Yesterday there was a lot of tweeting and blogging about a Pastor who resigned after an affair with his assistant. What made this particularly interesting to me is the power of social networking. Most of the people who were tweeting and blogging about the pastor had never met him personally. Like me, they either read his blog and/or followed him on Twitter. He is very well known among social networking pastors and ministry leaders.
The pastor, himself, wrote a blog post about his resignation and the affair. His church also posted a copy of an e-mail on their web site that was sent to church members. All of this says a lot about the power of the Internet and social networking. Tweeters and bloggers alike, were speaking of the pastor as if they know him. Most said they were praying for him and his family. Some were also praying for the woman involved.
If you’re looking for the name of the pastor or a link to his blog, you won’t find it here. My purpose is not to cast aspersions upon the pastor or the other woman. My purpose is to emphasize that we no longer live in a bubble and we can’t hide our mistakes or our sins. This church is in North Georgia in a small town that most people have never heard of. The pastor involved planted this church five years ago and it has grown to over 1,000 members. It is the kind of contemporary church that you would not expect to see in a town that is just this side of being called rural. This pastor had a lot of influence in his community and across the nation. All because of the Internet and Social Networking.
Christians know that God sees everything we do. There was a time when we could hide our faults, sins and propensities from each other and thought we were safe. Eventually our issues might be found out but more than likely, they wouldn’t go any further than our community. That isn’t the case today. The Bible tells us that to whom much is given much is expected (Luke 12:48). To that passage of scripture you might add, “to whom much is given, much will be exposed.”
As we go forward in ministry, we should keep in mind that information (accurate or not) is just a mouse click away. What we do today, may be posted all over the world within a matter of minutes or hours. Let’s pray for all of our pastors, ministry leaders, their families and their places of worship. As my pastor reminded us on Sunday, we are the church – we take it everywhere we go.
A final note – this pastor made a mistake that affects him, his family and his church. Regardless of his sins, this pastor’s ministry helped bring many people to Christ. Let’s not penalize his family, friends and church; and let us not negate his positive accomplishments in ministry.
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Tags: Pastor's affair, pastor's fall, Social network, Twitter
June 15th, 2009 at 6:55 am
There’s a saying that goes, “Christians aren’t any different – they’re just forgiven.”
If there’s a married man or woman out there who hasn’t been tempted to “stray” – well, then you haven’t been married very long or you’ve been in a coma.
He made a mistake and unfortunately, because of his very public profile his mistake is now very public.
The social networking sword cuts two ways. It can be a powerful tool to share the Gospel – and it can be equally powerful in spreading the news of a shepherd’s fall.
Unfortunately, because this pastor chose the internet to spread the Gospel – his “shame” will be gossip fodder for YEARS to come. The Tweets, the blog posts, the rumors and stories – all will live for YEARS to come via the internet.
I just navigated away from a comment I was composing on another blog – I left without posting the comment. See, the words I write here – and elsewhere – will live on for years to come.
I tell my kids to try to live a life where they won’t be ashamed if what they say – what they write and what they do will become public knowledge. As Christians, we’re held to a higher standard… not because we’re different – but because we belong to Him. The world is watching – and when we’re online – we’re leaving footprints where we go.
I wish this pastor had thought this through BEFORE he did what he did. Then again – that’s what sin does. It disconnects us from the Holy Spirit and we discover how bad our “natural” judgment can be!!!
June 15th, 2009 at 8:27 am
These are the best posts I have seen about the whole situation. I have experience with this church and that pastor. We watched him go from a driven, Godly man into a narcissistic ego-maniac. I believe this transition was partly due to the internet exposure which comes wholly from Satan’s power to steal and destroy. I know that I have spent entirely too much time on this issue thereby falling into Satan’s trap myself. As for me, thanks to both of your posts I now have closure. I too will continue to pray for ALL involved, especially his sweet wife and children.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:59 am
@Kathy, thanks for your comments and insight. Unfortunately, when our egos, emotions and libidos get in the way, we don’t think before we act. Usually the only thing we think is that we won’t get caught.
@ Dawn, I’m glad you are able to get so me closure. I also read quite a few blog posts about this situation. Some were positive posts that promote forgiveness and prayer for the pastor and his family. Others bordered on cruel and were quite condemning.
One of the things I wish I had put in the post is to pray for the woman involved and her family. I don’t know who pursued whom, but I do know that two families have been devastated and for some reason people are not usually forgiving of “the other woman.” Her husband, children (if she has any), parents and in-laws are affected by this as well.
June 25th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Greetings,
I don’t mean this in an accusatory way, and perhaps you simply titled your piece before you finished writing, or perhaps you thought better of “naming names” during the edit process, but the title of your piece identfies the pastor that you decline to identify in the body of your post – at least it does so in my browser window.
This being said your intent is clearly noble and charitable, therefore I want to reiterate that I’m not crying “foul”, rather I’m just making an observation.
In Christ,
CD
June 27th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Hello Coram, Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I was unaware that the name appeared in the browser window. It is a result of using the name in my search engine optimization for people who were doing a specific search. I had no idea it would appear in the browser.