Moral Failure in Ministry

by David Pettett

We have recently heard of the resignation of Pastor Brian Houston from Hillsong, the ministry he was the founding pastor of and of which he was recently the Global Pastor. Houston’s resignation follows disclosure of drunkenness and very unclear statements of what went on in a female staff member’s hotel room.

 

The Board of Hillsong issued a statement about the resignation that seemed to minimise moral failure. Some reaction to the Board’s statement has taken the high ground and criticised it for praising Pastor Houston’s long term, fruitful ministry.

 

The pastoral issue here is that neither the Board’s statement nor the reaction to it demonstrate any balance of pastoral care. The Board’s statement was true. Brian Houston has had an extremely fruitful ministry over decades. And it is right to praise God for Houston’s faithful ministry. But by minimising the moral failure, the Board has failed to understand the high standard the Scriptures place on those in ministry. Minimising moral failure is also a moral failure in itself in that it minimises the hurt caused to the victim.

 

Yet those who have taken the high ground are wrong to imply that moral failure obliterates the fruits of years of faithful ministry. God has blessed Brian Houston’s ministry. Thousands of people have been converted to Christ through this ministry. The world is hearing the good news of Jesus because of the dynamic and godly work of Houston. Do not minimise what God has done.

 

Houston is not the first man to leave a fruitful ministry under a cloud and sadly, he will not be the last. What is needed is a much deeper understanding of the pressures our pastors are under. They need constant upholding and pastoral care. There has been a failure in this case to care for a pastor who faced tremendous pressure and a very heavy workload. Some one should have seen Houston’s issues with alcohol long before it became a problem and drawn alongside in pastoral care to care for their pastor.

 

When a pastor fails, our response should not be to minimise what has led to the failure nor to take the high ground and minimise years of faithful ministry. Both must be acknowledged. What also must be acknowledged when there is failure in ministry is failure to care for our pastors.

The apostle Paul encourages us to see that those elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching. Their ministry is hard. They need pastoral care. Surveys have consistently shown that half our clergy leave ministry. The reasons are varied, but the statistics show pastors are not being cared for. Some churches are seeking to address the issue by encouraging ministers to have regular pastoral supervision. While this will not be the magic bullet that will solve the issue, it goes some way towards caring for our pastors.

 

More needs to be done. We need to understand that pastors suffer the same human needs, distresses and difficulties all of us face. We need to make sure we are providing pastoral care to our pastors to help prevent burnout and moral failure. Where clergy leave ministry for moral failure, this is not only an inditement on the person for their sin but it is also an inditement on the whole church for a lack of support and fellowship in the body which builds itself up in love.