A well-known study showed one-third of ministers leave ministry due to a moral failure, one-third leave for various other reasons, and just one-third of ministers finish well in their career. Over the past couple of years, a lot has come to light about big-name preachers making that disappointing statistic easier to believe. So why are moral failures so prevalent in the church?
One major mistake that a lot of people make is hiding behind the success of their careers. Some think because their ministry is thriving, then so must their personal relationship with God; unfortunately, that is not always the case. I was told a true story about a pastor who was preaching amazing sermons every week and was loved by his congregation. Then one day, they were shocked to find out he had been having an affair with a woman in the church for the past two years. When confronted, he said, “I thought because God was continuing to use me, then what I was doing couldn’t have been that bad.” We need to remember that our sins are not justified by our successes. This is also good to keep in mind if your ministry fails, that does not necessarily mean your relationship with God is failing or that he is angry with you. We live in a fallen world, and because of that, outside forces affect the church and may even affect your direct ministry.
Here are some other reasons for moral failures in no particular order:
Lack of integrity- Integrity is often associated with money; although it is a major part, it is much more than that. Integrity is also about how you spend your time. Who are you when no one is looking? Are the choices you’re making outside of church reflecting God? Integrity starts with our daily decisions to follow God in all we do. Often times we only see the big blowout of a moral failure but not all the little choices that led to that major fall. Their biggest mistake is not what we see on the news; their biggest mistake was 20 little decisions ago when they chose not to change.
Pride- To talk about pridefulness, we also have to talk about lack of accountability which is later on in the list. Pride can lead to a lot of dangerous attitudes, but perhaps the most lethal is believing that you do not need accountability. We will never outgrow the need to be kept accountable. We will never have a platform so big that it covers the need for accountability. We need people who will check in on us and keep us going in a godly direction. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron,
so a friend sharpens a friend.”
No firewalls for temptation- Temptation is everywhere, and we need to put systems in place to assist us in not giving in to temptation. If you have a problem looking at porn, delete the app or even get a flip phone. If you have a problem with money, don’t have a company credit card. If you are tempted to have an affair with a coworker, quit your job or ask to be transferred. These may seem like extreme actions to take, but if the consequences of not doing so may be losing your marriage or getting fired for embezzlement, it will be worth it. Also, do not be embarrassed for putting up firewalls; there is nothing to be ashamed of when we are taking the proper steps to protect our hearts.
Lack of commitment to family- I once heard a woman say she felt like her husband had been having an affair with his job for the past 25 years. That is a heartbreaking but realistic statement. People often put work before their families, and it is even easier to do that in ministry. Some think since it is for God, then that’s okay, but that mindset is not biblical. We are called to put our relationship with God first, then family, and then work, even if that work is for the church. You can have a successful career and still create an environment at home where your family feels valued and loved.
Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Lack of accountability- You can refer back to pride for further detail, but I do want to include a quote from the ministry, formally known as Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, about recent events. "We regret that we allowed our misplaced trust in Ravi to result in him having less oversight and accountability than would have been wise and loving. We also regret the ways that many of us have publicly extolled Ravi's character and the impact this will have had on victims of his abuse. " Holding those around you to be accountable for their actions is the wise and godly thing to do.
Sexual immorality- This goes along with number 4, lack of commitment to family, yet another reason why putting our families before our career is biblical. If we give work more attention than at home, it can be very easy to slip into an emotional affair with someone we work with. Emotional affairs start subtle and may even feel innocent at first but let me remind you there is no such thing as innocent flirting when one party or both are married. Lack of firewalls, accountability, and integrity can also lead to sexual immorality. If you are feeling tempted to do something you will regret for the rest of your life, please reach out to a counselor, trusted friend, or mentor. Bringing your temptation to the light where it can be seen, heard, and healed. Your temptation can only grow into sin if it is kept in the darkness.
Financial issues- This is a touchy subject in the church because we are taught not to be caught up in money or things of this world. However, I believe in having a healthy relationship with money and possessions; we also need to take care of our pastors properly. I heard about a pastor that was offered a yearly salary of $10,000 in 2019. In our world today, you can not support yourself, let alone a family, on that salary, and that was not a fair offer for the church to make. That is true for not only pastors but a lot of career fields. Know your worth, know it’s okay to ask for a raise if you earned it, and know God wants you to be able to feed your children and have date nights too. You do not need to feel guilty for caring for yourself and/or your family.
There are many other reasons, but I found these seven to be the most common in our world today. As I conclude, I want to remind you of one more thing, every big-name preacher, every small-town minister who has morally failed knew this list. They were warned just like me and now just like you, but they failed anyway. They not only knew scripture but studied it and taught it, but they failed because they made excuses and rationalized their sin. Sometimes they even used scripture to defend their moral failures. That is a trick the enemy has been using since the Garden of Eden. The serpent quoted scripture back to Eve and made her justify eating the fruit by making her question God’s instructions and twisting God’s motive. If you think you’ll be able to get away with it or it won’t be that big of a deal, this is your sign to act. Secret sin grows bigger every time we sweep it under the rug. You do not need to be a pastor to fail morally for these same reasons; the enemy does not discriminate.
We do not have to fail, one-third of ministers finish strong, but maybe we can be the generation that changes that statistic. Maybe one reason other people’s sins were exposed was to warn us not to make the same mistakes and change our life trajectory.
Genesis 3: 1-7:
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
Sources: NIV Bible, NLT Bible, class notes for Intro to Ministry (list titles and statistics), Bad Reviews Chapter 1 by Rachel Reigard (second paragraph), RZIM (Lack of accountability)
