The Mighty Are Falling: What We Can Do

Last week I read in the news of yet another man in the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area on a church’s pastoral staff who was removed from ministry because of an inappropriate relationship with a woman or child.

In the buckle of the Bible Belt, we have some big churches rocked by scandal. And as a journalist noted recently, if we add up the number of congregants suffering from moral scandals involving their shepherds, a total of 50,000 in-person congregants in the DFW area are directly affected. And that 50,000 sum was totaled before the latest news.

I’m not here to comment on the guilt or innocence of the accused. Instead, I want to point out some weaknesses in the commentary directed at the average congregant advising us about how we can prevent such powerful people from “falling.” Many of the Facebook and Twitter/X posts offering solutions place the responsibility on “sheep,” warning us against putting shepherds on a pedestal. And while it’s always appropriate to remind us that our ultimate loyalty is to The Good Shepherd, we must also avoid casting blame on injured sheep. So here I offer some alternate suggestions:  

Speak Rightly about the Church

Remember the church is a body with only one head. The word “headship” as a synonym for leadership appears nowhere in the Bible. Get rid of any idea of a pastor as “head” with the church as an org chart. The concept of a body with multiple heads is unsupportable. There is only one head [Christ] of the Church, which is his body and for whom He is savior (Eph. 5:23). And there is one head [Christ] over everything as it relates to the church: ^“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Eph 1:22–23). 

Describe your church by its name, not that of a human. Was it Redeemer Presbyterian in New York or “Tim Keller’s Church”? Is it Saddleback Community Church or “Rick Warren’s Church”? Fill in your own church’s details. The church is the Bride of Christ, not the possession of those called to serve it.  

Remember, Christ said disciples are “servants,” not “leaders.” Not even “servant-leaders.” Jesus, the Sovereign Lord himself, took on the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7); described himself as a servant (Luke 22:27); and said he came not to be served but to serve (Matt. 23:11; Mark 10:45). He also said that anyone who would be first must be the servant of all (Mark 9:35). “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:42–45; Matt 20:25-28). He washed feet, the job of a lowly house slave (see John 13).   

Gentiles love hierarchy. But as for Jesus’s disciples, he said, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Matt. 10:44).

Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, described himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle” (Rom. 1:1). When he had to pull his “apostle card” in the context of discipline, Paul expressed his discomfort in doing so (2 Cor 11:21, 30). To Titus, Paul described himself as “a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God’s elect” (Titus 1:1).

Ever read of Paul describing himself as the leader or even the servant-leader of a church like that at Philippi? Me either. Paul described Christ as “Lord” or “master” and his coworkers and himself as “servants for Jesus’s sake” (2 Cor 4 4:5).   

Jude, the brother of our Lord, described himself as, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (Jude 1:1).

Anyone who uses a gift serves. That’s the verb we get: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pet 4:10).  

Work to Reform Church Structures

Now then, while it’s always appropriate to remind ourselves that the head of the church is Jesus Christ, not a human being, it’s also true that church structures can create contexts conducive to hero-worship. Here are some suggestions for addressing that dynamic:

Pay attention to your church’s organization. Do you have a team approach to teaching and shepherding or a CEO/business top-down vision? Are you/those serving you in the habit of giving away power, mentoring, and sharing opportunities? Or are you/they hoarding opportunities? If they author books, do they share credit when they have help or do they use ghostwriters they don’t mention, leaving the impression that one person can preach weekly, release a book every nine months, marry and bury and counsel and have a great marriage all in one do-it-myself package? Do all servants have accountability? If congregants have concerns, do they have clear channels in place for giving feedback? (Telling a single women she can pass info to a male elder through his wife is not a clear channel.)  If you serve a church with a narcissistic senior pastor, listen to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and take notes and learn from others’ mistakes. Shepherds are not dictators. Not even benevolent dictators. They are to be parts of teams of mature people, humble people, shepherding a flock together.

Seek love as the ultimate end. The purpose of spiritual gifts is the upbuilding of the church so she is mature in sound doctrine, loving well. In the middle of his teaching on spiritual gifts, the apostle Paul stopped to talk about the goal of love. Love is the ultimate litmus test.

Recognize that many men and women have the spiritual gift of teaching. The church in North America today tends to elevate teaching to the point where many think only one person in an entire local congregation has “the gift.” We might use videos of that one teacher in places where we could be training up others whom the Spirit has gifted to teach. Rather than give away power, some keep the spotlight on their own great teaching rather than insisting on sharing the gifts. If you’re in a position of influence, help your team develop others’ gifts for the building up of the church.

The Corinthians focused too much on tongues. Do we do that with teachers on a stage? Imagine if a church perceived itself as having only one helper, one person with mercy, only one “senior giver.” Vet those who serve by teaching, making sure they model love and humility, valuing all the gifts.

Respect women. Some of those involved in scandals have objectified women. Rather than retraining their brains to see men and women as sisters and brothers, they view women as potential temptresses. Yes, Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, and Proverbs warns of the immoral woman calling in the streets. Some women are wicked! But also, many men in authority are addicted to porn, having given their eyes and minds over to constant objectification of women. (If that’s you, ask for help!) Some read Paul’s words to Timothy regarding women and teaching, and they expand his words to mean, “Let not a man learn anything from a woman.” Imagine if Apollos had told Priscilla to be quiet. Those refusing to learn from women thereby get a pass on humble teachability, imagining they got the idea from the Bible. I’ve heard a lot about how churches who elevate the voices of women are “capitulating to culture,” but where are the voices warning that we’ve barred the front door against feminism while failing to guard the back door against misogyny? Timothy learned from his mother and grandmother. Paul commended ten women in his letter to the Romans (see Rom. 16). A low view of those with less social power is a contributing factor in the abuse of power. Sometimes the problem is not sex, per se. Sex can be used as a negative expression of power. So while sometimes church scandals are actually about a vulnerable man with a promiscuous woman, sometimes they’re about a man abusing his power, seen in his disregard for the power differential between himself and a vulnerable woman.

It is a good quality in the sheep to love those who shepherd them, to appreciate them, to treat them as worthy of double honor (1 Tim. 5:17). If the sheep are devastated when their shepherd proves himself a wolf, we must comfort the brokenhearted and avoid suggesting the sheep are in any way to blame. Yes, we point them to the Good Shepherd who will never fail us. But also, as my former pastor used to say, “Don’t beat the sheep.” We must help protect them by speaking rightly about the power and creating healthier systems.   

Photo: Courtesy Austrian National Library