Tim:

In an adulterous relationship such as this, there are two sinners, not just one.  It doesn’t matter if the person who initiated it was in a more powerful position or not; the other person has to consent to the sin (unless, of course, the action is rape, which does not seem to be the case here).  She is no victim, but someone who willfully engaged in an adulterous relationship as well, knowing full well as his assistant that he was a married man.

Lamb’s family could rightly be described as the victims here, as the sins their father and husband did adversely affect them, and they did not initiate it.  They are the ones paying the price for his actions, since he has lost his job, their family name is tarnished, etc.  To say that the assistant was a victim is not accurate and dismisses her role in this situation.

All of that said, I hope that she likewise repents of her sins and seeks reconciliation. 

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CS

While neither excusing nor condemning anyone, “successful” men and women of God are nearly always admired/loved by those to whom they minister.  It is HARD to receive that kind of admiration/love without sometimes inappropriate responses.  I pray that restoration will happen for both parties.
No wonder Paul advised that the churches should, “Lay hands suddenly on no man.”

why are many just sending this warning to leaders? all within the local congregation are called to be servants… all within the local congregation are prone to temptation… it doesn’t matter if it’s a para-congregation… or a small store-front congregation...it doesn’t matter if the person is a pastor or the person is just a door keeper… all are subject to the same temptations… The Bible encourages us to take warning lest we too fall…

we’re not to use this as a ruler to judge our personal piety… we’re not to glory in our self-righteousness… many are acting no different than the Pharisees that sought to do their religious acts in public places to be praised by man… if we want a ruler to judge our lives… the ruler is God’s Word and the example is Jesus Christ…

We all have sinned and fell short of the mark… no sin is greater than the other…

Let us pray for the church at large… let us encourage and strengthen one another… God didn’t give us the charge to inspect those around us for us to gain amusement and or ridicule them… but if we’re going to bring issues to light, we’re to bring them to light with the anticipation of helping restore our fellow brothers and sisters… Jesus told Peter, “Peter Satan desire to shift you as wheat… but I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail… and when you have returned… strengthen somebody else…” Let us strengthen the fallen church…

sam,

I am going to try and be delicate here. Your statements here are, imho, ludicrous.

This post, and this situation, have nothing to do with the Leadership Network or any other para-church organization, nor is it a product of the “conference circuit”. You find any excuse to bang the same drum, even if the song is in a totally different meter.

You are right about it being imperative that churches have good accountability, but you go so far over the line in forwarding your own anti-Leadership Network agenda that it actually makes your point more likely to be ignored by people who might really need to hear that. Have you considered that possibility?

A few of my thoughts on this situation, others like it and how they might be prevented are here:
http://iemissional.com/2009/06/08/thoughts-regarding-fallen-pastors/

“Gary often blogged/ spoke about how he entered ministry as a Pastor one month after becoming a Christian.

No one in his circle seemed to have any reservations about this.”

And yet, Todd, in all of his experiences with “leaders,” either had no problem with this or was fooled by Lamb’s charisma.

I also find it interesting that Solomon was quoted, a king, which is exactly what most pastor’s think of themselves.  In this case, Lamb took the mantle himself immediately after coming to Christ and begins to amass his following...all heady stuff for a newbie, which is why Paul warned about new converts.

While I read Todd’s thoughts I began to think that “I wonder if this guy became a ‘pastor’ shortly after his conversion?” Unfortunately, I was right.  I’ve seen this numerous times and each time is a punch to the stomach as thoughts of how this incident will hinder the word of the Kingdom.

But it’s not all Lamb’s fault.  It’s the system’s.  It breeds this type of thing and yet no one wants to look at that.  They just feign remorse.

Mark my words, this is not the only affair Lamb has had.  There will be other information coming out that involves others.  I just hope we all learn from this event and return to a more authentic expression of church life where no one is seen higher than another and vulnerability replaces that tired old excuse for control...accountability.

Ricky,

I think you’re right on when you say [I just hope we all learn from this event and return to a more authentic expression of church life where no one is seen higher than another and vulnerability replaces that tired old excuse for control...accountability.] The system you mention can indeed breed this kind of thing, although I wouldn’t go so far as to assume that this man necessarily had any affairs before. Read this again pastors. If you don’t have real accountability, you are in a system that is indeed set up for you to fail and to fall. SET UP that way!

And Jud,

You say that you’ve [been a part of several church plants where from the get go the pastor doesn’t actually PASTOR]. Wow. Great point. If you can combine the accountability that Ricky mentions with the real down-and-dirty act of pastoring that you mention here, I think we have something. That said, elders and other leaders in the church need to lead (which needs to be done without the phenomenon Ricky describes of one being seen as higher than another), or the church will never grow beyond the few people that a pastor can really disciple.

Wow, I agreed with something Ricky said AND something Jud said! The apocalypse must be upon us.

But Sam, I think it’s still a stretch to blame groups like the Leadership Network. They’ve helped me IMMENSELY over the years, in their print publications and directly through some of their people (like Todd). A celebrity culture will grow up around any pastor who is a good speaker, regardless of how much they guard against it, because spiritually undeveloped people will create it, even if the pastor doesn’t, maybe especially if the pastor doesn’t.

Sam,

Your ‘rockstar’ conference theory has a big hole it the side of it.

There have been big conferences for decades.  Jack Hyle’s pastor’s conference was huge for years.

And if you want to talk about superstar pastors and the organizations that support them… also… been around for years.  Many of which are still around.

Even John MacArthur has a big conference.  Some might even consider him a superstar.

Pastors have always looked to other pastors who are ‘successful’ to learn from.  Always. 

Besides, no one would want to go to a conference put on by a pastors who lead a dying church of 20 people.

Todd

Scott,

I heard from his mouth that he entered ministry as a Pastor a month after he “accepted Christ”. No one insinuated that was as pastor of Revolution Church. However it didn’t take a theologian to understand that there is a time for seasoning to prepare a man for pastoring people..... this was lacking in this case. The peers and mentors of Mr. Lamb bear some responsibility here.

CS…

If this act occurred in Minnesota it may have been a crime.  They have a state law making it a crime for a clergy member to have sex with a person who is seeking or receiving “religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort in private.” (Minn. Stat. sec. 609.344, subd. 1(l)(ii))

Several other states have similar laws.  This also falls into the category of Sexual Harassment as Lamb was her direct supervisor in an employment situation. 

It doesn’t surprise me that you and others making comments have not picked up on this.  This type of abuse has gone on without recourse for a long time.

There is a sadness to this situation that goes beyond words.  There is a wife and children betrayed.  Betrayed by someone who was supposed to be doing right.  The blurring of lines between ministry and God are hard when life is great and even harder when life is painful.  The Lamb kids and wife need our prayers. 

There is a church that is rocked.  Leaders who are now scrambling, while wrestling with a sense of betrayal and hurt.  Staff members who are trying to put in place what happened without bitterness setting its root.  People on a faith journey who now will struggle to see the Grace of God in this mess.  Trust is broken.  This church needs our prayers. 

There is a woman who has allowed her heart to love a married man.  She has allowed her affections to be given to him and she must now deal with the repercussions of that sin.

There is a pastor who publicly challenged but privately drifted.  He has much to answer for and the only way to answer for it is Christ.. But the answering is so tough most pastors never make it through the rigors of a process.  He needs our prayers.

It is frustrating to see us do much more here than to simply empathize and offer our prayers.  To speculate, to postulate and then to diagnose Gary, this woman and the wife or the church is really not much use here. 

Thanks Todd for the post and for the invitation to pray.  It is much needed.  For those of us in the pastorate, can I encourage you in 2 ways.

Watch the drift.  Little things you let slide today will impact the kingdom, your life, the lives of people you love and lead.  Of most importance they hurt the heart of God. 

Don’t let the shrill dissecting of this sad and serious situation we see from some people here keep you from finding a safe place for accountability.  Blogs attract some of the most genuine and beautiful people while at the same time give license to people who have forgotten how to love.  Some of those folks have surfaced here and I implore you, in spite of them… seek accountability and if necessary take the time to correct any drift you might have. 

For you bloggers who seek every situation to insert the same opinion, time after time after time after time… I know you will not hear this at all or in the spirit in which it is intended, but please check yourself.  None of you sound much like Jesus kneeling on the ground, speaking to a barely clad woman about her sin.  His words… Go change.

Gary, go change and live in freedom.  Assistant… go change and live in freedom… I will pray for you.  Lamb family, I will pray for you.  your finances, your future, your today are all up in the air right now.  I am sorry and sad for you.  His grace is sufficient.  Revolution church, you are also in my prayers and as a pastor, I am so sorry you were betrayed by a pastor.  I wish it were different.  I will also pray for you.

WOW!  I can’t believe what I have seen in this post and thread.  I know Gary and have been a distant friend for about three years.  He encouraged me and helped me when I started Fellowship Church.

I will never forget his investment and I love him dearly!

Now to some of you pharisees on this blog:
To those of you who are throwing stones, stop! You are sinning!  What you are doing is no different that what Gary did.  All sin is sin, even talking about your brother who has fallen.STOP!
To those of you who are equating this to the church planting and church leadership conferences you are wrong!  Over the course of history many leaders have fallen from many different backgrounds.  If you aren’t walking right it could happen to you.
To those who say that Gary was shallow,.  Just because he didn’t preach like you doesn’t mean he is not on the same team!  I have listened to many of his messages and he regularly spoke of Jesus and Jesus being the way.  I think I remember a man in the last few years who was the evangelical leader, who preached deep messages also fell. 
I think those who are leading Revolution will do a great job.  I will pray for them and pray for Gary (also pray for the assistant).  I know God will bring glory to Himself if we will let Him.
Thank you Todd for the discussion and your insights on how to avoid this type of fall.  My guess is that if we really opened the closet of most churches we would find similair circumstances.  I have often heard that those who speak the hardest against something, most often are only masking their failures.

God bless you all!

Craig:

I agree with most of your post.  You can go back to my first comment on this thread and see that although I said I disagreed with him, I hope that Lamb will have full repentance and do the right things going forward.  The other comments I have made to clear up some misconceptions.

However, could you please explain this comment?

“All sin is sin, even talking about your brother who has fallen.”

Could you please point me to where I could find some verses on this in the Bible?

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CS