Articles
Preachers Are People
Some preachers who have gone off the rails:
Preacher A: A dynamic speaker who eventually forsook the Lord. Was recently named by the governor of Florida as the Secretary of the Lottery.
Preacher B: An engaging speaker who took a fresh, original approach to Scripture. Joined a fringe, splinter group of saints, then transitioned to a mainline denomination. At his rebaptism, read a statement repudiating churches of Christ as a denomination and embracing Calvinistic ideas of salvation.
Preacher C: Evangelist for large church with long history of doctrinal soundness; father was a well-known preacher from a past generation. Led splinter group away, swarmed a smaller area church; eventually identified with denominational group.
Preacher D: Became infatuated with minor female and took her across state lines for immoral purposes. Now serving lengthy prison sentence for abuse and kidnapping.
The first three men I know personally and have had varying degrees of interaction with. The last I know through news reports. Unfortunately, I know of others who have done similar things. What is going on here? Well, nothing way out of the ordinary.
Sometimes our expectations of preachers are excessively idealistic. We think of them as spiritual supermen, assuming that anyone who studies scripture intensively and teaches is immune from evil influences. But true godliness doesn’t work that way. Just being “near” the truth doesn’t change our heart.
Three short observations:
1. Some choose preaching as a vocation on the wrong grounds.
Preaching looks easy; some follow in family footsteps; others see it as a utopic alternative to the business world; some like their ego stroked by attention. Deeper motives can be covered up by a suit and tie, a “preacher-voice” and pious language.
As a result, some men resent doing something they really aren’t committed to. Others are predators looking to take advantage of the unsuspecting. Some men want power and will create strife if they don’t get their way. Others abuse the lack of strict oversight and indulge in fun and play.
No wonder Paul admonished a young, spiritually strong Timothy: “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness ... Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you (1 Tim 6:11; 4:16). He exhorts his son in the faith to maintain “faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected … [and] have suffered shipwreck” (1 Tim 1:19). “Continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them … Be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim 3:14; 4:5).
2. Some are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7).
While there is an intellectual component to learning anything, including scripture, there is a secondary process whereby the facts must become woven into one’s value structure. We must believe what we learn, determine to conform our attitudes and desires to it and put it into practice.
Human beings have a wonderful – and awful – ability to compartmentalize. It is a helpful ability when we must set distress or difficulty aside in order to function – work our job, take care of the kids, do daily chores, etc. But it becomes misguided when we partition off godly values in order to indulge our darker desires. However, we don’t lock the cabinet; we can reach in and grab a moral tool when necessary, then put it away when we are done. This is true hypocrisy.
3. Preaching has its mundane side.
This may sound like sacrilege to some, but it is true. I recently passed my 37th anniversary of full-time preaching work. At Centreville I have now preached in the neighborhood of 700 sermons, taught about as many public classes, written 800 or 900 articles for the bulletin, had countless one-on-one studies. These opportunities have been immensely rewarding and, I pray, eternally beneficial for those who have heard or read. I wouldn’t trade one single sermon or study for anything in the world.
But sheer repetition can grind anyone down. The well can run dry. Some preachers burn out but keep on preaching. (One preacher recently declared that he is taking a month sabbatical. If he’s at the end of his rope, that’s a better way to decompress than others.) For some, their heart is no longer in it; their enthusiasm has cooled. They are out of new ideas and fresh approaches, so they recycle and dryly present old material.
What may be significant is that Preachers A-C were all middle-aged when they went off the rails. Preacher D was younger. Mid-life crisis is a reality for both preachers and other Christian men. Perhaps these are cautionary tales for all of us. Are our beliefs solid? Is our faith genuine? Are we being transformed by God’s promises, warnings and moral instruction? Preachers are just like everyone else. If they can and do fall, what does that say about our own potential to drift from the faith?
