As strange as
it may seem, discovering that pastors were busted in the Ashley Madison
debacle, and that at least one has committed suicide, is not a black mark
against the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Both of these are tragic, and
heartbreaking, and humbling; but nothing in the heart of these people was, or
is, beyond the scope of Jesus’ gospel. Everything they needed was and is found
in Jesus Christ our Savior.
Let me
illustrate it like this: in the same way as a drunk driver does not prove there
is something wrong with his car, or a lazy student does not prove there is
something wrong with his teacher, or a defiant patient does not prove there is
something wrong with her doctor, a sinning Christian does not prove there is
anything wrong with the gospel, or with the Savior who provides us such wonderful
good news.
Whenever any
of God’s children are drawn to find gratification in anything of the world, or
of the flesh, it signals something about them, not about the gospel. In many
cases, they are facing a part of themselves that is not experiencing
satisfaction in our Lord Jesus Christ. They need the ministry of Christ to save
them from what they are going through, just like everyone else. Often, it
seems, they do not know it.
Lifelong Lessons
My first
lessons in these hidden parts of our souls came when I discovered the world of eating
disorders as an expression of unhealed childhood trauma. I began to discover
that much of what I understood of church life was superficial. People were
trying to apply the rules of good Christian behavior to outer experiences and
expressions, while covering up how they were really doing on the inside.
The short of
it is that I began to learn how we need ministry to the inner being; the kind of
soul-care revealed in God’s book more clearly than I had ever noticed before. As
a pastor, I was obliged to watch over people’s souls.[1]
How they were doing in their jobs, or families, or church activities, was all
secondary to the condition of their souls.
The more I
studied this, the need of the Christian’s soul, or the “inner being,”[2]
the more I realized I had to aim ministry at the soul. This meant helping
people see themselves as they really are, and showing them how to get to know
God as he really is. The more people would admit their starting place, the
better they would see God meeting them there.
Over time, I
came to the conclusion that struggles with temptation and sin are often superficial
indicators of soul-condition. The symptoms pointed to the problem, but were not
themselves the source of the struggle. At the root of the issue was a part of a
person’s inner being that had not yet come to experience God in the ways his
word reveals him.
For example,
one of the most common expressions of soul-condition is that people have a
deep, inner belief in their own worthlessness. It comes out in the belief that,
if people really knew what we are like on the inside, they would reject us
without a moment’s hesitation. Some people describe it as feeling stupid, or
feeling like the terrible person no one wants to be around. It all comes down
to people believing they are worthless, and feeling no hope that this could
ever change.
The All-sufficient Gospel
That is, until
we take the time to show them the gospel. I’m not talking about the superficial
gospel that tells people we can now be the good boys and girls God has always
wanted. This is not the incomplete gospel that gives people a free pass to
heaven, but without any life-changing encounter with God until we get there.
No, the
gospel we give to one another in the church is the gospel that brings us to
know God. We know that God so loved the world that he gave us his Son in order
that we who believe in Jesus Christ will not perish but have eternal life.[3] We
also know that Jesus’ description of eternal life is that it is to know God,
and Jesus Christ whom he sent.[4]
This means
that, the solution to everything wrong with our souls is to know God through
faith in Christ. Whenever our souls turn anywhere else for satisfaction, it
exposes our need to know him. However we would describe what is wrong with our
souls, there is a way to know God through faith in his Son that will transform
us through the renewal of our minds.[5]
That is, if we will bring what is in our minds to him.
When I hear
that pastors got caught subscribing to an adultery-based website, my first
thought was that they need to get to know Jesus in a deep part of their souls.
When I hear that a pastor committed suicide to escape the shame, guilt, and
fear, of exposure, I grieve the lost opportunity for this man to know Jesus in
the way his soul had not yet experienced.
I am not
saying that a pastor is not a Christian because he fell into adulterous
thoughts. Neither am I saying that suicide means someone was not a Christian.
We are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.[6] If
anyone has faith in Jesus, weak as it may be, they will find God’s grace,
mercy, and forgiveness in the here and now, and in its full and complete beauty
in the life to come.
The Call to Suicidal Pastors
What would I
call to pastors struggling with sin, or the shame, guilt, and fear, surrounding
their sin? What call do we present to pastors who are trying to maintain a
sincere outer expression of their faith while something inside them feels
worthless and hopeless?
The call to
pastors is the same as the call of the gospel to anyone else: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for
I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[7]
Yes, when
pastors, or anyone who is a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, finds
themselves turning to worldly pleasures for gratification, we need to come to Jesus.
It is the rest he gives to our souls that keeps us close to him. Our pursuit of
gratification anywhere else simply means we have parts of our souls that have
not yet found this rest, and peace, and joy in our Savior. Our need does not
deny the gospel. Rather, it shows us how desperately we need to experience the
good news of God’s transforming work through his Son more fully.
I am not
writing this as a contradiction to any Scriptures about pastors to “flee youthful passions and pursue
righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord
from a pure heart.”[8] I
agree that pastors should strive to “set
the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”[9] If
pastors are caught in transgressions, God’s word applies just as much to them
as anyone else, “Brothers, if anyone is
caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a
spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”[10] If
pastors “persist” in sin even after
being confronted,[11]
the church must follow the requirement of Scripture to “rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in
fear.”[12]
Anything else God’s word says about helping people out of sin, and handling
those who refuse the help, apply to us all.
However, I
simply contend that there is an element to what I have witnessed in church life
that betrays that many people in churches have a deep, inner struggle with
worthlessness and hopelessness, and all they know to do is keep trying to be
the good Christian on the outside, while hiding their failures to be as good as
they wish they really were.
At the same
time, I have seen God do wonderful and remarkable things when people will admit
how they are doing in their souls, and bring their true soul-condition to Jesus
for the rest they long for. The exposure of Christian leaders turning to adultery-based
websites and pornography shows that far more people need this than we may have
imagined.
While not
everyone will understand or agree with my assessment, my hope is that someone
who is struggling with deep feelings of worthlessness, surrounded by a dark
cloud of hopelessness, will welcome this encouragement to be honest with Jesus about
how you are doing. Take the yoke of his ministry as his invitation for you to
connect with him more than you have ever done before, and watch to see how he
both brings your true soul-condition to the surface, and ministers to those
needs and issues of your soul.[13]
Of course,
the church needs to get involved in these things together, crying out to God
from the honesty of our true soul-conditions. We need to join in fellowship,
calling on our heavenly Father to fulfill all his promises regarding rest for
our souls, the peace that surpasses understanding,[14] the
healing of the brokenhearted and binding up of our wounds,[15]
and anything else God’s word says is our rightful experience in Christ.[16]
If we are not yet experiencing something God promises for our souls in this
earthly lifetime, instead of denying we have such a need, let us admit our
need, and cry out to the one person who can fill it.
Calling on God
Long before Jesus
came and fulfilled all God’s plans and promises for his gospel, one of God’s
prophets declared, “And it shall come to
pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”[17]
Peter quoted this verse in his preaching on the Day of Pentecost,[18]
and Paul referred to this in his glorious treatise on the obedience of faith in
the book of Romans.[19]
My point is that,
pastors who confidently call people to salvation in Jesus Christ, telling them
that anyone “who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved,” need to see this as just as much there hope as well
when they fall into temptation. At the core of their inner being is a man who
needs to be saved from something. Jesus is the one who can and will do it.
Before anyone
does something as tragic as suicide, call on Jesus and watch what he will do to
bring you to know him better than you have ever known him before. And, of
course, be ready for him to answer you by mobilizing the members of his body to
restore and help anyone who calls on his name.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Proverbs 24:12 shows that God himself watches over our souls, and Hebrews 13:17
reveals that the men who shepherd the church also watch over the souls of the
children of God.
[2]
II Corinthians 4:16, Ephesians 3:16.
[3]
John 3:16
[4]
John 17:3
[5]
Romans 12:2
[6]
Ephesians 2:8-9
[7]
Matthew 11:28-30
[8]
II Timothy 2:22
[9]
I Timothy 4:12
[10]
Galatians 6:1
[11]
I Timothy 5:19
[12]
I Timothy 5:20
[13]
The Beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12 have been an extremely helpful reminder of God’s
promises to minister to us no matter what soul-condition we bring to him.
[14]
I have also found Paul’s lesson on prayer in Philippians 4:4-7 to be extremely
helpful in turning from anxious fears and worries, to the dependence on God
that brings his peace to our hearts and minds.
[15]
Psalm 147:3
[16]
Isaiah 61, in fellowship with Jesus’ declaration of Luke 4:16-30 give another
beautiful expression of how much Jesus will do for our souls as we come to him
in response to his invitation.
[17]
Joel 2:32
[18]
Acts 2:21
[19]
Romans 10:13
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