When Pastors Violate Trust

Trust. This is the first qualification of a pastor. He must be trustworthy. This is because a pastor stands in the place of Christ, and has tremendous power over others. He has been appointed by Christ to protect the flock, not to harm it.

It is wrong when a man says sexually inappropriate things to an unknown woman in a bar. But because he has no power over her, she would feel little pressure to put up with his disgusting behavior. However, when someone in a position of trust and power (for example, an employer, a doctor, a teacher, or a pastor) uses their office to say sexually inappropriate things to an employee, a patient, a student, or a parishioner, that is not only intrinsically wrong, it is also a violation of trust.

People with power over others have a duty to protect those in their care. Doctors must protect patients. Teachers must protect students. Employers must protect employees. And pastors must protect parishioners.

A pastor should not say sexually inappropriate things to an employee or a parishioner. This is especially because a pastor has tremendous social power, not just over the victim, but often also over her family and friends. He could not only use his position to create a hostile work environment, thereby pushing her to quit and lose her employment, but he could also apply social pressure in the church environment to keep her quiet, and to discredit her. As a result, she could lose a job, a church, friends, and she could become depressed and maybe even alienated from Christ.

One might expect the wolves to attack the sheep, but a shepherd has been given a position of authority and trust. He is there to protect the sheep. Therefore, the shepherd must never intentionally harm the sheep, not even one of them.

Would a babysitter or daycare operator who intentionally harmed a child ever be put in that position of trust again? Would a nurse who intentionally took sexual advantage of a patient ever be put in such a position of trust again? Would a psychiatrist who intentionally hurt a patient be allowed to continue practicing? The world does not tolerate this sin. In the world, people who have violated a trust are not given offices of trust.

The issue is not just the intrinsic wrong, but also the abuse of an office to commit that wrong. Those are two distinct offenses, and they magnify each other. When a powerful person hurts a weaker person, that is an especially grievous sin. How much worse is it when the powerful person is trusted by the weaker? It is far worse because it is also a betrayal. A pastor who has intentionally harmed an employee and/or a parishioner has also betrayed them. He has betrayed the trust of not only the victim, but also his office, the Church, and Christ.

We do not trust betrayers. Therefore, a shepherd who intentionally harms the sheep cannot be a pastor.

“But what about repentance?” some will ask. First, “repentant” is not the only qualification to be a pastor. A pastor must also be blameless and above reproach. (1 Timothy 3:2, 7). Second, genuine repentance involves not just faith, but also contrition. (AC Apology XIIA (V) 28). There should be fruit worthy of repentance. (Matthew 3:8).

Thus, if a pastor says sexually inappropriate things to an employee or parishioner repeatedly over many months, he should resign immediately. The pastor should not wait until her husband finds out. He should not wait until the Circuit Pastor finds out. He should not wait until the District President finds out. He should not wait until after Christmas. He should not wait until after the congregation’s building dedication. He should not wait until the Synod President finds out. He should not wait to be told to resign. Finally, he should not file a meritless lawsuit against the victim or her husband.

True repentance is contrition and faith. True contrition means that we accept the temporal consequences for our sins. In contrition we accept the consequences, in faith we trust that even though we suffer in this world because of our sin God will still protect us to eternal life. Only a man who completely surrenders in contrition and faith will ever be trusted again.

But if we try to avoid taking full responsibility, then we show that this world is more important to us. And if we do not bear fruit worthy of repentance, then we are not fit to be called “pastor” or even “Christian.”

Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39). May the Lord grant to all of us true repentance.

Privacy and Abuse of the Public Ministry

If a man desires to be a pastor, he desires something that is noble, he also desires something that is public. A pastor is a public representative of the Church. The Scriptures declare that all public representatives of the Church (pastors) must be “respectable,” “well thought of by outsiders,” and “above reproach.” (1 Timothy 3:2, 7, ESV).

Paul writes that those who seek to serve in the public ministry “must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve …” (1 Timothy 3:10, NIV1978). God’s word says that there must be “nothing against them,” they must be blameless, and above reproach.

If a pastor sins privately, then he can repent privately, and he can receive private absolution from his confessor. Pastors are not expected to be sinless, nor should they expect their private sins to be exposed in a public manner. Private lust is a sin that can remain between the pastor, his confessor, and God.

But what if a pastor takes his private lust, and makes it public? For example, what if a pastor uses his position as a pastor to make sexually inappropriate comments to his employee? To his parishioner? To another man’s wife? Those are not private sins. They are public sins. They are public sins, first, because they involve other people, and second, because they are an abuse of the public ministry. When one abuses the authority and power of a public office, that abuse of power is in no way a private matter.

Nonetheless, when a pastor falls into disgrace for abusing his pastoral office and must resign from the public ministry, it is possible that under certain circumstances he could be allowed to do so privately. This is because he would be leaving the public ministry, and would no longer be a public representative of the Church. If he will no longer be a pastor, then he does not need to meet the Scriptural qualifications of a pastor.

However, what if this pastor did not start looking for a private vocation? What if instead, he began to use the remaining power of his pastoral office (connections, colleagues, church staff, and a large audience) to attempt to falsely discredit the victim and/or her family? That would be another abuse of the power of the pastoral office. A pastor who did that instead of repenting, would be compounding his sin. He would be demonstrating, that even if he had understood his sexual sins, he clearly did not understand his abuse of the pastoral office to commit those sins nor his abuse of the pastoral office to continue sinning against the victim and/or her family.

The pastoral office can wield tremendous social power. That is why the men in that office should never abuse that power. When it comes to abuse of the pastoral office, they must be blameless, or they cannot be a pastor. If a WELS pastor has abused the pastoral office, then he has abused a public trust, and he should not be quietly transferred to another congregation. The Church needs to be able to trust all her pastors. And the Synod needs to be able to trust that certain leaders are not just covering up for their friends. When it comes to conflicts of interest and covering for its friends, parts of the WELS leadership need a lot more transparency and honesty.

IE Recognizes WELS President Schroeder’s Article

On Friday, February 27, 2009, the nationally renowned Lutheran talk radio program Issues, Etc.™ chose excerpts from an article written by WELS President Mark Schroeder entitled “How Do You Define Success?” for their segment Blog of the Week. President Schroeder’s excellent article recently appeared in Forward in Christ, and was excerpted on this blog in the February 23 post: “Success” by WELS President Schroeder.”

Here is the downloadable Issues, Etc. clip: