Dealing with Moral Failure

My wife and I watched the video recorded at the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana’s Wednesday night service as the Deacons reported on the dismissal of their pastor, Jack Schaap for inappropriate behavior with a minor. I’ve read that a Deacon picked up the pastor’s cell phone from the pulpit and noticed a picture of the pastor and a young teen kissing. That lead him and others to investigate and it turned out that last Monday night the Deacons met with the Pastor to confront him with the evidence to which the head Deacon indicated he made full confession.

That’s a church of some 15,000 members. The spiritual damage is incredible. And sneer of the unbelieving world grows towards the whole Body of Christ.

As I’ve served on our district denomination’s discipline committee, I can resonate with the pain and heartache that the Deacon Board and church is feeling. My own church suffered the loss of some precious ministers because of inappropriate relationships. And so as I watched that video, there were a lot of emotions that resurfaced. It’s caused me to think again about how God would have us handle and deal with sin like this.

I applaud the Deacon board for the swiftness with which they dealt with the issue. The rumor mill didn’t get a chance to get turned on. I hope that they did their homework and their decision was not based on hearsay or conjecture. I also hope that behind the scenes there is a lot of love and concern being poured out to the Pastor Schaap and his family as well as the affected teen and her family.

That is one aspect that I would have like to have seen more of. Those who spoke in the video talked a great deal about how their actions were all about their love for and concern for the church. But there was a missing element of their love for the Pastor and his family. It wasn’t quite that “throw him under the bus” feeling, but I would have appreciated a bit of humility and brokenness from the leaders for their now former pastor.

This morning in my devotional readings I was in Psalm 143. Verse 2 says, “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” One of the things that I’ve come to expect when I’ve been involved in a discipline case or just hear about horrendous happenings like this is that I begin to examine my own heart, mind and life. When I went running and was mediating on the verse I thought about Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount … “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:28.

And then with the woman caught in adultery Jesus challenges the throngs that the person who is without sin can cast the first stone. To which they all turn away.

The ramifications of a pastor’s moral failure are especially devastating and Paul admonishes Timothy: “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning. 1 Timothy 5:19-20. So the actions of the First Baptist Church’s Deacons is appropriate.

Dr Schaap should be embracing a long season of repentance to deal with all that led him to this sin. But may we always rebuke in love and not wrath.