A Lesson Unheaded

The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) established that Jesus Christ is fully divine, co-eternal with God the Father, and of one substance. The council condemned the, by then, widespread Arian heresy that Christ was a created being, therefore not by essence divine – only deviatory. Less well known is that it also established rules for clergy. For instance, Canon 1 forbade self-mutilation. Clergy who castrated themselves were to be removed from ministry, although with hygiene being what was it is likely many removed themselves – from everything. Another, more helpful rule forbade bishops from moving from one see to another (a see being the jurisdiction of the bishop that included the cathedral – the church of the bishop and his diocese). 

It isn’t difficult to understand the reason for this law, and why it should, in most cases, still be utilized. Bishops and clergy, then as now, were open to ethical and sexual temptation, the latter the more so because of a celibate lifestyle. Sexual offence isn’t new; we should not be shocked by this, although we should be proactive about its impact. And it was precisely because of possible consequence some felt ‘called’ to move, shifting far away from where their stories would be likely to reach, or if they did, defended with their wiles of sincerity, appeals to gifting, and so forth. Typical responses would have been - I was misunderstood, people spread lies because of jealousy, she or he tempted me, I was weakened, but I have prayed and all that is behind me now, and so forth.  

In the last 50-70 years the Roman Catholic Church has been battered due to this issue, and their resolve, if the culprit was caught, was to simply remove the offending priest and put him somewhere else, somewhere far away – until, that is people started to speak out. Not every accusation is valid, but enough were to cause huge damage to the church, let alone the damage incurred by the individuals sinned against. Some of them, will never cross the threshold of a church again. 

The problem, a problem Nicaea was aware of and addressed, is, when you send an offender away their offence goes with them. The chances of recidivism are high. For whatever reason they are being removed - moral, ethical, or divergence from orthodoxy – it is simply easier to send them elsewhere than work through the difficult journey of forgiveness, accountability, and restoration to Christ around the people they sinned against. This takes time – something many are not prepared to accept. 

So, with appropriate shame they were relieved of their duties and sent elsewhere – the further the better. Out of sight, out of mind. Problem solved – except that it never is. 

What isn’t discipled/disciplined will not be healed. It may be that restoration to public office, accounting for the severity of the offence, shouldn’t even be entertained; at very least it should not be promised. The reason for this is you will never know whether their attempts to change were due to genuine conviction and repentance or due to the carrot of return to public ministry. 

Motivation takes a long time to discern and discern we must, for the sake of the health and public image of God’s church. If we are hated for speaking the truth and doing good, all and well, but if we are hated for bad behavior – it’s on us. Peter addressed this saying, “Conduct yourselves honorably amongst the gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evil doers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.” 1 Peter 2.12. There is little value in being maligned when we give good cause; little likelihood we won’t be.   

We may protest pedophilia is not common, although not unknown, amongst Evangelical/Charismatic circles. True, thankfully, but we have our own sins, sins that we deal with in much the same way as they did. 

A not uncommon failure in the independent churches of Evangelical/Charismatic persuasion is the overreach of leadership, where secular models are promoted. This is not to say leadership shouldn’t be included – it is both gift and necessity. But we should realize overbearing, dictatorial, brutish and bullying leadership has a profoundly negative impact on God’s church. This is similar to how the rulers of the Gentiles operate - treating the church as your own property (literally in some bizarre cases), applying a ‘my way or the high way’ mentality, pressure to perform (beyond encouraging), hiring and firing with little thought of the impact on people, seeing people as tools for vision, focusing on optics before character, and spending frivolously. 

I have been around, and seen from afar, numerous leaders stood down because of harsh treatment of people, manipulation, unaccountability and/or questionable fiscal responsibility. In every case (I’m aware of) these leaders either reinvented their ministry or were reemployed elsewhere for their charismatic leadership, without any due diligence, or concern for the people they had harmed previously, who may take years to recover and regain trust. 

I believe this to be is the heart of the matter – God’s people. How we treat the church matters, how we view and react to the impact on God’s people is of more significance than the restoration of a leader. We have made the health of the church secondary to the pursuit of restoring failed leaders who usually go and do much the same again. 

In most cases the same offence reared its ugly head, because it was not confronted, and if it was, they didn’t listen and left – ‘called’ elsewhere. It is not always the issue of the previous church board/leadership team. But it is a collective failure that is systemic, and consistent with the disconnectedness/independence of most churches. It is our version of … 

A lesson unheeded.