How to Respond When a Pastor Falls

Weakness isn't a flaw. It's where hope begins. In A Place for Weakness, Michael Horton shows how the cross and resurrection of Christ don't just explain suffering, they overcome it.

This isn't a book about clichés or quick fixes. It's about real hope for real pain. Hope that quiets guilt, silences doubt, and outlasts every storm. Whether you're grieving or walking with someone else through their grief, A Place for Weakness shows how the doing, dying, and rising of Christ silences the thunder of the law and gives eternal hope in the face of life's hardest questions. Grab your copy today for a donation of any amount at solomedia.org slash offers.

That's solomedia.org forward slash offers. How should we respond as Christians when a respected Christian leader or pastor falls into sin and disqualifies themselves from ministry? Obviously, I think to start with, we should say it's an occasion for great sorrow, for lamentation even, crying out to God in prayer.

And I think there's some other things that I would want to add to that. One is, sometimes when something like this happens, especially if the individual who has fallen into sin differs from us on some point, maybe they have different theology, maybe they're part of a different Christian tradition, sometimes it becomes an opportunity for Christians to dunk on one another. And what I mean by that is to point out, well, this person, look at what they also believed. Look at this theology that they held to sort of make sense why they fell into this sin.

I think that that's just unhelpful. It's a way of capitalizing on another person's fall and attempting to justify maybe your own theology in the process. And that's not to say that our theology doesn't affect and shape the way that we live, but it's probably unwise to approach the situation in that way.

Additionally, I would say we don't want to speculate. A lot of times, I think there's too much speculation, especially initially, people who really love and respect this individual who has fallen sometimes will speculate and think, well, it probably wasn't that bad, or people are just giving this individual a hard time. And we tell ourselves, well, it's a lot better.

It's a lot better than people seem to suggest that it is. And on the other side, if you don't like this individual, if you already have something against them, well, then you can speculate on the other end. You can think, well, I don't know all the details, but it's probably much worse. And you can imagine it to be much worse or even want it to be much worse in your heart. And that's a great danger.

There's a great problem with that, with speculating. And so we want to exercise wisdom there. A third thing I'd say is don't overlook the church. Oftentimes when a respected Christian leader falls into sin, it's all eyes on that individual. And people can begin to say, this person was so godly, so used by the Lord.

Their ministry was so effective, so powerful. And because we cherish this individual in our hearts, there can be this desire to extend grace and forgiveness. And sometimes I think even restoration, let's get this person back up and established again. But you know who oftentimes gets overlooked in that situation is, well, the church corporately as the offended party, all sin is against the Lord Jesus Christ and within the body of Christ within the church, it's a sin against the bride too. And oftentimes the church and the suffering that the church is enduring as a result of this fall can be overlooked. And especially the individual, if there is an individual in play here, you think of an affair or an abusive relationship within the church where a pastor preys upon a person in their church, a woman in the church uses their authority as a way to get close to someone and taking advantage of another person. A lot of times that person, after the sin is exposed, can be overlooked because there's all this attention on the pastor, on the beloved pastor. And so I would say we have to be careful in these situations not to overlook the church and not to overlook victims, victims of abuse, victims of coercive relationships within the body of Christ.

And lastly, and this is why, you know, and this is why, you know, it's just foolish to dunk or to look at a person and sort of say, don't ever think that you are above falling. It seems to me that in the New Testament, oftentimes when Paul talks about sin within the body of Christ, he immediately follows up his exhortation with, watch out for yourself too. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he should fall. And the reason he does that is because he knows how serious sin is and how easily we're led astray.

This is an opportunity for self-reflection. It's an opportunity for humility, for praying for the church, for the individuals that were involved in the scandal and praying as Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil. We're reminded of how much we need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the help of the Lord Jesus Christ to uphold us, to keep us from falling and from falling into sin. And so we approach these situations with great sorrow, with humility, with prayer, and with wisdom, seeking to care for those who have been affected by the sin.

And may God show mercy upon his church and may God keep us in his grace. Weakness isn't a flaw. It's where hope begins. In A Place for Weakness, Michael Horton shows how the cross and resurrection of Christ don't just explain suffering, they overcome it. This isn't a book about clichés or quick fixes. It's about real hope for real pain. Hope that quiets guilt, silences doubt, and outlasts every storm, whether you're grieving or walking with someone else through their grief. A Place for Weakness shows how the doing, dying, and rising of Christ silences the thunder of the law and gives eternal hope in the face of life's hardest questions. Grab your copy today for a donation of any amount at solomedia.org slash offers that solomedia dot o-r-g forward slash offers.