How do we respond when leaders, whom we have admired and from whose ministry we have benefited, are shown to have clay feet - and, worse, to have used their leadership position in manipulative and predatory ways? I am no longer surprised - but am increasingly deeply saddened - especially for the damage done to the cause of Jesus, and to many of followers of Jesus. We all bear responsibility for a “Christian” identity - an “evangelical” culture - that has become a conformed imitation of the world in which we live - requiring the use of quotes to indicate the shift in the meaning of those words, reducing them to irrelevance.
The mark of mature leadership, as Jesus defined and modeled it, is self-sacrificing, humble, service, largely unconcerned about the number of followers - resistant to the demands of the crowds - especially protective of the powerless. What we seem to have produced instead is a “christian” version of the celebrity culture in which talented, gifted and/or beautiful people ride the wave of popularity to a level of influence far beyond their character’s ability to support. Positional power has superseded character as a test of validation. This is the inevitable result when we give character a bye in favor of what we consider success - and worse, make excuses for ourselves and those we admire because of that success.
The deeper tragedy, perhaps, is that for every exposed leader there is an army of knowing sycophants, basking in reflected glory, unwilling to jeopardize their own position, unwilling to question - let alone hold accountable - the great man. And here, while there are likely exceptions, the gender is deliberately specific. By far the greatest number of positional predators through the ages have been men. That alone should cause us to reject any unquestioning adherence to a hierarchical system that perpetuates it.
So, what are we to say to those who came to a genuine and life-changing encounter with Jesus by means of the dark and crooked alleyways of some of his followers? We say that Jesus is still true - still everything you have thought and found Him to be - still the very Life of God present with you and for you - still worthy of worshipping and following.
That some of His followers fail is not surprising. But every public failure ought occasion a prolonged, Holy Spirit guided, look in the mirror at my own soul, praying that He would search my heart, revealing what is in me, giving me courage to repent - even if that means stepping down from positions of influence. It means owning my own actions before I am “caught” - so that at least the consequences which are already discernible make some sense. It means listening and hearing the voices of those holding me to account. I can’t help but think that stepping down would be more transformative towards maturity than all my clinging to place and position.
We need also to say Jesus told us it would be like this - it was a primary concern for Him (and Paul and Peter and John). He said that there would be false prophets, speaking true and untrue things in His Name, performing or seeming to perform amazing miracles in His Name - but who were not authorized by Him, nor whose character supported their glittering but brittle public image. That is why one of the primary roles of the shepherd - the pastor - is to protect the flock from predators whether from the inside or outside the church.
We must do better! And by we, I mean me.
