How Should Christians Respond To Fallen Pastors?

We’ve all been there, right? That sinking feeling of watching once-revered pastors fall into scandal. Whether it’s a financial scandal, sexual immorality, or heavy-handed leadership, the devastation hits hard. Those entrusted with leading the flock end up harming it. We watch leaders—who once preached about holiness—get caught up in shocking behavior, all while the rest of us are left to pick up the pieces. Local leaders, national leaders, international leaders—it seems as though no one is immune. The first time we see someone fall like this, it’s a punch to the gut. It’s like we are sick for weeks. But then it happens again and again. This year alone, Mike Bickle, Chris Reed, Robert Morris, and Tony Evans all had public scandals.
If I can speak candidly, I barely flinched at the exposure of the last two I just mentioned. After the 2020 prophets all bit the dust, Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald were exposed for heavy-handed leadership, and the Mike Bickle fiasco at IHOP, I feel as though I have become numb to the failure of Christians both local and national. These guys, who were tasked with proclaiming the freedom that the Gospel brings, are the very ones enslaved by sin. Now I carry with me an underlying suspicion of all Christian leaders, as if they are all wolves in sheep’s clothing. I feel shame for being fooled by these people—some of them were my friends, and I trusted them. On top of all that, I feel hopeless that churches across America will do anything to hold these men accountable.
Guys like Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and Carl Lentz were all busted for public sexual scandals—things like hardcore drugs, hookers, and casual affairs. All three of them are back in ministry.
I wish I grieved every account. However, I have become numb. I feel, at times, as though I am warping my perspective of the church. Do you feel this? Do you feel numbness and distrust of church leaders? Do you feel shame for being fooled? Are you disillusioned with the church? Well, you may have Scandal Fatigue too. If you’ve ever felt disillusioned, tired, or just plain over it, congratulations—you’re in good company. The psalmists find themselves in this very position more than once.
For example, Asaph, the guy who wrote Psalm 73, was feeling all of this and more. Psalm 73 opens with Asaph admitting that he almost stumbled in his faith because he envied the prosperity of the wicked. He describes how these people flaunt their arrogance and wealth, seemingly without consequences. He sees them living in luxury, not troubled like the rest of us, and even worse, they mock God! Though this text has nothing to do with megachurch pastors or speakers on the conference circuit, it does speak of prosperous leaders in Asaph’s day who are deeply wicked and continue to go unpunished.
Asaph’s frustration echoes a lot of what we feel when we encounter scandals in the church. We’ve seen trusted leaders fall—moral failures, abuse, financial corruption—and we’re left asking, “Where’s the justice, God?” From the Bickles and Driscolls, it feels like the wicked are getting away with murder (figuratively, let’s hope).
Something happens unexpectedly in verses 16-17: “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” Asaph is weary of understanding how the wicked continue to prosper (sounds like scandal fatigue to me). That was until he went into the sanctuary of God, and something about the sanctuary gave Asaph perspective on the wicked of his day.
Here’s the turning point: Asaph goes into the sanctuary of God. The sanctuary represents more than just a building; it’s the place where God’s presence dwells. It’s the place where the priest would offer up sacrifices, the law of God was meditated upon, and the people of God gathered for worship. Something about being in the sanctuary caused a supernatural shift in Asaph’s perspective.
Maybe it was watching the priest sacrifice animals that caused Asaph to realize that the wicked had no atonement for their sin. Maybe it was the law of God, read aloud, that revealed God’s sovereign plan and judgment over the wicked. Or maybe it was the very Spirit of God inhabiting the people’s praise as they worshiped, which opened his eyes to see rightly. We are not certain.
However, we are certain that the church replaces the temple/tabernacle. When the people of God gather, we are His temple. When we praise, He inhabits our worship. When we gather, He is in our midst. When we read the Word of God aloud, it liberates hearts and minds, for in the Gospel there is the power of God for salvation. We are not making sacrifices with bulls and goats, but we do take communion every Sunday, and this reminds us of the once-and-for-all atonement that comes from Jesus alone. No matter what Asaph found in the sanctuary of Israel, we can be confident that those disillusioned by wickedness today can find the same healing and revelation in the church.
The weight of scandal fatigue can make you want to throw your hands up and say, “I’m out!” But Asaph’s experience reminds us that the sanctuary—the church—contains all we need to be healthy and whole again. There is something about God’s presence, something about the proclaimed Word among His people, something about our participation in communion, where God breaks in, in this beautifully, dare I say, “mystical and mysterious way,” where He illuminates our darkened hearts.
It was not until Jesus broke bread (i.e., Communion) with the men on the road to Emmaus that their disillusionment and fatigue were removed. Peter, through the preaching of God’s Word, calls men to repent so that times of refreshing may come to them. It is not that the church has the power, but it is the church that points all people to Jesus. The church is there to guide the blind and carry the broken to the feet of the cross.
Asaph realizes in Psalm 73:17-28 that these men will be judged. Even though they look like they are prospering and even though the church seems to be complicit, God will purify His bride in this age and judge the imposters in the age to come.
However, this is not all Asaph realizes. After being in the sanctuary, he understands that his own heart had become bitter and beast-like: “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (Psalm 73:21-22). The scandal doesn’t just expose the sins of others; it also reveals areas in our own lives that need repentance.
When my heart is healthy (admittedly not 100% of the time) and I am reflecting on these scandals, it causes me to go inward. “Where are there chinks in my armor? Where are there holes in my boat?” I spend time in prayer asking God to reveal the sin in my life that I have become numb to. If the enemy can pick off these leaders, certainly he can pick me off as well. Like Asaph, God will use the wicked to cause us to examine the sinfulness of our own hearts.
But here’s the kicker: After Asaph confesses his bitterness, he doesn’t find himself abandoned by God. Instead, he says, “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand” (Psalm 73:23). What a picture! Even in his frustration and doubt, God never let go of Asaph. And He won’t let go of us, either.
God isn’t surprised by scandal, and He isn’t indifferent to our disillusionment. He’s inviting us into His presence, where our perspective shifts from the temporary success of the wicked to the eternal faithfulness of our God. In the sanctuary, we’re reminded that God is our portion forever, we are reminded that He is sovereign and just, we are reminded that the wicked will one day be judged. And though our flesh and hearts may fail, He is the strength of our lives (Psalm 73:26).

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