Maybe it’s skeletons in closets like we’ve seen in recently in Kansas City and Dallas. Maybe it’s that the leader that "plays nice" on stage, but it’s the demands and abuse backstage. Maybe it’s spiritual abuse, like what happened to me when my pastor and mentor tried to convince me and the whole church that God told him to leave his wife to be with his secretary.
Saint Paul struggled here, as well. In his letter to the Philippians, he wrote, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” (Philippians 1:15-18)
...my adulterous pastor still taught me some really good things despite his adultery.
For many of us who are left adrift in the wide wake of sinking leadership, our first notion is to write it all off and give up—we wash our hands of church, perhaps even the faith itself. It’s tempting, if I’m being honest. If I’m being even more honest, the longer I’m in church leadership, the more discerning I am with those in leadership that I fully trust. This isn’t easy.
It isn’t easy because church leadership is made of people; people are sinful and selfish (me included), and sinful and selfish people do sinful and selfish things. But Paul was able to differentiate people from the work of the Spirit. Yes, people were preaching Christ with false motives, but he trusted that the fruit of the Spirit was hardier than the weeds of secret sins. He let the work of God be the work of God, and the sins of man be the sins of man.
What do I mean? I mean that my adulterous pastor still taught me some really good things despite his adultery. He taught me how to mix audio in earnest. He taught me how to care for someone and foster growth in their leadership. Ironically, he taught me some lessons about manhood and fatherhood that I carry to this day, lessons that have helped me in both of those areas. The good was good, and the bad was bad.
The Lord sees your work and it brings him great joy. The Lord sees your pain, and he shares in your suffering. He is with you always, even to the end of the age.
You, production leader, are especially poised to be a particular light in the wake of scandal. Most of us are one to two steps removed from senior leadership, so while senior pastors, board members, and other executive leaders resign or are ousted during a scandal, we are the ones continuing ministry because, frankly, we had nothing to do with the nonsense. As long as no one is asking us to violate our consciences or is abusing us, we have all the more reason to stay, looking for a life raft in the wake that we can board and steer to survivors.
Saint Paul said something else along those lines—“…let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap [a harvest], if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10, brackets added.)
Be encouraged, brothers and sisters. The Lord sees your work and it brings him great joy. The Lord sees your pain, and he shares in your suffering. He is with you always, even to the end of the age.
