The higher you rise, the harder you fall. There seems to be nothing more universally revolting than the fall of a big name preacher. The scandals of Jim & Tammy Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and Ted Haggard all made the national news headlines. But not every scandal gets such nationwide attention. Sadly, such falls by “men of God” are all too common.
Yesterday, I found out about one such fall that sits far too close to home for my liking. Rodney Stewart, an evangelist who was a frequent preacher at the Bible College I attended, was recently caught in an online sex sting. I own several cassette tapes of this man’s preaching, which always struck me as intense and radically serious. He was a great preacher who stuck close to the Biblical text in most of his messages. Yet he was found out in his sin and now is sitting in prison awaiting his trial and sentencing. The sad story is covered by a local news station in the Cleveland area here.
Why is it that men who are respected and hold a revered office (such as pastor, evangelist or preacher) would do such horrendous things? Why would they be found soliciting sex online from a 15 year old? And why exactly are such failures so commonplace, as it seems?
I can’t speak for all sectors of Christianity, or for the Roman Catholic Church. I do know that sin is common to all men, that is sure. But for conservative evangelical churches, particularly of the fundamentalist variety, there are several factors which I believe contribute to this problem.
1) Too much emphasis on morals
This might sound crazy to some. But an over-emphasis on morality actually encourages sin. Moralism cannot save. It cannot free someone of sinful urges within. Only the Gospel of grace can truly transform our hearts.
2) An external focus
Many fundamentalist churches stress external conformity to rules and standards. Christians need to look different, act different and dress differently than the world. Christians need to read their Bibles, spend time evangelizing their friends and neighbors, and actively serve in their church. All of this, people can trick themselves into thinking they can do. And then keeping up the appearance of spirituality can in turn become a heavy burden.
3) Little emphasis on grace
Grace, or God’s favor for undeserving sinners, is not emphasized. God’s holiness and his high standards are. Grace comes into play in salvation, but living the Christian life is all about effort, character, and duty. So when people struggle, there is no saving grace that can help them. They must dust themselves off and try harder. Often a do-it-yourself-mentality is the practical effect of an over-emphasis on externals and conformity.
4) Failure to appreciate the Gospel
Similar to what was said above, the Gospel is seen as the 101 class for becoming a Christian. The meat and the nitty-gritty of Christian living leaves the Gospel behind. The Gospel is good news for the lost unbeliever, and its an assumed thing for believers. This misunderstanding cuts off the Christian from his only sure hope. The Gospel teaches that God accepts us not on the basis of how well we behave, but as a matter of pure grace and on account of Jesus’ death on the cross in our place.
5) Legalism and burnout
All of this leads to a practical legalism. Christians live as if God is not happy with them. To please God and to truly grow in faith, one must add mountains of work to the faith that saves. If we measure up to our own (or our group’s) expectations, if we perform, if we put out, only then are we satisfied with ourselves, and only then is God pleased with us. When we fail in a myriad of ways, we have to struggle on alone. This leads to burnout. All work, no recognition of God’s love and approval, and no grace. It’s hard struggling on in such a condition.
6) No mutual accountability
The ethos of a legalistic church does not lend itself to mutual accountability. Pastors rarely mention that they too struggle with sin. If one confesses a sin, he is dealt with as a sinner. Grace isn’t proffered. There is no benefit to opening up to others about your struggles. You’ll be rejected, written off and then treated so differently. For those struggling with sexual addiction, mutual accountability is balm to the soul. Understanding that others share the same struggles and hearing others be open about their struggles to overcome the sin are key to victory.
7) Lone Ranger Christianity
This final aspect is an American trait that has affected the church. People think that the Christian life is something that is purely personal, and can be accomplished on their own. The Bible stresses the role of the church and the need for brothers and sisters in the faith to encourage each other. Often, in a high-stress environment, where a judgmental spirit is present, the communal aspects of church life are downplayed. We get together to eat and socialize but never to discuss the impact of the Gospel on our personal lives. This is only intensified in the life of a pastor or evangelist. They are even more prone to the lone ranger phenomenon. The pastor has to keep himself aloof from his congregation, it is thought. The very thought of a pastor wanting help for struggling with his personal sins and thought life, is unheard of in many such legalistic environments.
I suppose other factors come into play, but these are certainly influential in many fundamentalist church environments. But it isn’t only legalistic churches that can harbor such ideas about the Christian life. People can tend toward legalism in any context.
It’s so easy to cast stones at the fallen pastor. I would hope that we could pray for him and his family, and be on guard lest the sin in our own hearts come to overcome us as well. I certainly don’t excuse him for his crimes. however. I just wish the system he was in would have been more grace-oriented. But for the grace of God, I too could be consumed by my sin.
I would love to hear your thoughts on all of this, too. Feel free to chime in and let me know what you think.
I have noticed a recent attack on pastors. It saddens me that so many Christians seem to demand freedom and grace without accountability from others yet offer so little understanding and grace to those who are called to the ministry.
Thanks !! All I can say is I think you hit the nail on the head !! Grace to you 🙂
Wow, good admonishing post!
I’ll add another factor, I think the chief factor: PRIDE.
God hates pride and actually allows proud men whom He is angry with to fall in the pit of an immoral woman:
Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; He who is abhorred by the LORD will fall there.
God abhorres nothing more than pride. Proverbs 6:16-17 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look…
Thanks for the kind words all. Will, I think you’re right about pride. Sins are interconnected and pride is a root of many other problems.
Recent experimental evidence proves that Kant was right — people keep “moral balance sheets”, and balance their good with evil. It’s human nature.
Your #1 reason always bothers me when a preacher stresses one sin all the time. I know a pastor who was very upset when a non-Christian girl wore long shorts to camp. She was sent home to get other clothes. Soon it was in the newspaper about that pastor making obscene phone calls.
Thanks Bob, This is a good reminder to us all about the means to purity. (not of ourselves, it is the gift of God)
and I agree with what Gloria said, one of the strongest messeges I have ever heard preached against Homosexuality was by a man who was taken in sin molesting little boys.
I am a pastor. Great article. I do not feel safe to share my “real ” temptations anywhere. I usally down play them or make them sound better than they really are. I almost never share my sins with anyone except God. Thankfully, he is a sympathetic high priest. I need a safe place to tell all and be understood and accepted.
Bret,
I’d strongly encourage you to be intentional in seeking out such accountability. Get to know some pastors in your area, or involve the elders in your church. You may need to teach on Heb. 3 and Heb. 10 first, concerning the need for mutual accountability. But for the sake of your own soul, don’t just pay lip service to the problem and let it continue. It will be a boon to you.
Thanks for sharing too, and God bless you in this.
In Christ, covered by Grace,
Bob
Good analysis, Bob. Fundamental churches have been getting pounded by sex scandals over the past 10 or so years. We really need to take a look at our practices and why it is that we tend to have separate church/private personas.
It seems this particular church has taken down their website, as the front page of it recently featured a recent revival where the said Evangelist was the featured speaker. Hopefully the cause of Christ will not be unduly damaged in the greater Cleveland area – we need good churches here.
Yes, and the said evangelist’s website is down too. It’s all too sad. But you’re right lack of accountability and openness is contributing to this. The song by Casting Crowns, Stained Glass Masquerade comes to mind.
Dear Bob,
I don’t think that Fundamental churches teach very much in the area of sanctification, or what they do teach is wrong. Fundamental preachers either shrink sanctification down to mere moralism (as you and others have already said), or teach a veiled form of sinless perfectionism (the “victorious life” idea that full surrender results in instantaneous ability to resist temptation, rather than it just lifting your foot off the brake so you can grow toward greater strength). I don’t remember any teaching that related the grace of the Gospel to daily living. It was as if the Gospel was just a first stage, and you were expected to move past it to depper things.
I also remember being taught the ‘two nature’ view in my old Brethren assembly, and the practical upshot of it was a pessimistic belief that very little progress was possible. If all we do is polish the outside of the cup, then the inside of the cuop remains full of filth.
Agreed, Jack. Good observations. Sad, but true.
This is a much needed post. One that should printed and distributed in every seminary.
I experienced the fall of a senior Pastor several years ago. Here are the things we learned along the horribly difficult fallout:
1. Other leaders not being bold enough to ask questions when they saw ‘strange’ activity.
2. Virtually no living, breathing, vibrant and intimate accountability activity (consistent meeting, time spent with each other, heart-searching conversations) between leaders.
3. Poor logistics choices for counseling sessions (doors with no windows, meetings with no spouse present or person of opposite gender, etc)
I’m sure there are more. We’ve had several “OH yeah…what was up with that?!” moments over the years since the scandal. It’s gripping, frightening, humbling and scary.
There is also good news. A church CAN RECOVER from this. I would even argue that those involved could theoretically stay at the church, be disciplined, recovered and restored(not to Pastoral position, but to other ministries, etc). Think of the grace of God on display if we could pull that off and not let the flesh take over sending almost 1/2 the church running for hills after these scandals?!
Thanks for the post, Bob. It’s great.
Having attended both fundamentalist and evangelical churhes over the years here is a key observation I have found: The pastors in IFC typically act or present themselves as very pure or holy, whereas the conservative evangelical churches I have attended the pastors are much more real and down to earth–they preach across to you–not down to you. The evangelical pastors let you know they are this is battle too with sin. I hate to say it but I find evangelical pastors more honest about themselves and fundy guys more prideful and/or pedestal sitting.
Lastly, I have found that conservative evangelicals, are in general, more “real” people and less phoney fronts–they’re more willing to share their weaknesses or struggles like the apostle Paul. This has been a main reason I have left the IFC arena to a more loving, real, graceful, less judgemental church family environment.
Thanks for the kind words Paul. Brion, I fear you are right. That makes a difference. Obviously not every fundamentalist church has such a pastor. And some evangelical churches may have a holier than thou leader. But the percentage seems higher in fundamentalist churches.
I can only agree with your assestments, since I can relate them to the experinces I’ve had in some churches I’ve been in. There was the “Good Christians don’t commit these sins” type attitude as well as the “if you were completely yeilded to God, you wouldn’t have these problems” mentally. Thanks to our good and loving God for directing me to some people than knew (as my pastor says) “The Gospel’s for Christians too.” As a recommendation, I found Jerry Bridges’ book ” The Discpline of Grace” helpful along these lines. Thank you for your good work.
Outstanding my friend – I missed this the first time you wrote it but saw it with this most recent thing with Hamond.
Straight Ahead!
jt
Sorry, Joel, your post was in my spam queue. Thanks for the kind words!