First Bill Hybels. Then Frank Page.
While it is not uncommon these days for new names to be added to the roll-call of leaders who are either accused of moral misconduct or have admitted to it, this week the evangelical Christian community was rattled when two respected leaders were swept into the company of the accused.
March 22 Christianity Today published the story that Bill Hybels, founding pastor of the innovative megachurch Willow Creek Community Church, was accused by former friends and staffers of misconduct. Respected authors and pastors, such as John and Nancy Ortberg, both former teaching pastors at Willow Creek, are the most vocal among the accusers.
They claim that Hybels has conducted a long-term pattern of behavior that has included “suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and invitations to hotel rooms,” as quoted in the Chicago Tribune. They also allege that he had “a prolonged consensual affair with a married woman.” The woman “later said her claim about the affair was not true.”
Hybels denies all of the allegations, and Willow Creek elders affirm his innocence, having conducted a previous investigation. Still, the accusations linger, and Hybels’ declarations of innocence are sounding hollower by the day.
Then, just five days later, prominent Southern Baptist leader Frank Page confessed to his own misconduct. Quite unlike Hybels, no one had publicly accused Page of anything, but in humility he stated that the announcement of his retirement earlier the same day did not tell the whole story. He, in fact, had a “morally inappropriate relationship in the recent past” and felt that he should step down, and retire from this leadership position, to work on his personal spirituality and to restore his family’s trust. I commend him for that.
For me, both situations are heartbreaking. While I do not know either of these men personally, their work and ministries have impacted me for years.
But my point here is not to reminisce about their impact on my life, nor to review the things they have said or done, nor to grieve over once powerful ministries that will fade sadly into the gaping shadows of immorality. Nor am I concerned to weigh their guilt or innocence, their actions or reactions.
Rather, as a pastor, I am concerned to rehearse again for myself, and for other leaders, two facts that we all need to remember:
First, we are not invincible:
Whether we are people with high profile ministries or whether we sweat nearly unrecognized and unappreciated, whether our audience stretches the globe or barely reaches the back pew, we are not immune to temptation, cultivated by the Enemy (John 10:10).
What is the target of this temptation? You might think our libido, right? Not so. The target is our pride, the belief that we are somehow invincible, that we will not be found out or we will not crumble. So it is pride that precedes our destruction (Prov. 16:18) and pride which we must wrestle into submission and replace with humility.
Beware the moment your spirit lies, “You can get away with this.” You cannot. “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
Second, we are not alone:
On the front end, we need accountability. We need friends and peers who serve as a safeguard against the rising gleam of pride by asking hard questions and reminding us of our vulnerability (Prov. 27:17).
And if we fall? Well, then, we need people who love us enough to help us get back to where we need to be, who press us for repentance but want us to be restored (Gal. 6:1).
And every day, in the middle of it all, we need each other to say again and again, we are stewards of this thing called leadership. And we are responsible to one day return it to the Master in better shape than we got it. (1 Cor. 4:2).
Because, one day, “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).