How Should Christians Respond When Spiritual Leaders Fail?

Let's talk first of all about preventive maintenance. First and foremost, each of us should have our own personal relationship with God. We should have a definite experience with God through repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, being filled with the Holy Spirit, living in the spirit, communicating with God every day. And we understand that we're not perfect. We're all aware of our own shortcomings, our failings. Sometimes Christians do sin, but we repent immediately and ask God to forgive us.

And most of the time it's not a sin that is public or hurt affecting other people or hurting other people so that we can more easily recover. But my point is we must start with a strong personal relationship with God so we're not shaken by anything that happens. Uh second, I do believe it's important to have mentors, trusted leaders uh that we do respect, but we should not put unconditional faith in just one leader. We put unconditional faith in God. And even with leaders, hopefully there will be several key mentors, leaders, a godly parent, a godly pastor, a godly youth pastor, a godly peer as you get older, where if one of those fails, you still have others who you still admire.

Not that they're perfect. As you get older, you can see their flaws even as you see your own flaws. You see their mistakes as your own. But you see that they're sincerely living for God. It is of great value to see various people like that. I know as a young minister I was very disappointed and disillusioned by certain actions of certain ministers. But I did have my own personal relation with God and also I had godly parents who were ministers who were very faithful. I knew their godly life in private. I knew their godly life under intense persecution and opposition. And and so that always helped me to say, well, I do know there are real Christians.

I do know they're real leaders. So this famous person or this extraordinarily gifted and talented person u or this person high position may have miserably failed, but I know some others that not just looking at them on the outside, but look on the inside. I know their godly life. So I know there is a real Christianity. Uh so I think it does help to have those examples. Uh and also to realize that sometimes leaders fail but they often recover and maybe they they lose their qualification. So for example, the case of adultery, uh I don't think they can ever be restored to that position of ministry again because they failed the church uh brought a reproach even in the community or there's certain heinous crimes or sins such as child abuse that you can never allow them to have access to those kind of situations again.

uh and and and so there's some that are but there are many times people do sin or make a mistake but they're able to recover in whole or in part and you can see the grace of God and failure is not final. So you can take some comfort in that but one thing I say is we respect and honor leaders as we should but we never should follow a leader into false doctrine or sin or unethical conduct. We should never justify those things. And sometimes leaders, they may be disqualified, maybe they may lose their UPCI ministry credentials, but they try to persist in some ministry, usually without no significant time of repentance and restoration.

Don't follow that kind of person just because they've been greatly used of God. And they may still have the same ability because God doesn't take away those abilities and gifts that he's given them, but they've disqualified themselves. Don't enable them. Don't support them. don't follow them. So, never follow a leader uh into false doctrine or sin or unethical conduct. And never feel intimidated that if a leader tries to pressure you to participate in something improper or immoral or take advantage of you or abuse you, don't allow them to use that kind of spiritual control to manipulate you. Now, uh what does the Bible say? The Apostle Paul is a great example of a faithful Christian.

But in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, he said, "When I came to preach to you, I decided not to use enticing words of human wisdom or human philosophy, but I preached the gospel." So even though Paul was quite an educated man and I think Paul must have had extraordinary communication ability at least based on his writing but he said I did not want to rely on that because I did not want your faith to stand in human abilities but in the power of God that your faith would not be in these things but in the power of God. So even though he had abilities and I certainly would agree that we should study and learn and do our best use the gifts and talents that God has given us, at the end of the day our ministry should not focus on our persuasive ability or our charismatic personality or our eloquent speech or our clever logic, but it should always be pointing towards Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us and pointing toward the power of God that as Paul said in that text the demonstration of the spirit and of power so that your faith should not stand the wisdom of men but the power of God.

And then later in the in the same book 1 Corinthians 11:1 he saidf follow me as I follow Christ. You also see in the book of Galatians he writes in Galatians 1 8-9 but even if we or an angel from heaven preach another gospel let it be a curse. So Paul says look if you've heard me preach the gospel you know it's true. this is how you got saved. This is how you receive the Holy Spirit because you believe what I preach. So if I come back later and start preaching a different gospel, don't believe me. So I think leaders should train their people. Yes, we want you to trust us, but trust us as we follow the Bible.

So if I get off track, if I fail, don't follow me. And uh and then also in Galatians chapter 2, uh Paul rebuked Peter to his face because he was compromising. So everybody, they had all agreed in Acts 15 that gentile Christians did not have to keep the law. Well, Peter got pressure from leaders in Jerusalem. So he stopped having fellowship with Gentile believers because, you know, they were eating what was considered unclean food under the Jewish law and so forth. And so Paul rebuked him and said, "That's wrong. That's hypocrisy. You can't do that." Well, that was not the kind of error that would disqualify him.

Uh he recognizes error. Uh but my point is even the highest leaders can sometimes make mistakes and are subject to being rebuked by other leaders or being judged by the body to make corrections. So you find this in the New Testament not unqualified um acceptance or submission of all leaders but very carefully um identifying that we really follow Jesus Christ. uh no leadership is absolute and no authority is absolute except God's. All other authority is contingent and qualified and subject to God's authority. You see this in Hebrews 13 which Hebrews 13 is used to to obey those that have the rule over you. You know that's that's a great good principle.

But before it says that in Hebrews 13:7 it says whose faith follow. So yes, you're supposed to follow your leaders, but you're following their faith as they have faith in God and as they are faithful to God, to that extent you follow them. So even the chapter that has a strong uh admonition to respect your spiritual leaders and to follow their godly leadership, it also is very careful to say you're following them as they're faithful to God and faithful to the word of God. So, if you've already found yourself in that situation, a lot of what I said is trying to help preachers learn how to speak about leadership at a qualified way as the Apostle Paul himself did and for followers to view leadership in a qualified way.

But if if it's already past that and you you your your pastor or the pastor you grew up under or some very respected elder or someone you hear that's prominent leadership or in ministry falls into a notorious sin of reproach. What how do you cope with that? You have to go back to God and cry out to God and and not to be arrogant but to say, you know, I could fall too, but I'm holding on to God and ask God to renew your faith and to re to renew your experience and help you find. You can't reject all leadership. You can't reject the church.

You can't reject doctrinal truth. You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. So you have to reaffirm your commitment to God, to your experience with God, to the truth of God's word, to the church. Uh but don't follow that leader into sin and don't try to justify that sin and don't try to advocate for that leader to be restored to a position if he has been disqualified. Um, and if there there are some measures of restoration, but that has to be through the leadership of the church, that has to be through uh time. Uh, and not all things, you know, can truly be restored to that original position.

So, a church treasure that embezzles money could be forgiven and saved, but you'll never make him a church treasurer. a preacher who has an affair with a saint. Um you he could be saved and become a good soul winner, but you could never put him as a pastor of a church where he could uh take advantage of such a relation again. A a Sunday school teacher abuses a child, they could be saved of repentance, but you could never put them with minors again. So there are some things you cannot restore, but you pray for them and you pray for their salvation and but you have to remain faithful to God and just renew your own personal consecration to God.