When faced with sin, we tend to have two gospel-driven emotions which well up within us: anger and compassion. These are combined upon the cross as God’s righteous anger and fury against sin are poured out upon his Son in the place of sinners. But we are not the perfect and holy God, so we aren’t perfectly angry or perfectly compassionate… There is a place for anger, just as there is a place for compassion upon those sinned against, and indeed for the sinner. 

In this article, I hope to convey something to you of my grief and gospel hope. I’ve experienced a minister being caught in a disqualifying sin at various degrees of proximity and in various ministry contexts. It happens often enough that, as ministry leaders, we need to be equipped to respond wisely and through the lens of the gospel. Yet often we aren’t, and we offend the glorious name of Christ in our feeble attempts to defend it.

In many ways, we will not be ready. How can we be? Though only Christ is our great high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), perhaps because God is pleased to reveal himself to us through the ministry of men of flesh and blood, it is so painful to us when they fall. Nonetheless, to serve Christ and his church, we must be prepared, even if not ready, to respond to the reality of disqualifying sins.

A few comments on what this article is not saying. I will not presume here that disqualifying sin is sexual sin. It may be, but it is not necessarily. Nor will I comment on the restoration of ministers. This article is solely focused on how you should respond in the moment to any minister caught in disqualifying sin, particularly if you are a minister in that church. I earnestly hope that avoiding these mistakes will help you to comfort and carry Christ’s church through the pain and suffering, with an appropriate mixture of grief and gospel hope, that God might be glorified.

1. Not Being Impartial

When we discover disqualifying sin, we sometimes tend toward partiality. In our African context, we often hesitate to challenge ministers, viewing them as holy in some way, or as being above reproach in the sense that we cannot confront them on any issue of sin. A healthy respect for our ministers is good, and we’ll speak to this in our next point. Still, we must recall that Christ alone is without sin.

It may be startling to you if you have not experienced this first-hand—but often we hesitate to ask if it is really necessary for us to confront the issue. This is especially true when there’s a measure of uncertainty or a lack of clarity. Reader, sin does not make sense. It will not be neatly categorised. There will always be some ‘grey.’ What is black-and-white is that God has commanded us to rebuke those who persist in sin (1 Timothy 5:20-21). Our ministers should not be exempt from due process.

2. Being Hasty in Judgment

There is another, opposite kind of partiality, which is to presume guilt. We are often so zealous for Christ’s church and his name that we—though not without discomfort and grief—too willingly set aside ministers or judge them as guilty in our hearts before any kind of process has been followed. We should be cautious not to falsely accuse in our hearts those who are innocent.

While the harm of allowing legitimate ministry abuses to persist unaddressed is plain, being hasty in judgment can lead us to sin against an innocent minister. Timothy was urged not to take accusations too lightly but to take them seriously upon due proof (1 Timothy 5:19-21). We must be patient and follow due process, so that we do not sin against the congregation or our fellow gospel workers.

3. Not Following Due Process

Instead of tending to partiality of some kind, we should follow due process. Your church or denomination likely has a process outlined in its constitution as to how to tackle these kinds of issues. Follow it without partiality. Perhaps, however, you do not have a process available to you. Perhaps there is nothing in your handbook, or you are not part of a larger denomination. With sadness, I must tell you that you are neither the first nor the last to tackle the matter of disqualifying sin. You must seek wise counsel.

4. Not Seeking Wise Counsel

We’re not yet among the “great cloud of witnesses” who have finished the race and together with us will receive the promises of God in full (Hebrews 12:1-3). No one we can speak to will have “finished the race well”—at least, not yet. So often in these kinds of situations, we want to turn to people who we know have made it and remained faithful, and we feel that the best advice is out of reach. But if we look around, we’ll find ourselves surrounded by faithful fellow runners. We shouldn’t discount the help of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Some may have dealt with these kinds of situations before. Ask them questions. How did their church deal with the situation practically? What was their process? What steps did they follow?

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