Too often a Christian leader is exposed as having serious sin issues. Often these are well known speakers, authors, or pastors. I’ve seen this happen so often over the years. Some were famous television evangelists or Christian personalities. Some were significant influences upon hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. But I’ve also known some, and even have had friends, that were just regular pastors who were not famous or well known. Unfortunately, failure amongst leaders is common. But how are we to respond? What about all the sermons they taught? What about the books they wrote that had a positive influence upon us or others?
Jesus said, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach” (Mat 23:2-3, NLT).
Moral failure among leaders is not a new problem. Jesus has a clear and direct answer to this issue. When the Word of God is being correctly taught, it is God we are obeying. When the Bible is being explained and applied, it is God’s Word that is instructing us. The person speaking is merely the instrument that God is using at the time. If we are using a pen to write something and the pen breaks, we don’t throw out what we are writing—we either fix or discard the pen.
In the remainder of Matthew 23, Jesus continues to speak harsh judgment against the corrupt religious leaders of His day. What we learn is that it is God’s responsibility to deal with the moral issues in a leader that is sinning. Our responsibility is to be concerned about how we are learning and applying God’s word to OUR lives. And not get overly burdened about the failures of others. If you are only able to receive instruction from morally perfect teachers, then you will have ZERO teachers in this life.
This does not mean that we exempt leaders from being accountable for their behavior. But we accept that it is not our responsibility to stand in judgment of them or to throw out Christianity because some leaders have abused it. “The proper response to abuse is not disuse, but rather proper use” (Sam Storms). When the Bible or Christianity is manipulated by people to gain riches, power, or fame, we don’t blame the Bible or cast off our faith in Jesus. We go back to the basics, and make sure we are living according to God’s word and not disqualifying ourselves in the process. “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself” (Gal 6:1, NLT).