So deathscrolling through the news and I saw that another famous pastor had been outed with regard to sexual misconduct. I was vaguely familiar with him… but apparently his is a pretty big name in certain circles. That same article then linked to a Charisma magazine article about a number of recent pastors who have had similar things happen. They focused on three because they happened in the same part of the USA. One involved a confession, making it quite similar to the one I was reading. One involved a denial– more fun with that one coming I am sure. One that was so vaguely phrased that no one in the public knows what it is about. (I don’t hang out with famous Christians much but I have actually heard two of them speak in live events.)
It is hard to see why this keeps happening. Logic, of course, has nothing to do with it. However, if it did, it seems like the fame and adulation of being a “celebrity Christian” should be enough to cross off one’s to-do list a few things— extramarital affairs, general sexual misconduct, human trafficking, declaring oneself the “owner of the Universe” (the last two are Philippine-specific references). You know… just avoid the big stuff. No one seems to mind that much if one is quarrelsome, conceited, or has a bad reputation with outsiders, despite these being important benchmarks for a pastor (see 1 Timothy 3).
Charisma magazine, unsurprisingly, chalked it up to “Spiritual Warfare.” The implication is that these celebrity pastors are so important in the spiritual battle between good and evil that Satan has worked extra hard to bring them down. Although I balk at that perspective— at least in a limited sense, I suppose there is an element of truth to it.
Nevertheless, I don’t like it. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, an obvious problem is that it externalizes the problem. The individual chose to sin, and do so in ways that even the secular public find unacceptable. There are many factors for this. In many denominations church leadership is a boy’s club and based on my experience in the Navy as my ship was transitioning from male only to male and famale, having men and women sharing leadership DOES change (perceived) attitudes and actions. Successful pastors can also develop sycophants that tempt toward hubris and acting out. Many pastors will even go out of their way to surround themselves with fans. Many pastors never learned the value of external accountability. Perhaps there are indeed demons working around the clock to make a famous pastor fail. I don’t know. I do know that the problem is, however, NOT that the “Devil made me do it.” Sin starts and is fed in the head and heart long before it reveals itself. Spectacular failures can happen to all, and one of my best defenses against this happening to me is to be well aware that it CAN HAPPEN TO ME. The call of spiritual warfare can make it sound like it is not the fault of the pastor, but the Devil and devils out there making it happen.
Second, expanding on the last sentence, one can argue that the excuse of spiritual warfare is actually a backdoor compliment. Suppose the story was about me (thankfully not famous enough for anyone to care… but we can imagine for the moment). I could say it was due to spiritual warfare. But all Christians, in some sense, are involved in spiritual warfare. So what am I REALLY trying to say?
A. Maybe I am saying that it wasn’t really my fault (as I noted in the previous paragraph). The problem was external to me.
B. Maybe I am saying that I am extra special, good, and important. I am an especially capable and exceptional soldier in God’s army— so the enemy has pooled its troops to target me. Maybe I failed not because I am particularly flawed or unspiritual, but rather that I eventually yielded to a spiritual onslaught that others around me would have caved to LONG ago. Maybe the reason this news finally came out after so many years does not point out my weakness, but instead points to my strength in my faithful resilience for so long.
C. Maybe I am saying that I am so important to the cause of Christ (Satan seems to think so after all) that I must be forgiven and restored as soon as possible. My fall into temptation is not a true spiritual loss. True spiritual loss would be if I am not quickly empowered to get back into the battle. Recall the story of Jimmy Swaggert with his “God has forgiven me— why can’t you?” Of course, it has nothing to do with forgiveness— it was about putting the story behind without discipline or repercussions.
I must admit that I don’t care for the War metaphor for Christian living. It is used in the Bible, but there are a LOT of metaphors for the Christian life in the Bible. Generally, I don’t recommend we spend too much time on spiritual warfare as a metaphor. It has its place— but I think it creates its own temptation to exploit and excuse. If you fail publicly, I don’t recommend pulling out the Spiritual Warfare card. Spiritual warfare did not make you fail… it using it as an excuse won’t be a useful part of your recovery.
