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This article originally appeared in the November 20, 1987 issue of Christianity Today.

In recent months, nation and church have been stung by leaders who betrayed their trust and fell into grievous sins. The problem is not new. In the last century, Grover Cleveland was charged with immoral conduct while running for the presidency. He admitted the charge and took responsibility for a son born to a woman with whom he had had an illicit relationship. He repented of his sin, and made restitution by providing for the woman and the child. He also had no further relations with the woman. The American people forgave him, believed he had proved himself capable, acknowledged him now to be a man of moral integrity, and elected him President.

Recently, Gary Hart was accused of carrying on an affair with a model. He lashed out at his accusers, but was finally forced to admit adultery - though he would not say with whom. Frustrated, Hart noted that he was not running for sainthood but for the presidency. He was obviously not repentant, and many questioned both his honesty and his judgment. Instantly, his campaign self-destructed.

Things are not all that different inside the church. When PTL host Jim Bakker betrayed the trust of his supporters by immoral conduct and extravagant living, he claimed that he had repented and that he should be restored immediately to his former role. God had forgiven him, he declared. How could Christian people do less? Some of his former followers indeed have forgiven him, but few observers are convinced that he should be restored to leadership.

The case of Gordon MacDonald presents a different scenario. MacDonald, then president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, also fell into an illicit relationship. He confessed his sin to his wife and made things right with her. When knowledge of the affair became public, he saw it was necessary to resign his post. MacDonald gives every sign of genuine repentance and has pulled back from all public ministry, though he expresses the hope that God will someday restore him to Christian leadership. Meanwhile, he is content to replenish his spiritual resources and to wait for clear direction from God and a call from the people of God before seeking another public ministry.

The church has always dealt more lightly with converted sinners than with backslidden saints. This is natural enough because the backslider has clearly sinned against the light and his fall seems like failure after a second chance.

We do not often hear about fallen ministers who have been restored to successful leadership. Perhaps this is because ministers do not get into serious scrapes as often as others. And when they are convinced that repentance is genuine, other Christian leaders do not want to gossip, for they know it would destroy any possibility for their fallen brother to renew his ministry.

I know of fallen leaders who long to return to the kind of spiritual ministry they previously enjoyed, but no evangelical congregation will accept them. Their gifts of leadership are permanently lost to the church.

Few problems trouble the Christian church more than what to do with its fallen leaders. Every church knows that a Christian should be willing to forgive a sinner and receive him or her back into the loving fellowship of the body of Christ. But responsible Christians know also that not every Christian is capable of exercising wise and effective leadership. Choosing leaders calls for hard-headed, spirit-guided discernment. Unfortunately, some Christians find it easy to forgive and forget, but extremely difficult not to restore leadership to anyone who has suffered grievously and seems to be truly repentant.

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December (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50