If you are a Christian and you are on social media, then you know we have a problem. The problem I speak of is not an intellectual framework for the faith we believe. Rather, it is a problem with how that faith is being lived out in the lives of those who lead the church.

In the last week, I have seen the following scandals on social media. A charismatic pastor had his home raided by the FBI because authorities believe he misappropriated church funds. A Southern Baptist pastor, his wife, and a school administrator were arrested for allowing a known sex offender to be near children in their church. A Fundamentalist pastor has been accused by his four adult children of severely beating them and his wife. And a well-known Independent Baptist pastor in Virginia was arrested for sending lewd pictures of himself to a teenager.

With all of these things happening—and, honestly, with one of these men being someone I have heard preach several times—I wanted to write something in the hope that it will help someone. I rarely write about things simply because they are controversial, but this is not a topic to address merely to get clicks. Pastors falling into sin and bringing major scandal upon the church at large has reached epidemic proportions. We must address it, and we must be clear.

The question that will guide me through this blog is this: Why does it seem that so many pastors are falling into sin and bringing great shame upon the church? I hope that pastors and people in the church will begin asking this difficult question as well. To be honest, I do not know how we can avoid the question any longer. How many times can we see this happen and simply shrug it off? How many times will you see this come up in your social media news feed before you begin asking hard questions about what is going on and what we need to do to fix it? Friends, there are some clear answers, and change is necessary.

Let me say up front that pastors and church leaders falling into egregious sin or error is not a recent phenomenon. The Lord Jesus Himself chose Judas as an apostle, knowing that he would later betray Him. Paul had Demas. John struggled with Diotrephes, who wanted preeminence in the church. To some degree, the church has always dealt with false teachers and with teachers whose lives did not meet the standard required of qualified ministers of the gospel.

And may I add that, for every scandal we see, there are thousands of godly ministers who have not crossed the line into disqualifying sin. The interconnected world in which we live has simply made us all more aware of these matters. Here are a few things with which to begin this discussion. By no means do these points provide a complete solution to all the problems facing Christianity or to the present crisis of leadership.

First, the Bible lays out clear qualifications that pastors must meet, or they cannot serve as pastors. As we work through the Pastoral Epistles and 1 Peter, we see Paul and Peter lay out the qualifications for ministry. What is striking about these qualifications is that they are almost entirely character-based rather than gift-oriented.

Men are often ordained into ministry because they are excellent communicators or because they can build a great organization from the ground up. Their natural gifting and charisma propel them into ministry and then into stardom. I would ask: Where is that type of qualification for ministry found in the Bible? The answer is that it is not.

I encourage you to look up the standards given by Paul and Peter in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, and 1 Peter 5. What may strike and surprise you is how ordinary these Christian traits are. The standards of moral character in the Christian church involve simple holiness in life, godliness in character, and reproducible Christian virtue.

This, of course, is not to say that pastors will be sinless. All sinners saved by grace still struggle with indwelling sin, and churches must cultivate an environment in which pastors and elders can communicate with one another about their struggles so that they, too, might grow in grace. Though this is true, some sins are such an offense to the gospel that they disqualify a man from being a pastor.

As long as we value a man’s gifts and ability to preach—or his ability to get people to come down the aisle and build the church—more than we value Christlike character, we will continue to see this trend. We must see maturity and gifting rise together and not allow gifting to race ahead of maturity. Young men aspiring to eldership need mentorship from older men as they pursue that goal. After all, the term “elder” itself speaks of spiritual maturity.

The second issue we must address is accountability. How is it possible for a pastor to go from moving thousands of people with his sermons to having an affair? How is it possible for a dynamic preacher to become the groomer of a child and a sexual predator? It happens by walking down the deceptive path of sin, one compromised step at a time, until you can no longer recognize the person you have become.

Paul said to Timothy, an elder in Christ’s church, in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” If you go swimming in the ocean, the waves will often push you so far in one direction that, when you get out of the water, your beach chair is a long way from where you entered. Paul tells Timothy to make sure that he is keeping watch over himself.

The two biggest areas of scandal are the misappropriation of money and sexual sin. Men in the pastorate, or those aspiring to it, must be on guard against these two dangers. A man rarely wakes up one morning and suddenly has an affair. A man does not groom a child because he wakes up one day and decides to ruin his life and the lives of countless innocent victims. He begins by indulging sin and lustful thoughts without quickly repenting. One small compromise leads to another, which can eventually lead to unspeakable sin. The misappropriation of thousands of dollars often begins with dozens or hundreds of dollars. Pastors should never handle money that belongs to the church. Let other people oversee it.

Men, we are not free to view pornography for any reason. The church’s money does not belong to us. Let us not nurse our sin, but let us humbly repent daily of the sins of lust and covetousness as they arise in our hearts. I remember hearing Kevin DeYoung say, after the fall of a well-known pastor, that rarely, if ever, does a man who spends considerable time in prayer and the Word of God each day fall into such sin. Let us watch our lives.

We also need accountability from others. Pastors need accountability because they are still sinners. The old adage “absolute power corrupts absolutely” does not apply only to government; it applies to Christian ministry as well. King Saul is a helpful illustration of how ministry without accountability can unfold. Saul began his kingship bashful and seemingly humble. But by the end of his self-centered and fearful reign, he was casting spears at God’s anointed, David; failing to protect his own people while trying to kill righteous David; and consulting a medium to learn what his future would hold.

I am not certain that Saul was a regenerate child of God, but the corrupting power of sin that lived within him is the same power that lives within us. The sooner we understand and believe that, in our sinful nature, we are closer to Adolf Hitler than we are to Jesus Christ, the better off we will be. There is nothing in the natural soul of Adolf Hitler that is not also present in us. You and I could sin in unimaginable ways, end our lives in shame, and destroy our families and countless others. Recognize your need for accountability because you cannot trust yourself implicitly. Please understand that I am not writing this blog from a self-righteous high horse, but from an understanding of my own sinful will and nature.

Some sectors of Christianity have taught that pastors are untouchable. The title “man of God” is biblical, but it is often abused. Pastors are not direct conduits from heaven like the Old Testament prophets. As a friend recently told me, some Baptists are more devoted to blindly following their pastor or their favorite internet preachers than Catholics are to following the Pope.

When pastors are placed on a pedestal like this, the only direction for them to go is down. None other than Christ Himself will see to this. There is room for only one King in the kingdom of God and in the church, and that position belongs to Jesus. When men wrongfully attempt to take Christ’s place on His throne, Christ will cast them down.

One thing we may struggle to see amid all these scandals is that it is good for the church to be cleansed, just as the temple was cleansed in the Old Testament. It is good for victims to receive justice. It is good for the purity of the church. It restores to Christ alone the glory He deserves in His church.

Another issue is that the solo-pastor model should be abandoned. At times, churches have solo pastors out of necessity, but this should not be a matter of conviction. The New Testament approach to the pastoral office is for a group of men within a local church to shepherd the flock, providing mutual accountability and a greater ability to care for the congregation. During seasons when a church has only one pastor, he needs to receive counsel from others in the church and remain under meaningful accountability structures.

Pastors need to be told no at times by other godly men. Pastors need other godly men to tell them, “I think you were wrong in what you said, and you should apologize.” Brothers, we need this not only because of our own internal blindness, but because it is a biblical command. You cannot watch over the souls of the church around the clock and remain healthy without others watching over your soul. Let us cultivate this godly accountability with others and ask for their feedback. We should even welcome them to tell us when they believe we are wrong. We may not accomplish everything we want to accomplish, but we are not Jesus, so that is okay.

Third, consider how rarely church discipline is practiced. Biblical church discipline is a means by which sinning Christians are called to restoration in the church through repentance of sin and faith in the gospel. The clearest description of how this is done is found in Matthew 18:15–20.

From a pastoral perspective, I would suggest that the practice of church discipline helps preserve a pastor’s personal purity. Why? There are two reasons.

First, it calls pastors to self-examination. In Matthew 7:1–5, Jesus instructs us to examine ourselves before attempting to apply corrective measures to the spiritual lives of others. He tells us to remove the log from our own eye before trying to remove the speck from our brother’s eye. The point is not that we should never help remove the speck from a brother’s eye. That speck could be debilitating and could significantly affect his spiritual ability to see clearly. However, you must first engage in self-examination and self-reflection that lead you to repentance before you begin digging into someone else’s life.

Second, the practice of church discipline brings upon the entire congregation a healthy fear of the consequences of sin in the life of a professing Christian. First Timothy 5:20 says concerning pastors, “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.” This aspect of church discipline should cause us to quake inside. The reality of the love and fellowship we share in Christ with our church family should cause us to desire to live holy lives.

As we bring this blog to a close, I imagine these scandals will continue to happen. They will continue because, as Jeremiah 17 says, the heart is desperately wicked. However, we need to pray for reformation in our practices.

As pastors, we need to live holy lives, follow the biblical qualifications of Scripture, watch our lives carefully, submit to other godly men, and practice church discipline. Church members, pray that all of this happens, and do your part to ensure that these biblical mandates are upheld.

If you are in a church that does not take accountability seriously or does not practice church discipline, do not abandon Christianity because of poor ecclesiastical practices. Talk to your pastor or pastors. If the matters discussed in this blog are not taken seriously, then I would suggest that you consider looking for another church.

This needs to stop. The gospel is at stake. The health of the church is at stake.

God help us.

Soli Deo Gloria