Should the Church Expect Their Leaders to Be Moral?

Why my response to Philip Yancey's confession may differ from others

I received a message today about yet another fall from grace, detailing Philip Yancey’s withdrawal from ministry due to his 8-year-long affair with a married woman.

What has ensued throughout the day could be predicted. People are shocked, dismayed, and hurt - confused that someone they looked up to could have such a fall.

Even more predictable are responses like those by Tullian Tchividjian that seek to gloss over the seriousness of Yancey’s confession.

Yancey is “human”, after all.

He is broken and flawed. We’re all flawed, right?

All have fallen short of the glory of God.

Well, yes. But, no.

Yes, Yancey is human and flawed, and we’re all flawed. It is unreasonable, and silly actually, to expect perfection from another human.

Yes, we have all fallen, but if we’re saved, we have been raised to new life in Christ.

We have died to sin, and we should not be living in it any longer. Romans 6.

I don’t think anyone expected Yancey to be perfect.

I don’t think anyone is shocked by his human nature and flaws. To insinuate that this is why people are shocked insults our intelligence.

However, I do think that people expect those who hold positions of leadership in the church to have higher moral standards than this.

And frankly, I don’t think that is an unreasonable expectation.

What grieves me is that we have leaders in the church, like Tchividjian, who are ready to rush and make a statement that Yancey was simply “flawed” and “human”, leaving room for others to say that he made a “mistake”.

An 8-year affair is not a mistake.

It is a deliberate sin that required a very careful and intentional cover-up for nearly a decade.

It is a sin that didn’t happen in a vacuum. It is a sin that requires a series of compromises prior to it, creating an atmosphere in which this kind of sin grows and flourishes.

There is a reason why the Bible differentiates sexual sins from other sins.

Sexual sin is a perversion of a holy union God created exclusively for marriage, and God is deeply offended when we take what is holy and pervert it.

This becomes all the more serious when a spiritual leader not only falls into adultery but remains in it for years, covering it up with deception, for nearly a decade.

This is where a moral failure becomes a lifestyle of immorality that demands a calloused spirit, so much so that the spiritual leader can no longer feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

And yet, Tchividjian would have us believe that we shouldn’t be shocked by this.

That we should, in a way, expect this level of calloused conscience from our spiritual leaders.

Because they are human and broken.

Not only should this not be normal or expected from those who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ, but it is especially not normal for those who lead the church.

There are certain sins in which we should expect our leaders not to fall. Because if they cannot guard their own hearts and conduct their own lives in righteousness, how can they lead the body of Christ?

It’s not about perfection, but it is about living victorious and free from sin.

It is about living in obedience to God’s Word.

It is about expecting our leaders to live above the bare minimum requirements of righteousness so that their lives are an example.

This is why Paul admonished that not all should seek to be teachers and that shouldn’t make leaders out of novices.

There is an expectation of holiness and righteous living that we should have of our leaders.

That isn’t unreasonable on our part.

It is time to raise the bar once again.

It is time to raise the standard of holiness in the church, stop preaching safe sex to our teens, start expecting that our young adults will remain morally pure until marriage, and stop calling immorality a mistake.

It is time to expect our spiritual leaders to be leader enough to actually lead us spiritually, in righteousness and holiness - leading by example, not just with fancy words in viral sermons and best sellers.

It is time to raise the standard in our own lives and stop entertaining ourselves with movies and TV shows that spew out profanity, portray immorality and perversion, and make Christians the butt of every joke.

It is time to get serious about being a disciple of Jesus Christ and truly living in a way that glorifies Him, in a way that makes no provision for the flesh.