Sin Makes You Stupid

Like every pastor who has been in ministry for many years, I’ve seen a number of moral failures among my ministerial colleagues. Just in the past year or so, I can count at least four men—each of whom I knew personally (at some level)—who are now out of the ministry because of disqualifying sin. I don’t write this article to sit in judgment on these men. I pray for them, as well as for their families, their churches, and those they have sinned against. The road ahead for these men will be hard and long (if they are willing to travel on it), but we worship a God who is eager to forgive when we humbly confess, earnestly repent, turn from our sins, submit to those in authority over us, and trust in Christ alone. 

(It also bears mentioning that forgiveness from God does not necessarily mean restoration to public ministry.)

Whenever a high-profile case of disqualifying sin comes to light, it is easy to wonder how such a catastrophic fall was even possible. The incredulity is especially pronounced in cases of sexual sin. We think to ourselves, or say to our friends, “What was he thinking? How could he have been so foolish? Didn’t he know that he would get caught? Why would you sacrifice so much for so little?”

But of course, sin doesn’t work by the rules of rationality. There is no rational calculation that can explain why men would throw away a lifetime of ministry faithfulness for a few moments of fleeting pleasure. The lusts of the heart do not submit to cold-hard facts. No one sets out on a sexual liaison because he weighed out the pros and cons of such behavior. Satan masquerades as an angel of light. He is a master at deceiving his servants, and sometimes we are masters at deceiving ourselves. You can count on it as an irrefutable law of fallen human nature: sin makes you stupid.

This irrefutable law—true for every Christian—is especially true for ministry leaders. I am writing for you, brother pastor. I’m writing for you, seminary student. And I’m writing for me, because publishing books and speaking at conferences does not give you an elixir against stupidity. If anything, it can be a poison that dulls your spiritual senses.

Diagnostic Truths for Dangerous Times

It seems like we are hearing of pastoral failures more than we used to. It’s hard to know if the number of pastoral failures is actually increasing, or if we simply have access to information that might have gone unnoticed (or not discovered or broadcast) in previous generations. No doubt hyper-connectivity of our digital age is part of the equation. But it may also be the case that actual pastoral failure is increasing too.

Think about it: Travel has never been easier. Communication has never been easier. Privacy has never been easier. Being ensnared in the vice of pornography has never been easier. Encountering sexual images and content has never been easier. It’s not hard to see how increased temptation may be leading to increased transgression.

Unfortunately, there are no foolproof solutions to guarantee that Christians never commit adultery or that pastors never commit disqualifying sin.

At the same time, there are realities that we can consider—and pray that we do not forget—that can help safeguard our souls.

Here are ten things my fellow pastors (and all Christians, for that matter) should consider frequently and perpetually, lest sin makes us stupid.

1. Consider if you are faithful in private and personal devotions. 

An otherwise faithful man may fall into sudden sin in a moment of weakness, but I’ve never known a pastor in habitual sin who was at the same time fervent in daily prayer. There are no shortcuts to holiness. 

The minister should also beware when he’s begun to take shortcuts in sermon preparation. I need slow, deliberate sermon preparation to feed my own soul. My heart will grow cold and unfeeling if I regularly preach sermons that I’ve preached before, or that I cribbed from someone else, or that demand little of my time and even less of my soul.

2. Consider if you are more eager to be away from home than to arrive back at home.

Even if you love travel for its own sake (which I don’t), you still should be excited every time you get to come back to your wife and kids. Just as the pastor should love to preach to his own people more than to strangers, so he should love to be with his own family more than with crowds and well-wishers somewhere else. Something is amiss when that pastor feels happier the farther he is from home. Think of your life as concentric circles—with God in the center, then your family, then your elders and your church staff, then your congregation, then your denomination, then your wider personal networks, and then the internet. We should spend most of our time cultivating the circles closest to the center. If those are healthy, you can handle difficulties in the outer rings. Be wary of ministry leaders who spend all their time on the outer rings (especially the internet) but are unhealthy at the center.

3. Consider if you have slid into a posture of defensiveness and entitlement. 

I recently heard a seasoned pastor reflect that in every case of ministerial failure that he has witnessed, the common factor was pride. If they aren’t careful, pastors can rely on intimidation and manipulation to create a culture of quiet acquiescence and loyal yes men. Eventually, some men come to believe normal rules of Christian integrity no longer apply to him. When ministry leaders are unable to admit mistakes and always insistent on the best perks and privileges, there is grave danger afoot.

4. Consider if there are relationships with women that are overly friendly and overly comfortable. 

We don’t need pastors to be awkward around women or to treat every woman as a potential Potiphar’s wife (and most of us aren’t as handsome as Joseph!). But common sense and spiritual caution should warn against traveling alone with women, privately texting at length with women, engaging in lots of banter online with women, sharing pictures with women, asking for photos from women, or sharing personal vulnerabilities with women. My wife doesn’t want me to be rude toward women (or just plain weird), but neither does she want me developing close friendships with women.

5. Consider if you are no longer vigilant in fighting lust and temptation.

Every pastor has heard (and probably preached) about the danger of pornography. But the danger doesn’t usually start there. Big sins almost always begin as little compromises: lingering looks, raunchy entertainment, lurid rabbit trails on social media, YouTube videos that get seedier and seedier. When we justify “little” sins, we invite bigger sins to track us down—and over time, with the help of Satan and the algorithm, they will.

6. Consider if you are lacking in meaningful, open, transparent friendships.

I’m always concerned when I meet Christian leaders who don’t seem to have close friends. And by friends, I don’t mean only famous friends or “friends” they see a couple of times a year at meetings and conferences. We need friends who aren’t afraid to ask us hard questions, friends who have known us for a long time, friends who would drop everything to comfort us in trial and drop everything to confront us when we fall into temptation. 

7. Consider how much your sins will cost you when they are discovered.

Pastoral ministry is not like other professions, for it does not allow us to separate the ministry from the character of the one ministering. I think about the opportunities I have been given because of pastoral ministry, the livelihood I have because of pastoral ministry, the esteem and respect (among some) I have because of pastoral ministry. What utter folly it would be to trade all this for the indulgence of the flesh. And let us not think our sins can be hidden forever. Our sins are normally revealed in weeks or months, sometimes in years, sometimes after death (to the shame of followers, family, and friends), and always before the judgment seat of Christ. You may successfully lie to others (for a time). You may even lie to yourself. But God knows truth, and the lie will not last forever.

8. Consider the harm you will do to others by your sin.

Let not the promise of grace lead us to underestimate the heinousness of sin. I shudder to think, were I ever to disqualify myself from ministry, of the harm I would do to my wife, my children, my congregation, and to all those who have ever been helped by something I’ve written, taught, or preached. I am pained to even contemplate the hurt and confusion that would fall on those who were led to Christ through me, or baptized by me, or married by me, or led to greater love for Christ through me. To be sure, it is not the minister per se, it is always the word of God through us, but so long as God uses human teachers, we teachers will bear a special responsibility to keep our lives free from the stain of high-handed sin.

9. Consider that there are greater, sweeter, more lasting pleasures than sin.

My go-to verse in fighting temptation is Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” I want to see God—in this life, and in the life to come. We must fight to believe that the beauty of holiness and the loveliness of Christ is better than the allure of shape and skin. And it’s not just that God will satisfy more than illicit sex. There are sweeter, everyday, earthly pleasures too—like a clean conscience, and a long marriage, and the fruitfulness of hard work, and the smile of grandchildren, and the laughter of friends. There is no sin so pleasing that God cannot provide holier and happier joys in some other way.

10. Consider the honor and glory of Christ.

This is the crux of the matter, is it not? As Christian ministers, we not only bear the name of Christ, we have also been given the immense privilege to steward the mysteries of Christ, minister the love of Christ, and preach the gospel of Christ. I know an article like this could make sinners despair of being saved, let alone ever being used by God again. That is not the point. There is always more grace in Christ than there is unrighteousness in us. And yet, it is salutary that we feel something of the fear of the Lord, which is, after all, the beginning of wisdom. I believe that God has given to pastors that best and highest calling anyone can receive. What could be worse than to dishonor so great a Friend, Lord, and Savior as Christ?

Kevin DeYoung is the senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church (PCA) in Matthews, North Carolina and associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.