Holding Pastors Accountable

It was news nationwide,

The elders at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas announced this week that lead preacher Steven J. Lawson had been removed from all ministry responsibilities after he confessed to having an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman.

 This one was a shocker, and a deep disappointment to many in conservative evangelicalism and fundamentalism.  Lawson is the founder and President of OnePassion Ministries, and was a mentor of sorts to many who seek to exposit the word of God faithfully. His connections to Master’s Seminary, Ligonier Ministries, and Reformed Theological Seminary, and all the relationships that go with those connections made the pain run deep.

Such failures (and none of us know the specifics) are not uncommon in ministry and are not exclusive to any camp of believing Christianity.  Some ministry philosophies make the temptations greater, but they are still great no matter the crowd with which a minister fellowships. On August 5, the NPR news station for North Texas ran an article entitled, Several North Texas pastors step down, removed from positions amid controversies.  The article title was kind.  Seven very prominent pastors in just the north Texas area had recently resigned.

This is not a casting stones, blog.  Biblical, fundamentalist, Baptists have had their own share of failures.  However, the Lawson case reveals that the problem was deeper.  Steve Lawson was not actually the pastor of the church where he was the lead preacher.  He was not an elder at Trinity or even a member of the church!  Because of that, all the church could do when confronted by his impropriety was remove him from all ministry responsibilities. They could not perform any type of church discipline as commanded by the New Testament.  He was functioning as a sort of superstar regular guest preacher for the church.

This brings up some important questions that we must address in the 21st-century Bible-believing church world.

How does a local church provide accountability for its leaders while also following that leadership?

This is not an easy answer question.  The New Testament requires that church members not only follow pastoral leadership but also submit to it (Hebrews 13:17).  But it also lists qualifications for such leaders and we assume that those qualifications could be forfeited(1 Timothy 3:1-7).  The New Testament warns against receiving accusations against elders but does not forbid it.  The passage sets standards for receiving such accusations, which we assume means that there is an appropriate occasion for it (1 Timothy 5:10).

Is there a clearly defined biblical process for ministerial accountability?

Most churches do not have a clearly defined process for dealing with pastoral sin.  Who should make accusations and how?  Who should receive and accusation and what should be done about it?  We need to do more work in this area for the protection of ministerial leaders, congregations, and the cause of Christ.

Should popular Christian leaders be members of a particular local church and accountable to that church body?

With the rise of vast numbers of parachurch organizations—including colleges and seminaries—it is becoming increasingly common for well-known religious leaders to be disconnected from local churches.  They seldom attend, and if they do attend churches—like Lawson—they are not members of those churches.  We face this with missionaries, evangelists, military chaplains, and more.  It seems the clear intent of the New Testament is that every believer should be a member of a local body (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12) and as a result, accountable to that body (1 Corinthians 5-6, Matthew 18).

What are the areas of temptation for ministry leaders?

It makes the news when pastors fall into sexual sin, or even “inappropriate relationship” type of sin.  However financial impropriety and abusive leadership are also big problems depending on the type of ministry.

In smaller churches, the pastor and his family are often the only available employees and there is a huge temptation to mingle ministry and personal finances.  Also, smaller ministries can be exorbitant with salaries—yes, I have seen more abuse in smaller churches regarding salary than in larger ones.

Medium-sized churches tend to fare better in these areas. These churches usually have a very active lay leadership core, and that core has enough interaction with the staff, especially pastoral staff, to have a good idea of what is going on.  Certainly, abuses can happen in mid-sized churches, but the size of the church itself makes it somewhat easier to address.

Large churches and super churches tend to dip into the temptation category again.  Pastors of these larger churches are often seen as superstars and their own sense of success can go to their heads.  I remember Richard Rupp, head of the BJU ministerial class for decades, saying that arrogance is the sin that most often leads to pastoral moral failure.  There is also another problem in the large church or super church.  Congregational ecclesiology is not as easy to manage on this level.  The people who end up being close enough to the senior pastor to see his moral failures are also often those who are employed by the church and report directly to him.

The issue of pastoral accountability is always awkward.  As a pastor, it is an odd feeling when people are always watching me make sure I behave, yet it is also awkward when people assume I am immune from temptations because I am a “man of God.”  Pastors should work hard to make themselves accountable to their own congregations.  This should include appropriate relationships, finances, and ministerial style.  The ministry leader who will not be voluntarily accountable raises a red flag about himself.  In the Steve Lawson case, it seems like it should have done so.  Why would a man be the lead preacher in any congregation without being a member of that congregation?  Was he a member of any congregation?

One of the most important indicators that accountability is needed is when it is refused. We have important work to do on this issue.

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See here for the audio version of this article: Holding Pastors Accountable – the Proclaim & Defend Podcast