Navigating the Empty Pulpit: The Crisis of Church Leadership in 2024

As celebrated pastors fall under scrutiny, we must confront the balance between accountability and grace, seeking a path to restore rather than cancel those who lead us.

2024 has been quite the year for church leadership. Some of our most celebrated and influential pastors have resigned, disappeared from the public eye, or found themselves entangled in the problems of high-profile celebrities. Quite frankly, it has been disturbing and demoralizing. Don’t get me wrong; this is no holier-than-thou leader shaming. This is a poignant reminder that if it happened to them, it could happen to us.

Thus, we find ourselves embroiled in a battle for the church's leadership, for we are witnessing a spiritual tsunami where we see youth ministers, associate pastors, and senior pastors being sniped by the failures of their pasts. On the one hand, we want to hold those in leadership accountable for their moral failings, especially those of a criminal nature. On the other hand, we recognize that “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Rom. 3:23 NLT), and “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8:7). However, James warns us that those who are spiritual leaders “will be judged more strictly” (Jas. 3:1).

Cancel Culture Has Become the Church’s Culture

So, what are we to do? And where do we go from here? It seems that our society's cancel culture has crept into the church, and men and women who have dedicated decades of their lives to serving Christ’s church are watching their body of work disintegrate like a town hit by a nuclear weapon. Unfortunately, we are tacitly standing by while our leaders become casualties of a system that wants nothing more than to see the dissolution of the institutional church.

We would be wise to remember that the church must rebuke those who have fallen from grace but also restore them with an attitude of meekness (Gal. 6:1). After all, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18).

Some tough questions must be answered, and some touchy issues must be wrestled with theologically and ecclesiologically. And I’m not sure we have handled these situations biblically or responsibly. Should there be a statute of limitations on sin? What are the sins that should permanently disbar a pastor? Should a pastor be disqualified from office if people without his knowledge violated the ministerial code of ethics? These are just a few of the questions that come to mind.

Biblical Pastoral Accountability

I raise this issue because we already have a deficit of pastors.[1] The problem is only exacerbating as we continue to see Baby Boomer pastors having to resign for non-criminal sins they committed in their twenties and others fired because their leadership style may have been too direct for our overly sensitive culture. Still, others were forced to take an indefinite leave of absence because they weren’t all-knowing and someone under their leadership was untrustworthy. I don’t think such actions in mass are prudent because each situation is different. This blog will not examine this issue in depth, but it will explore a key text that I believe provides a general framework that can set the landscape for further analysis.

The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, his apostolic successor, about overseeing the pastors in Ephesus, states: “Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this will serve as a strong warning to others” (1 Tim. 5:19-20 NLT).

Paul lays out two specific instructions in his apostolic advice to Timothy regarding potential pastoral misconduct.

1. Don’t Validate Accusations without Multiple Witnesses. Cancel culture has created an isolate-while-we-investigate approach to dealing with accusations of wrongdoing. Gone are the days when a person was presumed innocent until proven guilty. We now believe the alleged victim prima facie (at first sight) because, for so long, victims were disbelieved. However, our well-meaning attempt to ensure that the claims of potential victims are thoroughly investigated has resulted in the negative consequence of condemning the alleged wrongdoer.

Companies, churches, and sponsors must now treat those alleged to have engaged in misconduct as if they were guilty. No matter the outcome of the investigation, the accused forever remains guilty in the court of public opinion because someone on social media will invariably remind us that “where there is smoke, there is fire.” So, accusations become verdicts.

However, Paul advises Timothy not to entertain an accusation against a pastor unless multiple witnesses have validated that the charge is true. What we learn from this sound advice is that (1) there must be a judicial body within the church that is responsible for reviewing allegations of misconduct, (2) before the judicial body investigates the allegations, they must first determine if there are multiple witnesses who can attest to the veracity of the claim, and (3) only then should the judicial body move forward with a formal inquiry.

Based upon the outcome of a thorough and open-minded investigation, the judicial body should report its findings to the parties involved. If the investigation proves that the pastor has violated his ministerial ethics, Paul states there must be a public discipline.

2. Don’t Vacillate on Publicly Disciplining Malevolent Pastors. Once the allegations against a pastor have been found to be credible, the judicial body is responsible for reprimanding the pastor before the entire congregation. It is unclear whether the specific sin should be made public, but the pastor’s rebuke should be done publicly.

According to Louw-Nida, “rebuke” means “to state that someone has done wrong, with the implication that there is adequate proof of such wrongdoing.”[2] I think this is quite instructive. The congregation does not need to know in detail what the pastor did—though I believe they should be given a category of misconduct—but they should understand that he was given a fair hearing and that the judicial body found adequate proof of the transgression.

The judicial body should also detail the punishment, such as a time-limited suspension, mandated seeking of help, removal from office, or, regarding criminal offenses, that the matter was referred to the proper authorities.

Paul says public rebuke is necessary so that other pastors will think twice about sinning. In fact, the word “sin” in verse 20 is in the present tense. He is focused on the present sin because we all grow along a spiritual maturity continuum. Thus, the accused pastor is facing recent allegations of bad behavior, not dead bones that were dug up from the past. It is that sin that must be addressed. This strict but necessary pastoral accountability will warn all pastors that they could be next if they engage in sinful behavior.

The public rebuke, however, is not about embarrassing or shaming anyone. Pastors are real people with the same dispositions as others. But they are more accountable because God has given them a greater responsibility. Why, then, is church discipline warranted? According to J. Hampton Keathley, III, “The key concerns that guide us in [church discipline] are: (a) the holy character of God, (b) the testimony of the flock, (c) the effect upon the unity and purity of the flock, and (d) the edification and restoration of the individual.”[3]

Some Pastors Deserve a Second Chance

Pastoral discipline is about the holy testimony of God and His people and the restoration of God’s servant. The goal is not to empty our pulpits but to edify our pastoral leadership so that God is glorified and the body of Christ is edified.

We have lost our reverence for the office of the pastorate. Some of that is the fault of pastors who have failed miserably to live up to their moral responsibility to be an example to the flock of God (1 Pet. 5:3). At the same time, we have seen the erosion of the respect for church leadership that has crept into the church from the world. The pastor is still the man of God, called, chosen, and anointed by the Spirit as a gift to Christ’s body (Eph 4:11). Instead of seeking to cancel pastors, let’s follow the biblical model of correcting them. If we do, we will have men like Peter who may have failed previously in their ministry but now flourish because they were given a second chance (Luke 22:32).

Dr. Isaac Hayes is an Assistant Pastor at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Illinois, and author of Men After God’s Heart: 10 Principles of Brotherly Love. He also has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Follow Dr. Hayes on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube at @RevIsaacHayes.

[1] “‘Empty Pulpit Crisis’: Churches Confronting Pastor Shortage,” Herald-Standard, May 4, 2024, https://www.heraldstandard.com/editors_pick/2024/may/04/empty-pulpit-crisis-churches-confronting-pastor-shortage/#.

[2] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 435.

[3] J. Hampton Keathley, III, “Church Discipline,” Bible.org, May 27, 2004, https://bible.org/article/church-discipline.