Unfortunately, this is a very common situation. Church leaders without a biblical grounding and with sentimental attitudes are repeatedly choosing to ignore God’s clear teaching in the scriptures, just as the Pharisees and Sadducees did in Jesus day. God’s pattern of church discipline is being ignored. Instead, church leaders have accepted our culture’s distorted view of morality and are choosing to emphasize mercy and love and ignore sin. When this occurs, I would recommend that you ask God to intervene. The Holy Spirit has to help the other elders 1) understand what God says about the true qualifications of an elder or a pastor, and 2) recognize that your pastor is now disqualified from ministry and should be denied the right to continue. Although you are called to forgive and love him, the main concern is to honor the Lord. In 1 Timothy we are told to discipline church leaders and to do so without partiality.
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.” 1 Timothy 5:21 (NASB)
We are not to play favorites even with pastors when it comes to sin. If we are soft in dealing with a leader’s sin, how can we ever respond as the Lord demands to the sin of anyone in the congregation? In the early church, a simple lie by two people named Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) resulted in their deaths. It was an act of the Lord’s discipline. Later the apostle Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 that some are sick and even dead because they participated in the Lord’s Supper without dealing with the sin in their lives.
Moses sinned in Numbers 20:1-12; as a result God told him that he could no longer enter the promised land (Numbers 20:12). In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was fearful of being discredited and not being able to minister (1 Corinthians 9:27). If Paul had disqualified himself as an apostle, he could not have continued. Some church leaders and members do not understand that church leaders are to be examples of holiness (see 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Hebrews 13:7; 1 Peter 5:3). Why do I say that? Just consider the issue that you struggle with. The growing pattern is that we soft-peddle sin. Perhaps church leaders are soft on sin because they are in sin themselves in some area.
Many churches do not understand church discipline. When it is practiced, many churches think that church discipline is only for sexual sins. But it applies to any pattern of ongoing sin. I would encourage your fellow elders to read “Sinning Pastors/Leaders: What to Do?” and “What does a Christian do when their pastor sins?” I would encourage you to provide the other elders these articles to read. I would also recommend reading chapter 8 of the book, The Compromised Church. The editor of the book is John Armstrong. The chapter exposes the decline of church discipline in our churches today.
Conclusion:
In dealing with sinning leaders, the leader must be removed from his responsibilities and his employment terminated. A minimum of seven years should be required for the leader to demonstrate that a pattern of holiness has been established before he is allowed to resume his responsibilities. Depending upon the sin, he may never be qualified to serve again in the role of pastor. If the other elders do not follow the biblical pattern, then when should a person leave the church or seek their removal from office. May the Lord bless you.
Suggested Links:
Sinning Pastors/Leaders: What to Do?What does a Christian do when their pastor sins?
Church Leadership – Function and Qualifications of Elders
When should a person leave a church?
Who are the elders?
What are the qualifications of an elder?