Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .

We look up to people, it's natural. You might even say it is biblical. After all St. Paul challenged people to follow him as he followed Christ. But what to do when our spiritual Humpty Dumpties come crashing to the ground? People we looked up to. We admired them; wanted to become like them. Now they crash and burn in front of our eyes. And we feel betrayed. We are broken. We grieve. We want to give up: "Of all people, if they couldn't keep their pants on, why should I even try?"

I've seen lots of leaders fall over the years, but the hardest on me was Gordon MacDonald. Not because I didn't care about Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, or a dozen others, but because Gordon MacDonald had such a major impact on my life. Sharon and I heard Gordon and his wife at a North Carolina retreat. It changed our life. And our marriage. When the dirty truth about Gordon came out I was crushed. I wanted to give up. Then I got angry.

However, the experience had some redemptive value. Ever since I've run into people with similar fallen Humpty Dumpties at their feet -- models they looked up to who failed them. Over the years I've put together several thoughts which might be helpful, especially if you are still looking at the shattered pieces of your model's ministry at the base of their Waterloo Wall. "The wall" and "The fall" might be about finances or lack of honesty. But, more often it is sex. And while your fallen model may be a woman, I'm going to address this to fallen men since my wife works the other side of the street. So what are the lessons to be learned?

1. We are in a war.

This Christian thing is not a picnic or a party -- we're at war. Our Enemy is arrayed across from us taking a bead on every one of us. He intends to ruin our soul and tear down our ministry. He will destroy you if he can. We often sneak over to the Enemy's side and free some of his prisoners, but he also occasionally blows one of us away. Sometimes he gets a Private or Sergeant, but at other times he mows down a Major or General. When it is our leader we are struck with terror and wonder what went wrong. The answer is simple: we are at war. In war people get killed. While we do great damage to the Enemy's forces, he sometimes takes out one of us. Make no mistake, this is war. And the Enemy is after you too.

 

2. Some guys get taken out because they're dumb.

While the Enemy is admittedly a good shot, some of our soldiers are just plain stupid. Take pastor L from Florida. He decided to meet a woman from another state in a local motel room. Whaaaaaat? What was he thinking? Did he think a private motel room would be an ideal place for spiritual counseling? Pastor L's judgement was so poor he should be court-marshaled just for being stupid, even if "nothing really bad even happened." While the Enemy is firing you don't just stand up in the trenches! Stay out of the line of fire! The fellow who goes to the motel to meet an out of state visitor of the opposite sex has climbed right out of the trenches, shed his helmet said, "Here, over here I am -- shoot me, I dare you." When he gets plugged and falls in front of us a messy mass, we needn't wonder why. The reason is obvious -- he was stupid: standing in the line of fire! It makes you wonder if it was the Enemy or if the guy was committing de-facto suicide?

So when we look down the trench and see a glob of goo where our leader's ministry used to be, we should know what to do: keep out of the line of fire! There are just some places you shouldn't be and some things you shouldn't do.

Every time we hear another story of pastor-adultery the generic answer I hear often is, "We need to keep having our devotions to keep that from happening to us." Sorry, I disagree. While a strong devotional life is a wonderful, helpful thing, the notion that devotions will somehow vaccinate you against sexual sin is a dangerous idea. And it is not proven by the data. Indeed, many pastor-adulterers admit to wonderful devotions all the while they were cheating on their wife. (And wonderful worship, meaningful preaching, and all kind of other "anointing" see Anatomy of Adultery for some actual quotes). No amount of devotions or praise and worship will insulate you from the temptations of several hours alone in a motel room with your organist. (Ok, Ok, if I saw your organist I'd not say that, c'mon, quit fooling around, you get the idea... fill in the name of your person: office secretary, friend's wife, adoring member, school chum, or _______.) Sure, devotions are a good thing. But they are not a miraculous inoculation against sin. What most of us need are a few good rules (for starters, how about "I don't meet women in motel rooms?"). All the devotions in the world won't help you is you ignore sensible professional rules of conduct in the ministry.

4. A lesson about holiness.

Which bring me to holiness. We can fill up our lives with 98% devotions leaving only 2% under the Enemy's control -- and still fall off the wall. Most ministers who fall sexually point later not to the 98% of wonderful things they did -- but to the 2% "Sodom factor" they allowed to remain. When the Enemy has a foothold he is perfectly happy (even delighted) for you to pile up devotions upon devotions around your city wall -- just as long as you allow one tiny breach for him to get in. The whole will follow the part. So the question is not be so much about the 98% of wonderful things in your life as it is about the 25 of the wall you are leaving unattended. What do you have hidden under your tent floor? If the Enemy were to sneak in through the breach in your wall -- where would he attack?

So ultimately the fall of our model comes back to our own life. We were powerfully influenced by the 98% of their life that was Christ-like. Now we see the effects of the 2% of their life that was not. And the question comes around to our own life... and our own 2%.

But, after you've thought about your own 2%, what other lessons would you add to the list above? Have you seen a model fall... and learned from it? Want to share it with others?

So what do you think? [Responses will be posted March 14 without names or addresses]

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu

By Keith Drury, February, 2000. You are free to transmit, duplicate or distribute this article for non-profit use without permission.