When Leaders Fall: Creating a Culture of Pastoral Accountability

When Leaders Fall: Confronting the Culture of Pastoral Accountability is more than just a headline; it’s a critical conversation that demands our attention. In recent years, we’ve witnessed a troubling trend within the church—many pastors and ministry leaders have succumbed to moral failures, leaving their congregations shaken and disillusioned.

Now, more than ever before, Pastors and Ministry Leaders (in this article, Ministry Leader will refer to someone in a role of influence in a para-church organization) can have instant notoriety because a reel went viral, a podcast struck a public nerve, or a book became all the talk of America’s small groups. And just like that – you’re a household name in the family of God. It has never been as easy as today for a Pastor in middle America to be known equally well in Portland or Poland.

And the appeal or the draw for the Pastor is tough to minimize. If he is going to be just like all the other guys, many Pastors have to make sure the media team has the YouTube channel all nice and shiny and their Instagram is doing all the things social media gurus say to do to garner the views and followers needed to be reputable. Many of these same Pastors defend their actions with “I’m just trying to get the Word out there!” Undoubtedly true – but whose word?

(Quick caveat: there is nothing inherently wrong with using media to spread the gospel, but the enticing draw to use media as a means to proclaim the Pastor or church vs. Jesus is likely more of a struggle than most would admit).

I’m not sure that the current model of the larger-than-life Pastor/church found in many Western churches is what the New Testament had in mind.

And yet, here we are.

“Fame, recognition, notoriety, wealth, sex – it can be easily within reach if you do all the right things.” It’s a lie that Satan can subtly plant in the minds of anyone who will listen. And for many celebrity Pastors over the last few years, that’s exactly what they’ve done – listened. They fell more in love with the world and their desires than Christ.

1 John 2:15-17 defines the world this way:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

The lust of the flesh. The lust of the eyes. The pride of life. It’s the incredibly simple yet profound description of the three ways people give in to sin:

• You crave a physical indulgence outside of God’s will (the lust of the flesh).
• You see something outside of God’s will and want it (the lust of the eyes).
• You seek validation from something or someone outside of God’s will (the pride of life).

And for a Pastor or Ministry Leader, due to the nature of their occupation, the temptation to give in to all three is real:

• Lust of the flesh: Engaging in inappropriate relationships, or the overuse of alcohol or substances.
• Lust of the eyes: The draw towards material possessions or feeling validation through multiple church services or campuses.
• Pride of Life: Wanting to be known for the sake of being known inside and outside their congregation.

It’s a real struggle for the Pastor – because people around you appreciate you, celebrate you, and even in some instances idolize you. The larger your congregation or ministry gets, the more influence you get, and in theory the more money you get.

The lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life play with your thinking – they begin to consume you. It’s like Frodo in Lord of the Rings carrying the Ring of Power day after day – its subtle power seems innocent at first, but then it overwhelms you. You start believing lies that you’re untouchable, above the snares that affect others. You make compromises that you never thought you would. And before you know it, you’re in so deep that humanly speaking there’s no way out.

Sounds dreadful, doesn’t it? Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way. Yes, it is possible to have a good-sized church or ministry with influence outside your congregation and have a faithful relationship with your wife, modest amounts of income, and genuine integrity that lasts the entirety of your life. How?

Based on both personal and ministry observations, here are some suggestions:

1. Assume there are issues. It is foolish to assume there are zero issues with a man who is in front of people week after week, who are taking notes on what he is saying, and his comments are being read and recited by hundreds or thousands. That doesn’t mean you automatically put your Pastor or Ministry Leader in the column of fallen sinner – it means you have to believe the fact that the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life is real, especially for your Pastor or Ministry Leader. He is not immune because of the role that he is in, in fact, he is likely more of a target than you realize.Instead, assume that he is struggling (or has recently struggled) in one of the three areas. Assuming he needs help is a sign of care, not suspicion.
   
   Think your Pastor is too holy to fall – that’s he’s immune? Read 2 Samuel 11 and then 1 Corinthians 10:12. Then do a Google search for how many Pastors or Ministry Leaders have fallen in the last 5 years.
   
   
2. Ensure real accountability is in place. Accountability is simply about carrying one another’s burdens, ensuring that someone isn’t flying solo and that real questions are being asked relating to the lust of the flesh, eyes, and the pride of life (see Galatians 6:2).
   
   Undoubtedly (because I’ve heard it) many a Pastor will say he is in accountability, but all that means is that someone from time to time asks him how he’s doing. That is not accountability. He has to be a part of a men’s group that is going to ask him challenging questions regularly. I would take an educated guess that most Pastors and Ministry Leaders are not in this type of accountability and are not being given the opportunity to be truthful (or lie) with direct questions.

   
   You may not be in a position in your church or ministry to ensure accountability is happening, but you can have conversations with the leadership of your church to determine what level of accountability is happening with the Pastors.

   The leadership team of the church should be able to answer questions related to:

• • Accountability for the Pastor and his relationships. Elders should be able to demonstrate regular, documented answers on:
    • How their Pastors are cultivating their relationship with their wives
    • Whether they have any emotional attachments to other women, and
    • In what ways they are growing in His walk with Christ?
  • Accountability for the Pastor and his ministry finances. Do the Elders, Treasurer, and Finance Team have documentation on how church funds are being used, and specifically by the Pastors?
  • Accountability for the Pastor and his time. Do the Elders or Leadership Team know whether or not the Pastor is stewarding his time wisely? Have they provided clear goals and clear expectations of his responsibilities, and are able to provide documentation on whether those objectives are being met?

3. Stop attending churches that are not interested in Pastoral accountability. Yes, I struggle to write that, but that is the reality of what is needed. If a Pastor or church leadership team refuses to ensure their Pastor(s) are engaged in meaningful, regular accountability, that is not a church you need to be in. That attitude won’t just be present in dealings with leadership, but it will bleed into all other areas of ministry. There will not be a culture of accountability and care in that church, or even if there is, it will prove the hypocritical nature of the church leadership (they will promote ideas for the flock that they are not interested in).
   
   However, the decision to leave in this scenario should not be made lightly, and only have much conversation and prayer.

Fellow believer, many of our leaders are under attack, but thankfully Christ, the true head of the church, cares deeply for the health and well-being of His church. He is aware of what is happening in the Western church and continues to work in mighty ways despite challenges.

Times of uncertainty with church leadership should not cause us to move away from church, but rather, to draw closer to Christ. He is our ultimate leader, and He, unlike us, is incapable of failure.