What are the reasons for disqualification of a leader?
From a natural sense, a leader is disqualified once they lose the confidence of those who have chosen to follow them, or they have crossed a boundary of conduct required for their position. It is the responsibility of those who can put someone in power or remove them to understand this concept and be willing to act accordingly. Recently President Bush replaced General Grumsfeld. Many analyst felt the move was too little too late. This is a real example of my thought; He did not cross a boundary which was set in place, he lost effectiveness.
Where are those disqualification found in scripture?
The scriptures list of qualifications in the NT begin in Acts 6:3, “Choose men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom.� This simple statement is the first qualification listed in the NT. Later Paul is writing to Timothy and Titus setting the NT church in order. He again makes a list for the role of the overseer, and the deacon. 1 Tim. 3:1-12; Titus 1:6-9; NT writers also spend a lot of time writing about certain leaders who are self appointed but should be avoided by the Christian Church; Titus 1:10-11; 3rd John 9-11; Jude 7-13. These are written to the church about leaders within the church who claim to be a leader and have influence over believers and the true apostles wrote about them and their deeds telling believers to stop following them. Jesus said in the Revelation, 2:2, “you put those to the test who claim to be apostles but they are not.� In all, my study of scripture shows me as many scriptures teaching me about what leaders are not as the passages that describe what they are. In the end we have to take all of this into account when we declare a person ready to recognize as a leader and also when we step them down. The focus of the scriptures seems to be on people who use their position of leadership to cause others to follow them into sin. This person must be stopped immediately. The open practice of sin by a leader cannot be tolerated. In the OT, it sure seems like Aaron got away with a lot of public sin without being removed. He lied about the golden calf and took no responsibility for his actions. Other people were put to death during this same account. Korah did not get off as easy. His insubordination created an opening of the earth to swallow him and all of his followers for creating murmuring and unbelief in the camp of Israel. Can you see my point? There is not a clear one sentence description of what is okay and what is not. We have to read things and come to personal conclusions. (My conclusion is that insubordination is one of the deadliest sins according to scripture.)
Are they permanent/temporary? And how is that decided?
In the NT, Paul gives direction of how to set leaders in place, and what happens when they are put there too quickly. (Paul tells Timothy how to take medicine for his upset stomach for laying hands on some too quickly. He found out later what else was inside of the appointed leader!) The first person to lose a position in the NT was John Mark. Paul would not have him back on the mission team no matter what Barnabus said. Ref. Acts 15:37-40. Barnabus immediately re-instated him on the spot. What an example! In other places such as 2 Cor. 2:7-11, we see the example for Christian re-instatement to take place after clear repentance had occurred. Biblically speaking, there is no clear definition for permanent removal from ministry leadership. Man has chosen to take the biblical examples and place permanent removal once they are broken within denominational guidelines. Every person who chooses to operate within those guidelines is now responsible to live by them. If a Baptist minister is divorced and remarried, he is not allowed to be a Baptism minister in most situations. In the end, the decision for how long a person is suspended from ministry is usually determined by the earthly group leaders choose to submit to in order to operate within their sphere of influence. Usually, most groups develop a system of restoration and an authority to monitor proper progress for restoration to ministry to be declared completed by the fallen individual.
What is the proper way to handle this kind of situation? Quietly or Publicly?
I have a personal way of handling situations that I believe is based upon the principles of the Bible.
I deal with situations in the forum they appear. If a person sins in public, then the public must know the response by the governing authority. If a person is dealing with private sin, I work with them in private. The same audience who saw the sin needs to see the authority’s response to the problem.
Leaders who do not acknowledge their sin must be publicly removed. (I choose to not repeat the specifics of the sin to the public. It is enough to know that the governing authority has dealt clearly with the issue and found that removal is the best for all involved. (I personally do not see how children and others are going to benefit to know the specifics of a leaders sin. Unfortunately in today’s world we know what President Clinton did with Monica L. and more. Sometimes I think we have too much information. Maybe this is just me.)
Follow the guidelines by the governing body the leader has chosen to be under. It is best to get everyone to agree when things are good rather than waiting until there is a problem to come up with a consequence. (Ted Haggard’s Church by laws clearly stated that he would be removed for that specific sin.)
Where does grace come in? (i.e. Can Ted Haggard ever return to the pulpit/ministry?)
The Bible teaches us in Romans 11:29 that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance or irrevocable. This teaches us a very important lesson about spiritual gifts in general and leadership in specific to this situation. The gift or spiritual ability is within a person and God does not remove the ability because of bad behavior. (In context, Paul is saying this about God’s future for the nation of Israel, God is going to redeem Israel!) There is a great need for the Church to understand this principle. The ability to operate in a spiritual gift does not validate one’s Christian maturity or holiness. It also is a reminder to each one of us how much God wants things to turn around and for us to get back on track going forward with His plan for our life. I am convinced that the real Ted Haggard is a true man of God and will one day return to leadership within the body of Christ. He may not return to the church he founded, but his life will continue to make a difference for many because of the gifts God has created him to operate in. How long before this takes place? Only God knows the right answer. If a person is put back into the public eye too quickly, it might not be a good thing. On the other hand, keeping him out of ministry for the rest of his life does not reflect the teachings of the NT. Christ came to forgive us, restore us, and empower us to live a life that makes a difference. Looking at Hebrews chapter 11 we find many people in “God’s Hall of Faith� that have a very checkered path with sin and bad choices recorded publicly in scripture. God still uses this group for us to look at as examples of how to have faith in God even when our earthly life is not powerful enough to always be sin free and make the right choice. In the end our salvation is based upon our faith not our own ability. How many of these people listed in this chapter would we have removed from ministry and never let back in? God’s word teaches us that our sins have a price to pay here on earth. We cannot change the consequences for choices we make. Grace and mercy allows us to have a better future than these consequences! Jesus was not ashamed to be called “Son of David� while David’s life had so much sin. Jesus is not ashamed of Ted or any other true child of His who has publicly fallen. I believe true repentance and grace allows fallen saints, including leaders, another opportunity to change their world.
Pastor Greg
