Another Celebrity Pastor Disqualifies Himself. How, Why, and Now What?

Picture from

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/billy.grahams.grandson.tullian.tchividjian.resigns.as.pastor.after.admitting.affair/56838.htm

This past week Tullian Tchividjian stepped down from his Florida megachurch after admitting he had an extramarital affair and that he had therefore disqualified himself from pastoral ministry.  As with Mark Driscoll it was another sad day for the evangelical church in America. 

In light of a few public statements I have spent time this week praying for Coral Ridge Church as well as asking God to mend the Tchividjian's broken marriage.  I have also spent some time meditating on the sober warning in 1 Corinthians 10:12, Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.  "But for the grace of God there go I."

As most of you know I have posted a few articles highlighting the theological trajectory of Pastor Tullian and Elyse Fitzpatrick; (If you need a quick recap on the issues surrounding the sanctification/hyper-grace controversy you can click here and here).  Some people have suggested that Tullian's "Antinomian tendencies" had absolutely nothing to do with this recent adultery/affair announcement.  I have responded by saying none of us know for certain how much or how little Tullian's hyper-grace sanctification paradigm impacted his recent behavior and sinful choices.

The Scriptures do teach us however that what someone believes (or does not believe) should and often does impact our everyday living. Biblical examples of this thinking/behavior connection include Platonic Dualism, Gnosticism, the hyper-realized eschatology problem in Thessalonica, and of course, heretical Libertine theology (as described in 2 Peter/Jude).  Orthodoxy and orthopraxy are inseparably connected!  Or you might say that unbiblical theology and sin are often partners in crime. 

At the 2015 Shepherd's Conference Dr. Ligon Duncan also reminded a room full of pastors that immoral living often leads to bad theology.  In other words, bad theology is often created in order to justify sinful behavior (note for example the open and affirming church movement in America).  Before you write me off I would encourage you to spend some time thinking about the implications of these observations.  I believe Lig Duncan made this insightful statement about 'sin and erroneous theology' during this exposition of 2 Timothy 4. 

The High Dropout Rate Among Ministers: An Analysis.

Here is a dropout rate churches don’t talk about?

"50% of pastors do not last 5 years & only 10% will retire as pastors.

Maybe we should talk about this?" (per @jaredcwilson)

I can think of three factors that contribute to this very sad statistic:

1) Many men who drop out of the ministry were never truly called to begin with.

Let's not make this first point more complicated than it needs to be.   When the going gets tough, 'hired hands' typically find something easier to do.  For some it means going back to school, working as a postman, or doing landscaping the rest of one's life.  Anything other than the pastorate.

As the Shepherd par excellence, Jesus put it this way in John 10:11-13. "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  "He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them. "He flees because he is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep.