The One Mistake All Fallen Pastors Make
It’s disturbing how many of the pastors that I grew up idolizing have fallen.
My early years in ministry were shaped by pastors like Perry Noble (alcohol abuse and divorce), Mark Driscoll (abuse of power), Rob Bell (heresy), and the list could go on.
Straight out of Bible College, I worked under a senior pastor that I highly respected for his years of experience growing large churches.
But after God called my family to a new ministry opportunity, my mentor was caught in an affair. It wrecked me and many in the church.
Just this week, I was stunned to hear the news of allegations against Bill Hybels that forced his resignation. I pray they are false. But with our history of fallen pastors, could you blame us for being a bit skeptical?
Why do so many pastors fall?
Be careful before you start blasting megachurches. It isn’t just a megachurch problem, scandals of other churches just don’t make the headlines.
Every time a pastor falls, we need to remember two things:
First, this is why we put our faith in Jesus, not man.
If you make people into idols, you’ll be disappointed.
People make terrible gods.
Second, we are no less susceptible to sin than they are.
We’re all just one poor choice from falling.
If we are ignorant, we will repeat the same mistakes.
May their mistakes be a warning to us all.
The One Mistake All Fallen Pastors Make
The pitfalls in a pastors life haven’t changed. They’re as old as sin, itself.
The Bible warned us:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world (1 John 2:15-16).
Every fallen pastor in history repeated the same fatal mistake. They got caught up in a love for the world.
That love manifested in one of three ways: the desire of the flesh (sex/addiction), the desire of the eyes (covetousness/money), or the pride of life (power).
Fallen Pastors allowed the temptation of sex, money, or power to erode their soul until it crumbled.
And remember: these three killers are after us all. No pastor is beyond their reach.
The resilient pastors who survive decades of ministry, identify these threats and make a conscious effort to stay far away.
For example, consider Billy Graham and his team’s Modesto Manifesto.
Graham saw the many failures of other evangelists, so he met with his team in Modesto, California and they drew a plan to avoid these traps.
- To avoid the temptation of sex, Graham made a rule never to be alone with a woman other than his wife.
- To avoid the temptation of money, Graham took a set salary and practiced financial transparency
- To avoid the temptation of power, they decided to never criticize other pastors or exaggerate their numbers.
While some might criticize these kinds of decisions, and perhaps we could make some modifications today, we should all learn from Graham’s example.
It’s a tale of two Bills: You have to wonder if Bill Hybels would not be facing accusations if he had practiced the same rules as Billy Graham.
We need guidelines and procedures to keep ourselves from straying anywhere remotely close to temptation.
Guideline Examples
Here are a few examples of rules you might want to put in place for yourself to protect your integrity:
Sex: Never be alone with a member of the opposite sex. And today it may even be better never to meet alone unless in a public setting with anyone regardless of gender because it only takes one false accusation to ruin your credibility.
Flee from all compromising situations. Never comment on another person’s body. Never travel alone with a member of the opposite sex.
Prioritize your marriage, and pursue your wife.
Money: Open the church budget. Be transparent about staff salaries, ministry budgets, and where all the money goes.
Also, think long and hard before you buy a big house, designer suits, or fancy cars. Although you may be able to afford them and there is nothing inherently wrong with these things, you need to avoid even the perception of greed.
Make it your mission to be the most generous person in your church.
Power: Decentralize the power. Have a board of elders that aren’t just your best friends. Put systems in place to limit your ability to make huge decisions alone.
Also, treat your staff and church members with respect. I’ve known many pastors who are brutal behind closed doors with their staff members but angels to their church members.
I’ve also worked in environments where the boss reminded the staff weekly that he could fire them. That’s no condition to work.
Wield your power with extreme care. Don’t let it go to your head. Pride is the silent killer of many ministries.
Please, don’t be the next case study of a fallen pastor. Learn from the age-old mistakes of others.
What procedures do you need to put in place to fortify your integrity?
In section where you suggest ways to avoid falling to sexual sin – you start a sentence with 2 words but never finish it.
Oops. Thanks for letting me know! It’s fixed. Those pesky typos slip through sometimes no matter how many times I read it.
Well said!
Thank you.
Good thoughts, but in the end, only avoiding things will not do the trick. We have to know what to do in the affirmative, which is to pursue the love of the Father and deeper relationship with Jesus. That is ultimately what produces spiritual growth and health, not just trying to avoid sin.
Great point. I’ve thought about this as well. These practices can help reduce temptation and protect from false accusations, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have a strong relationship with Christ, it’s easy to bend rules and pursue sin.
Dr. Thanks for the reminder. It’s very important to continue reminding ourselves about these and the mistakes of the past. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Moses. Glad you found it beneficial. But you may have me mistaken for someone else, because I do not have a doctorate. Maybe someday 🙂
Good advice. An excellent book is, appropriately enough, “Money, Sex and Power”, by Richard Foster. I noticed that many churches are pretty good about teaching on the money part of the problem (the cynic in me thinks tithing has something to do with it), but the other two too often get ignored, maybe because they hit too close to home (“you’ve stopped preaching and commenced to meddling”).
Hey Bob, thanks for the book advice. I’ve read other works by Foster, but not that one. I’ll have to check it out.
Jesus had personal moments with individuals and with groups. He provide counsel to Mary Magdalene after resurrection alone. Where are the men like Jesus today. The scripture instructs us to be imitators of Christ. Could it be that fallen men doing good work were under the hold of sin and never truly repented?
True, although three of the four Gospels have other women there with Mary after the resurrection. It is possible that the fallen pastors never repented, however, I would be cautious to question their salvation. Even those who are saved are capable of sin. None of us are perfect like Jesus is. I would presume that most fallen pastors are men who love God and meant to do well but fell to temptation. They are not unforgivable, and some may be restored to ministry after a proper season of repentence.
Let’s us all pray for pastors around the world. Rem, the Jesus told us that in this world we shall troubles but in Christ there is victory.
My understanding is that the church investigated the allegations against Brother Hybels, including hiring an outside attorney, and they concluded that he had done nothing wrong. His accuser retracted her allegation against Hybels. What is happening is the liberals are targeting influential pastors and Christian leaders, as well as the President, with false accusations. It doesn’t help at all when we write articles that imply the accusations are true when there is absolutely no evidence!
Phillip, I appreciate your addition to the conversation. However, I want to clarify that I am not intending to imply that Hybels is guilty. I pray he is not. I love Hybels and have benefitted from his ministry. What I said was that myself and many others are skeptical because of the tragic history of fallen pastors. My hope is that more pastors will take this example into consideration so that they can will never be in a situation where they can even be accused of wrongdoing.
Brother, I am sorry that my tone implied such. I have just now seen the replies to my comment and am now responding. I did not mean any offense. And you are right, you did not imply his guilt. I did read a report of the church’s investigation of Brother Hybels which concluded he had done nothing unethical or wrong. It may take me some time now to find that article to share with anyone who would like to read it.
Philip Holbrook,
Will you pls give me the news article/ website where the accusers of Hybels retracted… will appreciate it much. Thanks. God bless!
I will gladly do so as soon as I can locate it again.
Brandon
You begin with…
“It’s disturbing how many of the pastors that I grew up idolizing
have fallen.”
——-
Could the “One Mistake All Fallen Pastors Make” BE…
They have taken a “Title/Postion” pastor/leader…
That does NOT exist in the Bible…
For one of **His Disciples.**
——-
Have you ever wondered? Why? In the Bible?
NOT one of **His Disciples** took the “Title,” pastor?
Or shepherd? Or leader? Or reverend?
NOT one of **His Disciples** called them self pastor?
Or shepherd? Or leader? Or reverend?
NOT one of **His Disciples** ever called another Disciple pastor?
Or shepherd? Or leader? Or reverend?
NOT one of **His Disciples** was ever “Hired” as a…
Paid, Professional, Pastor, in a Pulpit?
Preaching, to People in Pews?
A Sermon? Each weak?
Weak aftr Weak?
——-
Jer 50:6
“My people” hath been “lost sheep:”
**THEIR shepherds**
have caused them to *go astray,*
1 Pet 2:25
For ye were as *sheep going astray;*
BUT are now returned to
the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
{{{{{{ Jesus }}}}}}