3 ways to respond when your leader falls

A new church starts in your city. It seems to be everything a church should be. The lead pastor is full of 'can do'. He has an uncanny ability to relate to young people, with humour, energy and a feel for contemporary trends.

Soon, his alternative-style services are drawing young people from a wide radius. He launches one innovative initiative after another, each one more audacious than the last and each one more spectacularly successful. The feel is that his church is really the only one to be at; and he is the only one who can run it. 'This is where God is at work', people say.

After quite a long time, worrying reports begin to emerge. Out of the scores of young people devoted to this church, there are favourites. Young women, in particular, are given key roles in the life of the church, roles which somehow require intense and lengthy one-to-one meetings with the pastor. 'But that’s just his way,' people say. 'And it must be ok – look how God is blessing the work.' When, inevitably, the whole sordid story comes out, it is devastating. To those who love to be cynical about Christian things, it provides the perfect excuse. But to those who trusted and followed this pastor as a man of God and the shepherd of their souls, it is deeply damaging. People are left questioning everything they learnt about God, doubting the truth of the Bible, missing their once all-consuming church life and sometimes too scarred to commit to any other Christian community ever again.

This kind of Christian leader is not a recent development. Jude wrote his letter to a church under their malign influence. His message will help us to guard against them and to recover from them. For this article, we'll focus just on the first two verses:

'Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.'

Self-care

I hope that your church has proper safeguarding policies; that should make the scenario I describe more unlikely. But perhaps we can also protect ourselves to some extent. Jude was 'a servant of Jesus Christ,' because only Jesus Christ is worthy to occupy the throne of our heart. Sadly, it is so often those who have followed the powerful leader most closely who are the most deeply damaged by them. Someone who is constantly asking themselves, 'What does Pastor X expect me to do?' may already be at risk. Try instead to ask a more Christ-centred question. The stronger our sense of what it means to please Him in everything, the better.

Support

'May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.' This was Jude’s prayer for his troubled readers: to receive the support that comes from God.

Mercy from God is the opposite of His justice. Among His people, where sin has spread and God’s condemnation might be expected, He is willing to multiply mercy. Peace here refers to a pacified conscience, a sense of God’s favour and a corresponding inner tranquillity. How unlikely that seems in the fallout from an exploitative leadership! But God is able to supply it. Love for others can go deeply against the grain, especially where wrong has been done and forgiveness comes hard. Here also, God’s help is real. Why not make Jude’s prayer your own, for yourself and anyone you know in a difficult church situation?

Closure

Here is wonderful news for the child of God: the end of all the pain and confusion is in sight. 'To those who are called, beloved in God the Father [you are] kept for Jesus Christ.' The One who loved you before He formed the planets, who showed you a crucified Saviour and called you to trust Him, this is the same God who will keep you until you stand before His glorious Son.