When Christian Leaders Fall

I came home Wednesday night after an evening meeting at my church and got ready to do a bit of work on the couch. It was already 11pm. I quickly opened Facebook to see what posts I missed during the day when I came across a shocking article - John Crist Cancels 2019 Tour Dates After Reports of Sexting, Harassment, Manipulation.

Let’s just say I didn’t get any work done. Instead, I stayed up past midnight to figure out the story and learn why I didn’t know about any of it until now.

It was a few years ago that John Crist’s videos started becoming popular online. He’s a comedian who liked to poke fun at Church culture and provided, what I thought was, family friendly Christian entertainment. I showed some of his videos in my church as part of my sermons. In June of this past year I took my wife, Jess, to see his live show in Winnipeg.

Apparently Crist’s sexual harassment and abuse of young women has been going on for years. Some people were aware of it, but it was only now, after Charisma News released their investigative report, that I first heard about it.

John Crist isn’t the first to abuse his position of power or Christian influence. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek, Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill, and Nathan Rieger of the Vineyard Church are just a few of the well known celebrity pastors who’ve crossed boundaries. They’ve all subsequently lost their jobs, moved on, or been criminally convicted of their crimes. But it’s not only celebrity pastors. In my own Mennonite denomination, we’ve had struggles with ministerial misconduct, in both city and rural congregations.

I realize that Crist isn’t a pastor, but he leveraged his faith and position in the Church to gain notoriety and status. People followed and supported him because he is Christian - many saw his work as ministry. When the Church puts its trust in leaders like Crist, the Church’s response is often to cover up their sins or blame the victims. We don’t want to ruin their careers or give the Church a bad name. And so we often brush it off, claiming that everyone sins and that the leader’s mistake was not that big of a deal.

If we were simply talking about morality, I would tend to agree. But we’re not! For sure, we all sin and nobody’s perfect. Of course we’re not supposed to judge others and think that we’re better because their sins seem “greater” than ours. Forgiveness is the way of Christ. But when people of power and influence cross boundaries, it’s not just an issue of morality: it’s an issue of justice. In that case, we can’t sit idly by. We need to use judgement for the sake of stopping the injustice.

Whenever Christians take on a leadership or celebrity role, they are given a tremendous amount of power. Uncle Ben’s words to Peter Parker have always rang true - “With great power comes great responsibility.” And not just any responsibility, but a fiduciary responsibility in which an imbalance of power changes the relationships in which the leader is engaged. Within this kind of relationship the crossing of boundaries is not only seen as morally wrong, but also abuse.

For example, illicit sex between a married pastor and a congregant isn’t just infidelity; it’s sexual abuse and an abuse of the pastor’s power. But what about the other person? What if it was mutual? Shouldn’t they also take on some of the blame? By definition, a relationship like this can’t be mutual because there’s an inherent imbalance of power. When power imbalances exist and that power is abused, those on the receiving end aren’t accomplices, but victims.

I know this doesn’t seem fair, especially when talking about leaders we love and respect. We want to believe that they aren’t the only ones at fault. I’m not saying we can’t ask questions of a victim’s involvement, but those questions are also questions of power. What power did a victim have to control the incident or get out? We assume that adults (unlike children) can and should be able to control uncomfortable situations, but that’s not how it works, especially when a spiritual leader knows how to manipulate. Adults can get stuck, not knowing how to deal with unwelcome advances and actions, made even more complex when the victims faith and identity is tied to the relationship they have with the leader. They’re dealing with betrayal, confusion, blame, fear, and pressure from the perpetrator. For all the examples listed above, this was the case.

I’ve always been bothered by the fact that Moses (in the Bible) was never allowed to enter the promised land because he made one mistake by hitting a rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20). Moses did so much for Israel and God. It seems too harsh, especially because others did much worse. But I think I’m starting to understand that, as Israel’s leader, Moses knew better. He knew what he was supposed to do and disobeyed anyway. As the leader of the people of God, that was a big deal. He also accepted the consequence, knowing what he did was dishonouring to God in front of the people.

Christian leaders who cross boundaries know better. They admit it themselves. Since they’re in charge, they can leverage their control over a situation like no victim can. With positions of power come greater responsibility, and that’s why Ministerial misconduct is a justice issue. We can’t just brush it off.

Is there forgiveness? Of course. There’s healing, redemption, and new life in Jesus for anyone no matter what they’ve done. But sin also has real, lasting, and sometimes devastating consequences. In order to bring justice to a situation of injustice, we must tend to the victims. For the sake of the victims, for the sake of justice, we must take this kind of misconduct very seriously. We need to take victim’s stories seriously.

The #MeToo and the #ChurchToo movements have made a lot of strides in opening the conversations of abuse and misconduct in the Church. Groups like Mennonite Abuse Prevention and Mennonite Central Committee are also actively at work to educate and raise awareness. So what can we do?

Well, for starters, we need to be aware of the power we give to our leaders and influencers, especially in the Church. As Christians, we have a bad habit of glorifying dynamic leaders and basing our spirituality around them. We see this played out when leaders fall and whole churches and movements collapse. We need to stop putting leaders on a pedestal and stop believing that they’re critical to our spiritual survival so much so that we can’t recognize their sin.

All leaders, especially those within the Church, need to understand the power we’re given. I, for example, have a tremendous amount of power even though our leadership structure is quite balanced. I have influence in almost every group of our church. I’m welcomed into the lives and homes of our congregants. I’m entrusted with confidential information. I’m in the position where I can influence and speak into people’s lives. And when I walk into hospitals, schools, or churches, I’m given special privileges by complete strangers because of my role.

We need to protect our communities and institutions by limiting the power individuals can hold. We also need to create systems where leaders are held accountable for their actions, preventing situations in which it becomes easy for them to fall. It’s everyone’s responsibility to watch out for abusive power and to keep leaders in check. That also includes setting up rules and accountability circles after boundaries have been crossed, which also includes not simply allowing people to regain power after misconduct happens.

When our leaders and influencers abuse power, we need to recognize it, call it out, and deal with it. Let me repeat myself - we need to take these situations seriously, not for the sake of destroying the leader’s life, but for the sake of the victims. This isn’t just about morality. It’s about justice. We care about justice because God does, and as we trust God, He will guide us in His way.