Leaders, and how to view them

Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save… Psalm 146:3

Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Isaiah 2:22

So… yet again a respected and prominent Christian leader is caught out, exposed as guilty of sexual misbehaviour sufficient to land him in a court of law. Oh, how wearily familiar this is!

The writer of Psalm 146 is, of course, writing about Israel’s national life, not about the Christian church. Likewise too the prophet Isaiah. But their warnings are applicable to all manner of situations, including the life of the church.

The point is simple: Human beings are bound, at some point, to let you down! So let’s get that idea into our heads.

The relationship between Christians and their spiritual leaders isn’t entirely simple. The New Testament assumes that leaders are to be respected and obeyed: “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority” says the writer to the Hebrews (13:17). This, surely, is the Christian’s “default position”.

Yet it also contains warnings about being misled. Jesus spoke to  his disciples about “false prophets”, who “come to you in sheep’s clothing”, though “inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Paul too is realistic about “false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ”, and adds grimly, “and no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). In a similar vein, John warns about the “many antichrists” who have come into the world, and urges his readers not to “believe every spirit”, but to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 2:18, 4:1).

Things aren’t always what they seem! People aren’t always what they  seem! Christian, be aware of that fact.

The man I started with was a prolific writer and teacher, and I can only imagine how the people now feel who placed great reliance on him. Very likely someone reading this blog knows the experience of being completely let down by a leader they respected, trusted and even loved: “I just can’t believe it! I feel my whole faith has been shaken. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to trust anyone again”.

What positives can we gain from this sad reality? Somehow we need to maintain a delicate balance between, on the one hand, respecting and trusting those whom God has set over us in Christ – that’s the default position I mentioned; and, on the other, viewing them only with suspicion, as the psalmist and Isaiah might suggest.

I have met Christians who are so sure of their own rightness that they fall into that second category; they seem almost to sniff around anyone in a position of authority or influence, whoever they might be and however glowing their reputation, determined to find fault with them.

But I have also known others who trust their leaders so much as to virtually put them on a pedestal, as if they can do or say no wrong.

I was made aware of this kind of attitude very early on in my ministry by a remark a loyal church member made. A few of us had been having a bit of a discussion on one of those “grey areas” where disagreement (hopefully friendly) is inevitable. This man listened to my viewpoint, thought for a moment and then said, “Well, if that’s good enough for you, I’m OK with it”.

It made me feel uncomfortable; it was as if he was saying, “I’m happy to let you do my thinking for me – you’re the pastor, after all”. But what if I was wrong? – as, of course, was perfectly possible. Shouldn’t all of us develop the habit of prayerfully thinking and even questioning for ourselves?

Here’s something we need to ask ourselves: How dependent on other human beings is my faith in Christ? Do I test against scripture the things I hear and read? Is there some individual who, to be honest, I’m a bit dazzled by?

Suppose I were shipwrecked on a desert island? – no church, no minister, no books (perhaps just a Bible salvaged from the wreckage), no sermons, Bible studies or small groups. What would happen to my faith? Would it gradually putter out like the last half inch of a candle?

Putting it another way: to what extent is my faith really mine? And to what extent is it a hand-me-down faith drawn unthinkingly from others? From parents, perhaps, or from teachers or children’s workers, or from some preacher who has meant a lot to me, or an author whose books I have valued? Good people, of course; but not infallible.

Leadership in the church is a vital gift of God, and we should be thankful for it and take it seriously. But let’s be careful. Ultimately only God himself can be completely relied upon.

If we remember that it may save us, one day, from a lot of hurt and disillusionment.

Loving Father, thank you for gifting your church with men and women who, in their various ways, lead us in the things of Jesus. Help me to respect and submit to them. But help me too to remember that total reliability lies only in you and your word – in the living word, Jesus, and the written word, scripture. Amen.