Church Leadership Scandals and the Miracle of Ordinary Faithfulness

Photo by Terren Hurst on Unsplash

We can now add Tony Evans and Robert Morris to the list of disgraced Christian celebrities and megachurch pastors. With each new scandal I feel a wave of sadness and anger. My heart breaks for those who have been wounded by trusted men in ministry who have abused their platform for evil desires. And I feel exasperated by the way the name of Jesus and his church are soiled by these acts. Unfortunately, the list of fallen Christian leaders seems to grow with every passing week. In recent years there has been an avalanche of scandal: Bill Hybels, James MacDonald, Bruxy Cavey, Carl Lentz, Brian Houston, and Mike Bickle, just to name a few.

As someone who grew up in the heart of 80s and 90s evangelical culture, this onslaught of revelations, whether of sexual sin, criminal activity, or spiritual abuse, has felt overwhelming at times. The one that brought me to a boiling point was Ravi Zacharias. During college I mowed lawns as a side job in the summer, and nine times out of ten it was Ravi’s voice in my headphones during those hours on the mower. His ministry shaped me. I once drove four hours one way and back the same night to hear him speak. With the surfacing of hidden sin after his death I had to wrestle with the complexity of discovering someone I had respected and allowed to speak into my life was not the man I thought he was.

The Protestant evangelical church is having something of a reckoning, and while it’s gut-wrenching, it is needed. After all, you can’t be prescribed the right medicine until you know just how sick you are. The words of Jesus to his disciples in Luke 12 seem to ring especially true these days: “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2-3, NIV). Acts of darkness are being exposed to the light. It is painful, but necessary.

While I would never want to suggest anything that undermines the personal culpability of those who have perpetrated evil, I do have the sense that those of us in the larger Christian world who have helped shape this subculture are not blameless. We have created a church that desires “winners” above all else. Much like in the American sports scene or our appalling political landscape, we in the church have a tendency to look the other way for those we think will get us closer to the end we desire. Never mind if someone is a terrible human; just help us hang another championship banner in the arena. Disregard any personal depravity, just as long as we win the election and pass preferred policies. In the church growth era, where success has been measured by attendance rather than the depth of sacrificial discipleship, this is not surprising. We are reaping the fruit of the shallow seeds we have sown for decades.

I hope we are experiencing enough pain that we will soon come to our senses. Like the prodigal son who finally realizes that he was created for more than starving with muddy pigs, it is time to take a step back and admit we have made a mess of things. Our tendency is to cast aside the dishonored leaders and look for the next one who will hopefully be better. But that only perpetuates the problem. We move from one narcissist to another because they meet a need in us to have someone to follow, someone to build the religious golden calf that will make us feel better about ourselves.

We in the Christian west must evaluate what we esteem in pastoral leadership. I was recently reading through 1 Timothy and was struck again by the way Paul approaches those with oversight in the body of Christ. In chapter 3 he lists these qualifications: “Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect” (1 Timothy 3:2-4, NIV). Notice how everything he highlights here relates to character and reputation. He says nothing of effectiveness. No doubt fruit in someone’s ministry is important, but the first fruit that matters is the character which manifests in the life of the believer made possible by the Holy Spirit. The first fruit needed in church leadership is holiness. We have become entirely too obsessed with “effectiveness” in pastoral leadership. Of course we want pastors who can handle the scriptures rightly, who have demonstrated the ability to disciple others, and who are passionate about reaching the lost. We need all of those things, but we need them from devoted disciples who are first known as people who walk in the way of Jesus. Cheryl Bridges Johns noted on Twitter several years ago, “The move from an emphasis on discipleship to an emphasis on leadership has cost us a generation or two. It created some ‘leaders’ who were never disciples.”

I also find it striking that Paul wraps up chapter 4 and summarizes his instruction to overseers with these words: “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” It is not just what you teach that will lead people into salvation, but also your life. Paul is clear that the content of your life is as much a part of your ministry as the content of your sermons. An elder who is a good teacher but with sinful character cannot lead the church into truth or integrity. Life and doctrine must go together for those that lead the church. That which God has joined together, let no man separate.

I am convinced that what we need now more than ever are not more people with platforms, but Christians who will pursue the miracle of ordinary faithfulness. We don’t need more Christian influencers, we need those who are content with grace-filled obscurity. In a world where scandal surrounds us on every side, drama fills our social circles and families, and sin is rampant, perhaps the greatest witness we can offer to the miraculous power of Christ is simply living ordinary faithful lives. It is increasingly conspicuous when you see a person or family living a quiet life of peace and love. It sticks out when husbands and wives love each other well and there is no hint of impropriety or discord. It is now noteworthy when parents and children are not at odds but living in loving and nurturing relationships. It's striking when pastors are humble and faithfully preach the word of God each week while caring for their flock. These signs of ordinary faithfulness are a miraculous witness in a chaotic world.

Paul writes, “[M]ake it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, NIV).

Peter encourages those living as Christians in a pagan culture, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12, NIV). He goes on to describe what this looks like: ordinary faithfulness, in which we honor those in authority, live free of sin, love the family of believers, and fear God.

I grew up with a sort of spiritual ambition. I wanted to do something big for God. I had a growing love for Jesus and wanted to serve him in ways that made a large impact. As I’ve gotten older the desire to serve Christ boldly still remains, but now I think about it differently. The world doesn’t need another savior. Jesus has that all buttoned down. Do I want to serve his kingdom in any way he asks? Yes, of course. My entire life is aimed at that goal. Yet, after watching the downfall of so many esteemed leaders and seeing the small Christian empires of certain pastors and brand-name churches disintegrate overnight, more than anything I just want to be faithful. I want to get to the end of my life having loved my wife and kids well. I want to stay humble and avoid any sin that would slander the name of Jesus in my life. I just want to walk through my years faithful to my identity in Christ and willing to serve him in whatever way he asks. Whether or not that has a small or large impact beyond my own household is not for me to determine. The Lord will sort out what he desires and the ways he wants to work. I have no doubt he can figure out his plan to redeem the world just fine without my ambition or ingenuity.

It is past time to affirm the beauty of ordinary faithfulness in the church. We must stop clamoring for “winners” and start affirming quiet and peaceable disciples of Jesus who are not making a name for themselves, but living radically for Christ in their own little corners of the world. I am not interested in how many social media followers you have or books you have sold. I want to know that you live for Jesus in your living room and your bedroom as much as you do on your platform. God can take the simple and ordinary faithfulness of a believer and use the authenticity of that witness over time in multiplying ways that far outpace the dramatic results that we clamor for in the same systems that create a breeding ground for sin. A Christian who lives a faithful life with no hint of scandal and preserves to the end is in fact a sign and wonder to the power of God in the midst of a perverse prevailing culture.

We are in a season of reckoning and the Lord is allowing all that is fake or tainted to be torn down. Now is the time to invest in what will last. And eternal fruit is often not the same thing as that which will get you attention and acclaim now. Our world is desperate for the miraculous witness of ordinary saints who live otherworldly lives in their families and neighborhoods. By the grace of God and the power of his Spirit, may we be counted in that number.

Matt Reynolds is the founder and president of Spirit & Truth, a church-equipping, resourcing, and missions ministry based out of Dayton, Ohio. Firebrand is a ministry of Spirit & Truth.