Fallen Christian Leaders

The following is from a Special Bulletin written by Rick Joyner. To me it is very insightful.

"Look at the condition of the leadership in the church when the Lord went to the cross and basically left everything in their hands. They were fighting over who was the greatest on the very night He was crucified. They could
not even stay awake for one hour to pray with the King of kings in His most desperate hour, then betrayed and denied Him, fleeing from Him when He needed His friends the most. This is after three years under the greatest Mentor there will ever be!

It is hard to understand why the Lord would trust so much to men in any degree, much less to be representatives of His kingdom. In looking at the great heroes in the Bible, it seems that every one of them had failures and were a major embarrassment in some way, often in many ways. He is the King, so I have resolved to keep it simple and follow Him regardless of whether I understand everything or not. I am also resolved to do my best to stand for His truth and His people, regardless of the consequences.

It is interesting that the person who is considered the very first evangelist in Scripture is the woman at the well, since she was the first to go forth proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah. She had been divorced five times and was living in sin at the time. It would be much easier to explain if the Lord had chosen someone far less controversial for this great honor.

Then there is the embarrassment of Peter, who lived with Jesus for several years, had seen all of His miracles, and had the revelation from the Father of who Jesus was, then denied Him three times in one night—one of the worst things he could do. Just a few weeks later, he was again in leadership preaching one of the most important evangelistic messages ever preached on the Day of Pentecost. I’m quite sure most of those new converts wondered just what kind of leadership the Lord had given them in the church. From the beginning, we certainly have had a leadership that would definitely be a stumbling block to those who care about appearances.

Many leaders feel that these embarrassing falls from those in high visibility in the church are causing many to stumble, and doubtless they do. However, the self-righteousness manifested by many when this happens is probably causing far more to reject the church and our message. How can anyone trust our message of redemption and restoration when we will not even restore our own fallen?"