One of my closest ministerial friends in my early ministry was dismissed because of adultery. We labored together in the same conference. The last night before I moved to another area, I visited with him in his home. We talked alone in the backyard while our wives prepared supper. This prominent and successful pastor confided to me that his secretary had a crush on him, but that he was strong enough to handle the situation. I literally begged him either to change secretaries or, better still, to go to another field immediately. He passed off my repeated appeals with a laugh and boasted of his strength to reject any of her advances. 1 left that home with a heavy heart. I prayed earnestly for guidance as to what I could do. I desperately wanted to call the conference president and urge him to move this person immediately. We needed men of his caliber in the ministry, and I felt strongly that if something wasn't done quickly, his name would be added to the list of former pastors.
I made no move for fear of betraying his confidence. Less than a month later we heard that my friend was out of the ministry. He was one of the most open and honest preachers I knew. When con fronted with the report of his immoral conduct, he simply placed his precious ministerial credentials on the conference president's desk.
The suffering that emanates from a minister's illicit sexual involvement is not confined to himself, his family, or the woman or women he has taken advantage of. The entire ministry suffers, for we all become suspect when a fellow preacher falls. Furthermore, the entire church membership suffers, and the better known the minister is, the more dam age is done to the church and its minis try.
Protecting the innocent
The church must be careful to protect its workers against false charges. I heard of one case in which a student accused her teacher of having an affair with her. Years later, after the teacher had been dismissed and his home had broken up, his accuser confessed that she had had a crush on her teacher and had fabricated the entire story. But too often the accused begin with strong denials only to end with a forced confession of guilt. In the meantime the church is divided and leaders' reputations are smudged by accusations of cover-up. In some cases, confession is never forthcoming despite overwhelming evidence of guilt. In these cases, I appeal to the ministers involved to consider their own souls. If you are guilty of the charges, for your own eternal salvation, make a thorough confession. Why risk the loss of everlasting fellow ship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the earth made new? It isn't worth it!
What is the solution?
I do not like thinking about or writing on this subject. Furthermore, I wonder whether what I write will help to stem the tide of unchastity among our ministerial forces around the world. Many seem to treat the seventh commandment as though it were as outdated as the Stanley steamer. The human race is immersed in a cesspool of sexual perversions, hard and soft-core pornography, and every type of immorality. The two main elements in most movies are sexual lust and murder. Every standard set by God to safeguard the purity and happiness of a sexual relationship within the framework of marriage has been torn down by so-called experts in the field of sexuality. There is not a single sex act or situation, regardless of how repulsive, violent, or horrid, that is not defended by some per son or group. In an April 14, 1980, Time magazine report under the heading of "Sexes" appeared the title "Attacking the Last Taboo." The subtitle read "Researchers are lobbying against the ban on incest."
Tragically, living in a mindless, amoral society has had its effect on the clergy of all churches, including our own. Ministerial sexual immorality in our church is not new. A brief study of the history of the church's dealing with seventh-commandment-transgressing ministers reveals a picture of leniency. Ellen White herself encouraged forgiveness and the concept of a second chance for some ministers to continue their preaching ministry. But she took a strong position on sexual deviations when she commented on what may well have been a case of incest. Referring to the perpetrator, she wrote, "If he goes to heaven, it must be alone, without the fellowship of the church. A standing rebuke from God and the church must ever rest upon him, that the standard of morality be not lowered to the very dust" (Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 215).
The concept of giving ministers another chance after a moral fall gradually changed to a hard-line position. Evidently too many forgiven preachers fell again. The church finally came to treat violation of the seventh commandment as "the unpardonable sin" when it came to carrying credentials. Today's policy includes nonconditional language prescribing permanent exclusion from the ministry:
"1. Credential/license—The credential/license of a minister who experiences a moral fall or apostatizes shall be withdrawn permanently by his employing committee, after consultation with the next higher organization. . . .
2. Ordination—a. A minister who experiences a moral fall or apostatizes has made void his ordination.... He shall be ineligible for future employment as a Seventh-day Adventist minister. . . .
"4. Denominational Employment—It is recognized that a minister who has experienced a moral fall or has apostatized has access to the mercy and pardoning grace of God and may desire to return to the church. Such an individual must be assured of the love and goodwill of his brethren. However, for the sake of the good name of the church and the maintaining of moral standards, he must plan to devote his life to employment other than that of the gospel ministry, the teaching ministry, or denominational leadership" (General Conference Working Policy [1985], pp. 289, 290).
Preventing problems
Undoubtedly, the repeat offender has a problem with controlling sexual desires. More care should be exhibited in both the selecting and teaching of individuals for the gospel ministry. If I were to teach a class on the subject of sexual morality in the ministry, I would in elude the following points (of course, this counsel is equally applicable to all workers, especially teachers and doctors):
1. Those aspiring to be gospel ministers, know yourself! If you have the problem of uncontrollable sexual lust resulting in masturbation, immorality, excessive sexual activity with your wife, viewing pornographic magazines, books, or videos, or if you allow a constant immoral fantasy to parade through your mind, it would be well to seek some other type of employment where you are not placed in the position of a role model or a counselor. Seek a place where you are not constantly in contact with women.
Peter's description of individuals in this condition is valid: "Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls" (2 Peter 2:14).
In other words, if sex is an obsession or near obsession, entering the ministry won't solve the problem. Some enter the ministry thinking that dealing with spiritual things will help correct their problems. This is a delusion. The depth of human depravity is not corrected by position or profession.
2. Almost all of us are assaulted by sexual lust at some time or another. It is the fruitage of sin in all of us. Only those who dwell constantly under the shadow of the Almighty are safe from Satan's attacks. This means avoid feeding lust, and that isn't easy in a world designed to constantly tempt us with one evil or another. All types of media, including newspapers and magazines, have advertising, articles, and pictures rooted in lust. If you cannot control TV or your VCR, it might be well to get rid of them. But that really is a short-term solution. One helpful practice that many have found is to renounce immediately the invitation of lust. When this practice becomes a habit, the mind and eyes automatically, by the grace of God, instantly reject the idea of dwelling on lustful scenes and thoughts.
3. Become active in some type of hard physical exercise such as jogging, walking, gardening, chopping wood, etc. One minister confided that unless he ran several miles each day he found it difficult to resist the temptation to masturbate. His physical exercise program redirected his energies, and jogging became what might be termed a positive addiction.
4. Eat plain simple food that is free from condiments and spices and large quantities of sugar and fat. There is a relationship between diet and lust. Even the eating of animal flesh contains what I call the "lust factor." I have never seen anyone lust over celery, carrots, or spinach, but I have seen plenty of people eat lustfully of beefsteaks, hot fudge sundaes, and chocolate candy. One lust can trigger another lust!
5. Finally, take a new look at Jesus daily. Let your mind use sanctified imagination in establishing a relationship with Him. Keep the Sermon on the Mount in the memory bank of your mind and repeat often phrases that apply to you personally, such as the "pure in heart" beatitude. Rearrange the words by saying, "I am going to see my Lord soon because He has blessed me with purity of heart." Take his statement on adultery in the heart, which is unbelievable to the natural heart, and say, "My Lord has given me victory over lust; I will not look on another woman with sexual intent other than my own wife. This type of immoral lust is destructive to me and my marriage." Our Lord was so emphatic about this that the very next verse, Matthew 5:29, states, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away" (RSV). The only way the eye can sin is to look at the forbidden. Be like Job, who declared, "I have a covenant with mine eye; why then should I look upon a young woman?" (see Job 31:1).
In the book Healing Grace, David A. Seamands tells the story of a woman who had struggled with low self-esteem for many years. She wrote to Seamands to tell him that six words in another book he had written had transformed her life. The six words: "How much you mean to Him." She had thought only of how much God meant to her, but it had not dawned on her that she could possibly mean anything to Him.
That story has helped me in my own struggle to live for God. I mean a lot to God! Therefore, how can I dishonor Him, hurt my church, and destroy a person by any wrong action or words on my part? —J. Robert Spangler
