Yet another high-profile pastor, Steven Lawson of Trinity Bible Church in Dallas, has been fired over an inappropriate relationship with a woman. What is in the water in Texas?
This is another opportunity for detractors to take a swipe at the Christian community and its leadership. And that is unfortunate.
But this raises a deeper problem within the church walls. Who is immune from temptation if not the devout?
The bible clearly states that everyone has a predisposition to sin—some sins greater and some lesser, but sin, nonetheless. Scripturally, God’s provision in Christ for the forgiveness of sin is absolute. But how do we then explain the continuance of sin especially among the faithful?
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit’s role is to lead, guide, direct, comfort, and give lasting peace to the previously sin-sick person. But when and where does the overcoming part begin? If a person honestly desires a sinless life, it seems futile even with the presumed change in one’s nature.
Why does a convert continue in temptation? What is past is past and what is present is present. Isn’t it? The possibility of recidivism is not only real but likely.
Should we not be able to “go and sin no more”? And yet, we still do; even pastors of mega-churches are falling in greater numbers not to mention lesser-known leadership examples.
The Apostle Paul wrestles with this exact issue. He states, “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
In essence, Paul recognizes a duality in the human condition. On the one hand, there exists the aspirational goal toward those things which are moral, ethical, and of good report. It is the Spirit of God doing what it claims to do in us, namely, lead, guide, direct, and so forth.
On the other hand, he laments the fact that there is a competing faction against such altruism. This is the self-indulgent, selfish nature, which exists at the extremes of narcissism and self-preservation. This spirit is the one that leads into an ever-increasing abyss of darkness and nihilism of the soul.
Perhaps the point of a potential return to sinful behavior is that it affirms the ongoing necessity for diligence. Like an athlete that trains or a scientist that continues in higher education or a laborer gaining greater skill with every task, the human experience is to move in one of two directions—betterment or decline.
Although we will never achieve perfection in our earthly spiritual endeavor, it is a worthy effort. If we fail to be alert, sadly, what we have seen recently both in the public eye and in ourselves will happen again.
Kent Simmons is the pastor of Canyon Community Church in Kingman, AZ.
