It’s becoming commonplace to open the news or a social media feed and witness yet another pastor or Christian leader who has fallen. It took my breath away to read about the recent allegations against Austin Stone Worship Pastor, Aaron Ivey. The shock and embarrassment for the Christian community are always hard for me to stomach, and the increasing number of these cases does not make it any easier. Although I’m glad to see these leaders be held publicly responsible, it also raises so much grief for me, as I’m sure it does for many other Christians. I’m only one person, but after the repeated news stories, I feel compelled to share my thoughts.

It isn’t everyone….

First, may I say that these bad actors do not represent all of Christianity, and they most certainly are not following the Jesus I know and love. Please do not lump all Christians together as hypocrites. Yes, there are hypocrites among us, but more than anything, we are all sinners. That is the one piece that all Christians hold in common. Steadfast adherence to Christianity means admitting that every single one of us has fallen and continues to fall. We can only hope to live a life pleasing to God with Him working through us. The temptation to try to live and walk in our wisdom and not God’s causes our downfall, and I believe it is at the root of every single one of these cases of abuse and scandal.

Flee Idolatry….

Second, we must stop putting people on our thrones. In our churches, we tend to glamorize and idolize anyone with a microphone or a musical talent to the point of grave sin.   Our attention, loyalty, and devotion belong to the Almighty God. When you put your leaders on a pedestal, you set them up for failure. The temptation for leaders to struggle with pride is always constant, following you and taunting you each time you walk on a stage. Do not make it harder for them than it already is. Let’s treat our leaders respectfully but not with stardom. Because in the end, anything good we would even attempt to do for God is as used toilet paper in comparison to what God has done for us(Isaiah 64:6). In light of God, it is insulting and idolatrous to place our trust more so in any person than we do in God Himself. If a fallen leader causes us to walk away from the faith, I would question who we were following in the first place.

God, help us….

When these stories break, the Christians’s best posture is to pray. To come to the Father, heartbroken over the sin of fellow believers. At the same time, I pray we will all be heartbroken over our sins as well. It’s easy to sit back and judge another, but if we don’t check our hearts and confess our sins, we risk falling into the same pit as the ones we judge. 

Christians, take your walk seriously. If we are going to call ourselves “little Christ,” as the first Christians did, then we should be dying to ourselves daily, taking up our crosses, and following Him.  Confessing sin to God and each other should be part of our regular practice.  

God, be glorified in everything we do. May we all seek to honor Him, with the help of the Holy Spirit, in every choice we make.