and acknowledge God in His proper place, I think we may be able to enjoy each of them to their fullest.”
Once we hold leaders in their proper place and acknowledge God in His proper place, I think we may be able to enjoy each of them to their fullest. We can allow leaders to be mere servants of the King who pursue righteousness and model a life worth imitating as they repent of sin and fight for holiness. Above that, we can allow God to be the One who is supremely perfect, holy, righteous in all that He does. We can stop looking to leaders to be God and can stop having our view of God crushed when a leader falls. Let God sustain you, and let your leaders lead you to Him.