Should a pastor with an addiction be fired?

Posted on November 02, 2010
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This is the question that more and more churches are having to deal with these days. How do you deal with a pastor who has an addiction. Maybe it's an addiction to alcohol or drugs; maybe it's a sexual addiction like pornography. The question is... what should be done with a pastor that has an addiction of some kind when it is found out?

This scenario has actually happened this past week at Twin City Fellowship. Recently Bob Dewaay's health was deteriorating and they weren't sure what was wrong. After a bunch of tests, it was determined that Bob had Alcoholic Hepatitis. Bob had been a vocal part of the discernment movement (calling out those who he though here heretical) for the past years. As it turns out, the diagnosis was news to everyone in his church, including his elders. The reaction was quick. Termination.

You can hear how the church responded publicly here. (It's in the first ten minutes).

How should a church respond when their leader is caught in an addiction?

My thought is that the church acted properly in removing the man from leadership (although I think some of the words were rather harsh). The shepherd of a congregation is held to a high standard, and I think this was the right decision.

But what responsibility does the church have in the area of reconciliation? in the area of counseling and help? and in the area of financial support of this man and his family?

I think part of the answer to that question has to do with how the person caught reacts? Are they repentant? Are they making excuses? Are they defiant?

And if they are repentant, do you work out a restoration plan with them as a church? Are they restored to their senior pastor role?

And if you, for some reason, decide NOT to terminate, how do you proceed? Publicly? Privately? Seems dangerous to the life of the church either way.

As you can tell... I have few, if any answers.

Dare I say what happens most often? When this type of addiction is found in a staff person (especially a person in a senior role); many times the person if quietly fired (without giving a reason) and is simply moved on to another church. This is what should NEVER happen.

What are your thoughts? If your pastor (or you) were diagnosed with Alcoholic Hepatitis (and no one even knew you drank); should you be terminated, rehabilitated, or what?

Todd

Comments

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Christopher Fontenot on Fri, November 05, 2010

According to SCRIPTURE, any pastor or church leader who brings reproach on Christianity has lost his qualifications to be a church leader. Nothing else need be said!
Tony Moore on Sat, November 06, 2010

Todd, I know you asked for our opinions but, as this thread shows, our opinions are pretty worthless except in our own situation.

My church has a board and I have an advisory team. Frankly, I couldn’t care less what another church would do in this situation. We have a policy, and that policy would be carried out in our church. I wouldn’t presume to impose it on another church.

All the dogmatic responses in this post might work in the respective locations, but there is no blanket policy. Some of them aren’t even scriptural… Where does the Bible say that Paul didn’t sin? Did he somehow reach prefection and I missed it? What scripture says that the act of drinking is a sin? I also can’t find the reference that any pastor or church leader who brings reproach on Christianity has lost his qualifications to be a church leader.

What I do find is that God is the one who calls us into ministry. Do you think God is surprised to learn that someone he called into ministry has an addiction? I daresay that there are pastors posting to this blog who themselves are bound by lust, pornography, or gluttony but won’t admit it.

1 Cor. 10:12-13a So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don�t fall! No temptation has overtaken (the person you accuse) except what is common to (you too).
Dr Bob on Sat, November 06, 2010

I am glad my addiction to porn came to the light after I was out of the pastorate because then I could seek help and support through a recovery group. !0 years ago my wife and I sought counseling when I was in seminary and serving a church when my addiction was really getting ahold of me, I felt I needed to step down, but my wife thought the shame for her would be too great, so we dealt with it alone. 5 years later I find myself returning to the sin and this time it almost destroys my marriage, but this time I am able to openly deal with the addiction and get the support and help I need without fear of losing my ministry. The sad thing is that this is an ever growing addiction among Pastors who must suffer in silence for fear of losing all the have worked for and their calling, without any concern for reconciliation and recovery. It has been said to look at the people God uses in the bible, not perfect by any means, but repentant and seeking God. David - adulterer, murderer - man after God’s own heart.
Tom Thompson on Sat, November 06, 2010

Dear Dr. Bob (in reference to your quote): ” I am glad my addiction to porn came to the light after I was out of the pastorate because then I could seek help and support through a recovery group.”

This comment breaks my heart. The church must decide if it wants to be a hospital or a museum.

If the community of Faith refuses to allow her leaders deal with their faults, failures, sicknesses and sin within her walls, we have nothing to say to those outside. To them, Christians who shoot their own wounded only validate the perception that the Church is not safe for real, wounded people who are in process.

I agree that addicted or otherwise, failing leaders should step down during a process of recovery, but that reconciliation (not ostracization), should ALWAYS be the goal. In the context of healthy, spiritual community, both Grace and Truth must come together in this process. This is the gospel’s message.

PS: There are now many sources where pastors can go for support, counsel and treatment for substance abuse and sexual addiction issues. OperationIntegrity.org is one of several. (See articles in CT)
Christopher Fontenot on Sat, November 06, 2010

Tony,

There is a blanket policy and Scripture clearly describes it. Why should we ever question God and His Word?

Jimmy Swaggart, here in Baton Rouge, does a great job of calling out false teachers by using Scripture then turns around and rejects Scripture’s clear qualifications for a church leader and never stepped down from leadership for his sin.

It isn’t a matter of whether or not pastor’s sin. We know they do. It is a matter of whether or not that sin brings reproach on the Church. If it does then he has to resign or be removed. Eddie Long preaches against homosexuality. If the allegations against him prove true, he must step down or be removed.
Steve Long on Sat, November 06, 2010

Tony,
I don’t think that anyone here thinks that the act of drinking is a sin. The sin is somehow wrapped up in becoming captive to drinking and hiding the captivity to it from certain others who are sharing the burden overseeing the local church. Three possible reasons come to mind for why a leader would conceal sin. 1) Pride; they cannot bring themselves to reveal weakness to others. 2) Fear; They will no longer be in charge of their own security (they might lose their job -pay and bennies-, status). This is from the Devil because if we are confident that God takes care of us even when we mess up we are not afraid, no matter if we lose our job/ministry. God knows how to bless a repentant heart. Or 3) Shame;Keeping our life at the foot of the cross disarms this IED of Satan. Concealment of Sin is pictured in Genesis 3 when God had to call Adam and Eve out because they were not up to repentance and confession yet. They had excuse making down and that without any practice. “God, I am addicted”. That is a statement of fact, not a confession of sin. It sounds like an excuse for a problem instead of a plea for help from the bondage that Sin is so able to ensnare us in. To resolve Sin finger pointing is fine as long as it is directed selfward. A finger pointed at addiction is pointed the wrong direction.
Dr. Bob,
Be sure to include the whole story of King David’s sin in the equation of how to address the issue of a leader caught in Sin. The unborn child that precipitated the murderous, adultrous chain of events that David caused to happen, died. And that is not the whole of it. David’s flaws brought ruin to his own children. One son became an incestual rapist. He was murdered by another son of David’s. Another son tried to usurp his fathers throne in an armed uprising and he and many others lost their lives in that struggle. This same son slept with his fathers. concubines in the presence of all Israel before he went out to try to kill his father. Another son tried to step into the line of succession at the end of David’s life. Solomon later had that son killed.
King David gets A+ grades in areas that are critical to God in each person’s life. When he understood his sin he was crushed by it and confessed it before the Lord with a repentant heart. Remember his prayer for his newly born son before the son died. He asked God to spare the Son because the sin was Davids. When leaders sin innocent people suffer (their family and those of the local Church) Even unbeleivers are affected when Church leader bring dishonor to the Holy Name that they have in Jesus Christ. It is a bit shocking that many fallen leaders excuse their secret by arguing that self preservation had a great role in them keeping a secret. That is not David’s example.
Tom Thompson,
That Christians shoot their own wounded may be true and valid in many contexts but not in this one. Satan and the person who is the basis for this tread of discussion conspired together so that this church leader ‘shot himself’. What is going on in that local congregation is that the other leaders are trying to get the wounded guy (the Pastor) off of the battlefield and to a hospital without having anyone else get hurt.
Tony Moore on Sun, November 07, 2010

Christopher, if the blanket policy is “the wages of sin is death,” then I agree. And no, we should never question God or His word. You just never listed anything concrete command from Scripture to indicate the basis for your comments.

Steve, I don’t disagree with you. “The act of drinking” was a direct quote from a previous post in this conversation. The writer said that the act of drinking and drunkenness were the sins committed.

Here’s a thought, David didn’t go through rehab, but he also didn’t step down as king of Israel. I’m still waiting for someone to post the scripture that says a leader should step down or be removed. Please hear my heart, I am not being argumentative, I simply am tired of opinions. Give me the Word.
Steve Long on Sun, November 07, 2010

Tony,
There is a colossal difference between David’s situation and that of the local church leader (Pastor in this case). God Promised that the scepter would never depart from the line of David. God would stick with David to vindicate His own Righteousness (He keeps His promises). God has made no promise to any local church leader (Pastor in this case). Saul sinned too and because God had not made a contract with him he lost his throne. I would suggest that if someone wishes to make a valid argument for the restoration of a local church leader to their original station that a good argument would be one where a New Testament example of it occured. This would disqualify the issue in First and Second Corinthians of the young man who had taken up with his fathers wife. He was being restored to fellowship, not leadership. As I understand the situation that precipitated this discussion there is no dis-fellowshipping involved, only removal from leadership. Also a search could be made to determine if God has entered into a covenant with the local Pastor where His own righteousness is at stake. In advance I will suggest that research on this will be fruitless. You want to compare the Pastors situation with King David’s and I think it is more comparable to King Saul’s.
Rev. Roger Olsen on Sun, November 07, 2010

As Both a recovering Pastor from Addiction, and a full time Therapist, it would appear that this is definetly an area where we need to agree to disagree. Addiction is not as easily arrested as just throwing around scripture and expecting everything to be ok. This is a subject that has to be taken very seriously. Think about it!
Steve Long on Sun, November 07, 2010

Reverend Roger,
I don’t disagree with you ond the complexities of addiction. My own occupation for the last 30 plus years is as a Corrections Deputy in the Sheriff’s Office. I spent 5 years in pretrial release connecting and tracking people who were with incarcerated treatment for various kinds of addiction. I am familiar with that side of the human problem of addiction in a way that many will never have an opportunity to see. I have seen people return to custody because of addiction for 30 plus years to the point that in a warped sort of way they are family to me because I know them so well. My wife works in a recovery center where I volunteer.
Maybe our difference lies in what we think the recovery process should entail. Do you think that part of the recovery process involves the full restoration of the fallen Pastor fully to his former capacities? I think not and for reasons I have articulated. That you are a full time therapist actually argues my point that Pastors may fail as Pastors but God can still direct them to a blessed work..not as Pastor of the local congregation. There is a certain elemnt in this thread of conversation that argues that the degree of pastor failure in the church is a thing that must be expected and dealt with compassionately with compassion meaning full restoration. There are really no examples of Pastor failure in the New Testament (because there are no Pastors in the New Testament in the sense that we use the title in the modern church). Paul accasionally makes mention of judaizing troublemakers in the church and John (IIIJohn) mentions one Diotrephes (not an addict). One of the qualifications for elder is that the man be not addicted to much wine. That really is about all that we see in the N.T. about problems with Church leaders. People that are spiritually sound will not fall into temptation because the Spirit of God that is in them is greater thatn that which is in the world. This does not deny the power of temptation but it asserts the power of the Spirit when we call on Him. When a Pastor fails it signals a deeper problem, one that is not solved by addiction therapy. They have lost, or never had, confidence in the Spirit. That can happen to anyone of us by incremental move toward disobedience that start with thinking errors that we indulge instead of fleeing from like Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife. We my all be daily conscious of the necessity of living by the Spirit. Galatians 5, “24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
The problem that exists when any person falls is a Spirit problem, not an addiction.
David Zailer on Sun, November 07, 2010

No one is immune to addiction; we are all addictable in one way or another. And, the more I gain clinical insight into the human reality of addiction and recover from my own addictions; it is becoming more evident to me that one�s attempts to escape their addictions on their own will likely boomerang and reinforce addiction. And no where is this more evident than in religious environments where the image of virtue and character are demanded. It is in this way that our pastors and clergy are often more susceptible to addiction than others.

Currently, I am working with seven pastors, helping them recovery from addiction and experience radical life transformation through the fellowships of Operation Integrity. I am proud of these men. Not only are they facing their �demons�; they are preparing themselves to lead others out of dry lands that most pastors are afraid to enter.
Steven on Sun, November 07, 2010

I genuinely believe that we cannot treat every situation the same. Should a Pastor be removed for addiction? Yes and No. As humans we seem to forget that Jesus brought to us Ultimate Grace. He came to sum up the 180 some odd rules and regulations from the Levitical Law into two. It saddens me that as followers of Christ we put unbelievable amounts of pressure on our Church Leadership to be perfect (to my knowledge there was and will only be one) by saying that if you ever have a weakness you will be fired or removed from your position is off. How dare us as members of Christ not show mercy and respect to our leaders. Last stat I heard was that ministers (from every denomination) were leaving leadership faster than they are entering. This is a major problem! One of the greatest factors I attribute this to is the fact that we cannot bare grace on our leadership. We as sheep expect them to love us at all times, pray for us , give everything they’ve got in entertaining sermons, manage a team successfully, Never struggle, Have a perfect marriage at all times, and so on. But if they slip up in any way…...“Remove ‘em, Remove ‘em”... kinda sounds like what the crowd chanted (crucify Him, crucify Him) when Jesus was at his worst human moment. Next thought I have on this subject is how can we categorize what addictions are ok and which ones are not. We can accept church leaders who are addicted to success and are willing to gossip, back bite step on people and eventually struggle with heart disease because of a lack of rest to get ahead, but if they smoke God forbid. We can accept Church leadership who are obese and addicted to eating unhealthy foods, but if they drink strong drink “Crucify Him”. We can accept Leadership that takes all kinds of medicine and many are hooked on advil, etc., but if they fight a sex addiction they’re out! God has created everyone with different gifts. He has given these individuals, though broken at times, the gifts of leadership and “the gifts are without reproach”. The gift doesn’t fall off, disappear, or dissolve when a vessel begins to crack. It does need repair but it’s not done away with. I have written enough but to fully answer the question I think the church should handle addictions in a graceful manner. They should not make any hasty decisions but pray and fast to allow God to show his desire for each individual situation.
Sharon Kendall on Mon, November 08, 2010

All I know is that Pastor DeWaay is one of the ONLY shepherds out there preaching the pure gospel. Most churches won’t even say the word “repentance” or ‘sin’ or ‘depravity’.... just the prosperity gospel. Who are we to judge Bob’s heart? Who are we to cast stones? What I do know is that God has used Bob as a beacon of discernment and truth. I also know that because of this, the devil has exponentially increased his efforts to stop Bob’s work. If we believe that God is sovereign and that providential will is certain, then I’m sure that Bob now has an opportunity to be given true repentance for this sin (not addiction), and obtain a deeper level of sanctification. Even Paul said, “What a wretched man I am..” God has promised us that He alone justifies us through Jesus, and that if He justifies us, then He will bring us to sanctification and ultimately to glorification. Well, I don’t know about you… but none of us is glorified yet. I pray for the gift of repentance and grace and continued growth in Christ through His continuing work of sanctification in Bob’s life. Thank you to Bob for bringing a deeper knowledge of truth through the pure gospel to my life.
Tony Moore on Mon, November 08, 2010

Steve Long, there is absolutely no indication that the guy Paul handed over to satan was a leader so of course restoration to leadership wasn’t mentioned.

I do agree with you on one thing - you said, “In advance I will suggest that research on this will be fruitless.” That tells me you have closed your mind to hear any different opinion, so I’ll leave it at that. You want to lean to the side of law (Saul). I choose to lean on God’s grace (David). I pray that you never find yourself in a place of being judged. Blessings to you.
Phillip Maine on Mon, November 08, 2010

Pastor DeWaay is not the only one out there preaching discernment and truth, however he may be the only one with a church! I am now working in a children’s ministry in Oregon because my last two churches run me off. One of them even said that how to share Jesus should not be preached in church.