The hidden cause of pastoral failure

Just a week ago, pastor Steven Lawson was speaking to his sizable audience about being a “slave to Christ”. It comes from the Bible is a little book called James. To be a slave to Christ is to claim that Christ has all authority over your life. As Lawson points out in the teaching that James is saying he once was a slave to sin and fleshly desires, but when he converted he became a slave to Christ, chained by grace to complete the purposes of God for God’s own glory.

Lawson claimed this was true of his own life.

And just days later, he was removed from his position as pastor, as professor, and I am sure any other position he held due to an inappropriate relationship.

I hesitate to even type these words, as I am sure the pain by the family, friends, and Christian community surrounding Lawson is extraordinary.

But I type them because I feel compelled to search as to why so many large and influential pastors fall prey to this type of offense. Lawson is not the first, and will not be the last.

As a fellow pastor, my heart is broken over another failing. It has led me to consider, what is the cause of these leaders gone astray?

I think first and foremost we have to understand that Lawson is not unique, all of us are capable of such egregious sins. Sin is crouching at the door waiting to pounce. If we were not to stay alert, the devil could take a foothold in our life. Temptation is constantly swirling, we must always be on guard. That is why being sober-minded is so important; slipping causes issues for us and the people around us, and grieves the heart of God.

Falling into temptation is the obvious answer to the question of why pastors fail. But what answer is hiding sinisterly in the shadows?

I think church culture has created chasms in the life of the pastor that creates opportunities for failure. Those openings are culture issues such as loneliness and an outsized emphasis on the role of the pastor.

• Loneliness is rampant in the world, and is not absent among pastors and spiritual leaders. The role of the pastor can, at times, feel like the loneliest place in the world. A pastor can work forever and not accomplish all that needs done. There is always something to teach, somewhere to speak, a need to be filled, an organization to be organizing. In the midst of all the doing from a leaders position, developing a friendship with the people being led can feel like a near impossible task. After all, if the people I am leading new so much of the deep personal things going on, would they still elect to follow? In ministry you spend a lot of time thinking and a lot of time working with people. This can lead to overthinking, over analyzing, and relational anxiety.

• We are in the age of the celebrity pastor. The pastor is a type of rock star. The pastor dresses up in costume, performs, develops a type of persona. What people see on the outside looks fantastic. After all, how could the pastor be broken if they are preaching every week, producing podcasts and tweets, and writing books? The same care taken for external things is not the same care for the internal things. Behind the scenes, someone who began as a faithful communicator has had their ego puffed up. Where they were called to be slaves to God, they eventually lost sight of God in the midst of modern ministry. 

How do we future proof the church against such transgressions?

I think the only way it happens is for pastors to take their internal work as seriously as their external work. If a pastor is able to preach a great sermon on Sunday and yet is crumbling inside or beyond closed doors, eventually their public persona will be marred by a shadowy backstage.

And the same is true for all people. If you want to be a high performing and successful individual, it only is going to happen if you are deeply committed to building a firm foundation for your inner self.

Also, say a prayer for pastor Steven Lawson and his family. God will judge, may we bring healing to broken places. Pray for the pastors in your life, you may not know what battles they fight.

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