Well-known expositor and pastor Steve Lawson has resigned from the ministry he founded, OnePassion Ministries, in the wake of revelations he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman.
The board of OnePassion released a declaración, saying Lawson has “resigned from all his duties” as president, following his confession of the relationship—“a sin that has disqualified him from ministry.”
It added that Lawson “regrets the damage he has caused to his family, the church, the reputation of OnePassion Ministries and most of all Jesus Christ.” The board stated that all upcoming ministry events and engagements have been canceled.
The board added that Lawson’s sin is a “reminder that we have been warned of the craftiness of the enemy.” It provided a link for current supporters to stop or adjust any “recurring giving.”
Lawson’s resignation from OnePassion follows after Trinity Bible Church of Dallas announced Thursday that the pastor had “been removed indefinitely from all ministry activities” due to his misconduct, El Informe Roys (TRR) previamente reportado.
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Lawson also served as Dean of D.Min. studies at John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary. Though Master’s has not released a statement to the public, Nathan Busenitz, executive vice president and provost at Master’s, sent an email to “Master’s Men,” which was obtained by TRR. In it, Busenitz said the news of Lawson’s “disqualification came as a shock to all of us.”
He added that since Lawson is no longer “above reproach, he has permanently disqualified himself from ministry. As a result, he can no longer be part of the faculty of TMS . . . nor will he be affiliated with our ministries at any level.”
Neither OnePassion’s brief statement, nor Busenitz’s email, clarifies whether the woman involved was under Lawson’s spiritual authority.
TRR has reached out to One Passion, Trinity Bible Church, and The Master’s Seminary for clarification on this issue but has not heard back from any of the ministries or the church.
Texas is one of 14 states with statutes criminalizing clergy sexual misconduct against adults. The Texas law states that a “person commits an offense if . . . the actor is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person’s emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman’s profession character as spiritual advisor.”
Church elder: “There have been a lot of questions”
During last Sunday’s service at Trinity, Elder Mark Becker addressed the scandal briefly, saying, “It’s been a difficult week for all of us. It has been an emotional week. It has been sobering to say the least.”
He also indicated that Trinity will not be answering any questions about the scandal.
“There have been a lot of questions and there’s probably going to be a lot more questions,” he said. “The only questions that are important at this point concern us as a church, as a local body, and how we will move together forward from this.”
Becker emphasized focusing on Christ and being the “Lord’s church.”
“We are here to worship the Lord. . .We will continue to trust that the Lord will lead us forward,” he said.
Lawson, who is married with four children, has authored more than 30 books and worked as a teaching fellow and board member at Ligonier Ministries. Lawson is no longer listed as a fellow on Ligonier’s website, pero Lawson’s messages can still be found there.
Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.
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28 Responses
I applaud TRR for making this point and keeping it in the news.
Otherwise, it will disappear and remain in obscurity like the Tony Evans mystery has.
It’s surely disrespectful of him (and then) not to come clean and come into the open.
Also, not being transparent invites speculation and isn’t Godly.
Secrecy is not in anyone’s interest.
Words like clean, light, open, transparency and truth are Christian.
Words like darkness, obscurity , closed and lies are unChristian.
God cannot clean up stains that are hidden from Him. Yes, He is omniscient but He will not override our will. We can choose not to show Him.
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and [carnal, unregenerate] men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that does evil hates the light, and will not come to the light out of fear that their deeds will be seen and rebuked.
But he that does truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:19-21)
Thank you Liz, very well written.
It is extremely frustrating, but not surprising, that these ministries are working out of the same communication playbook, saying the same things we have heard time and time again:
– The devil made me do it.
– Don’t ask questions; let’s focus on the church.
– We are “moving forward” (i.e. nothing more to see here).
– Using trite phrases like “worshiping the Lord” and “trusting to Lord”, but giving no details on what
those phrases actually mean to the ones that are saying them. Those phrases shut down discussion,
creating fear in folks that want to hold the church accountable, but don’t want to feel they are bad
worshipers and untrusting of the Lord.
Jesus is about truth and justice. These men who claim to be speaking for Jesus are not answering these questions:
– Under Texas law, was a crime committed?
– What is being done for the victim? The other person (assuming a women), IS a victim. Lawson was in
highly respected Christian leadership positions. Moral failure from men in powerful positions is abuse
that victimizes people.
Again, moral failure from men in powerful positions IS ABUSE THAT VICTIMIZES PEOPLE.
Your mention of a possible violation of Texas law is well-founded. My sense is that the woman involved is in California. There was more time and space in Lawson’s life at the Master’s seminary, etc., for him to practice extra-cirricular activities. MacArthur and his minions would have looked the other way for as long as they could.
The Master’s Seminary and Grace Church do not allow women to hold high profiles, in any measure. Hence, without an easily-identifiable “other,” Lawson’s dalliances would have been kept out of plain sight for a long time.
This horrible news came as no surprise to the multiple entities Steve Lawson was a part of. Take notice of the swift domino effect of his being cancelled by all of them. They all knew in advance of Trinity Church’s public dismissal of him; each one–TMS, Grace Church, all the Ligonier, One Passion, and Trinity, near-simultaneously erased Steve Lawson publicly. It was a concerted effort, smooth as glass, no room for the “aha” response, no waiting to see what Sproul’s puppets would say.
Lawson’s adultery was foreknown; by how many and by who threatened to reveal it first, we wait to learn.
Not to mention calling it an “inappropriate relationship”. This can be anything from “two consenting adults having a one-time act outside of marriage” (sinful, but not illegal) to Robert Morris’ actions (absolutely illegal).
Did Lawson force or coerce the other person into it, or was it a random hookup where the other person didn’t even know who he really was or what he did for a living?
Your mention of a possible violation of Texas law is well-founded. My sense is that the woman involved is in California. There was more time and space in Lawson’s life at the Master’s seminary, etc., for him to practice extra-cirricular activities. MacArthur and his minions would have looked the other way for as long as they could.
The Master’s Seminary and Grace Church do not allow women to hold high profiles, in any measure. Hence, without an easily-identifiable “other,” Lawson’s dalliances would have been kept out of plain sight for a long time. And a very long way from wife Anne.
This horrible news came as no surprise to the multiple entities Steve Lawson was a part of. Take notice of the swift domino effect of his being cancelled by all of them. They all knew in advance of Trinity Church’s public dismissal of him; each one–TMS, Grace Church, all the Ligonier, One Passion, and Trinity, near-simultaneously erased Steve Lawson publicly. It was a concerted effort, smooth as glass, no room for the “aha” response, no waiting to see what Sproul’s puppets would say.
Lawson’s adultery was foreknown; by how many and by who threatened to reveal it first, we wait to learn.
Bingo. Who knew what and when did they know it? If they knew and covered it up, the whole Reformed industrial complex is stripped of any creditability whatsoever.
The devil does not make us do anything..He just exposes what’s in us. We then humble ourselves before the Lord asking Him to cleanse us of all these hidden wrong desires in our hearts which are only revealed to us by the light of His Word as we abide in Him.
James 1:15, James 4:7.
Only the Word God, exposes our hearts, cleanses&heals our hearts of sin & all that is wrong in us.
There is absolutely no righteousness in me, but I cling to Christ who is my righteousness & by His strength only can i follow this path of righteousness. There is no greater enemy to me as my own heart. Beloved Christians let’s yield to only Him&His Word beloved Christians.
Very good points… do not talk, just look the other way, to jesus the light, while the darkness is all over and the shout down of very affected people, because they follow this men.
Triste
Well, of all the evils, this is the lesser one: did the pastor make a mistake? Yes, he did. There’s no arguing that. However, I can’t throw stones at him, because I too have needed, need, and will forever need God’s mercy.
And if there’s a side note to this whole story, it’s this: at least the sin was between a man and a woman. These days, with all the political correctness, that’s quite a rarity.
We don’t actually know any of that, because there is a lack of transparency.
It may be a “mistake”. It may also be a crime.
Please stop minimizing disqualifying sin, committed by a leader who often preached hypocritically against exactly that.
The lesser one? Measured by what standards? A leader is supposed to be ABOVE REPROACH. What part of that do you not understand? It would not be one of the qualifications of being a leader if it were not obtainable. What you are actually say is that, since it was a heterosexual blunder, it’s just a mistake and no harm, no foul. Wrong. That he shouldn’t be held accountable. Wrong. That pointing out his error so people can be warned about him publicly shouldn’t be done. Wrong. Your unbiblical outlook is why these people can flourish within the church and suffer no ill effects because of it. Lawson is not a victim. He is a perpetrator.
Do you honestly think adultery and fornication are “lesser” sins if they’re committed between two members of the opposite sex??
They are not. Adultery and fornication are obviously (to those who have read the New Testament – and believe it) extremely serious.
They are sins committed by the lost and degenerate according to several passages (eg 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and *NOTE VERSE 11!!).
This is part of the problem: an ever-moving “line in the sand”.
Same sex sin was allowed to creep into society and be “normalized” and into many church buildings and be accepted PRECISELY BECAUSE adultery and fornication between members of the opposite sex were so well established having been almost universally accepted in professing “Christian” congregations decades ago.
I sent money to his OnePassion ministry. I think me and other donors have a right to know if he was in this so-called “inappropriate relationship” while we were sending him our hard earned money. It’s wrong to leave the people who supported him without any information.
Furthermore, hiding his sin only promotes future sin in leadership positions.
I agree that accountability is in order and it seems that is happening in spades. I don’t think that means the details of his sin must be posted on the internet for all to see. I appreciate the swiftness of the church and ministries to address it and remove him. I also appreciate them handling it with truth but tactfullness in the media. He has lost every ministry position he held including the ministry he founded and rightly so. Yet the Lord is compassionate and His love will not abandon him, even in His discipline of him. Dear Lord we pray you will restore to him the joy of your salvation. That he will see Your hand of discipline comes from Your great love for him and Your church.
You believe he’s handling it with “truth and tact”, but there is little transparency.
We don’t need sorrid details, but it is completely appropriate to name whether or not his relationship partner was someone he was in authority over (congregation, subordinate staff, STUDENT) and the duration. He could be a serial adulterer, there could be other victims, or this could be a one time, consentual situation that is “only” sin, and not abuse or illegal.
Losing ministry positions is an appropriate consequence for consentual extramarital relationships, but prosecution and jail is appropriate if it’s abuse (student, subordinate, clergy sexual abuse).
so much for, “those who sin, rebuke before all…” Scripture is not obeyed many times and in many ways by those who espouse sola scriptura.
Rank paternalism: we know what’s best for you. “He also indicated that Trinity will not be answering any questions about the scandal. “There have been a lot of questions and there’s probably going to be a lot more questions,” he said. “The only questions that are important at this point concern us as a church, as a local body, and how we will move together forward from this.” Translation: Put this in the rearview mirror as soon as possible without any real disclosure.
Which means he’ll come back “restored!” in a few months and 1) get back all his old positions, or 2) start a new church with loyalists from his old one (he did that years ago in Alabama).
At MacArthur’s Grace Community Church they publicly announce the name of transgressors if they are low level members, but when leaders transgress they talk about moving forward and never publicly announce anything.
and they also announce and rebuke publicly women who are unwilling to stay in abusive marriages. No concern about THEIR reputations or gossip….
I think they need to announce the age of the woman at least so that we can rest ours minds that they are complying with state law that mandates any abuse of a child be reported to police. So long as they withhold the age of the woman, there will always be a question whether it was indeed a grown woman. We need to know whether its safe for our children to be around Lawson or not.
Angela, I am not asking for “details” to entertain people on the web-or myself. Wanting to know how long his
“inappropriate relationship” was going on is not a salacious detail. Also, an “inappropriate relationship” does not necessarily mean sexual contact. Why not call it adultery, which is a biblical term, and is not open to
speculation and gossip. I also hope the best for him and his family, especially his wife. This is heartbreaking.
As a former pastor, I always hated the modern terms of “ sleeping with “ or “ having an affair “ rather than biblically calling it what it is; adultery! It’s defined as “ having unlawful intercourse with another person that isn’t your spouse “ Now I guess another phrase will become normalized “ inappropriate relationship “…
I don’t recommend Jon Harris or Conversations that matter, but in his last two videos, he has been leaking some of the details.
Lawson hardly ever travelled with his wife.
Lawson had a bit of an arrogant streak.
Lawson never signed the Dallas Statement.
Lawson recommended a book that Harris did not like.
Lawson did not fess up, as the Trinity statement says, but was caught by the woman’s father.
Affair lasted five years. Woman believed to be in her 20s.
https://www.youtube.com/live/MNV54LMd5WA?si=IvubL8mM1XbbpKUo
Let’s take a deep breath and humbly acknowledge Lawson is not our servant and that we rank and file media consumers are not owed details. We don’t know details so we need to drop assumptions and stop idolizing preachers who issue merciless pronouncements without tears.
Apparently he did confess and repent to the elders at trinity and they disqualified him and kicked him out for it and deleted all his teachings from the internet. Perhaps they should delete some bible books as well due to the sins of the authors. Makes a person afraid to confess and repent in future and afraid to become a pastor as it seems sinless perfection is now expected. I trust that all those who cast stones at him are themselves without sin. Hoping a detailed exposition with scriptural proofs will be forthcoming for their seemingly disgraceful actions. Can you please give me more details about the Lawson issue and why all his teachings are taken down? Please explain in full expository detail with scriptural proofs of points as I do not understand and question whether those casting stones are themselves without sin? It makes me and others confused and scared to repent and confess sins in future for fear of disqualification and being cast out. I have had sleepless nights over this whole issue and need clarity. I am questioning whether or not to go into ministry as a pastor-teacher anymore as I fear the unrealistic high standard of legalism and seemingly sinless perfection that reform pastors are being held to. The doctrine and exposition preaching is excellent, but I do not understand the seeming lack of grace, love and room for sanctification. .
Please stop using the woman caught in adultery and casting the first stone as an example in these cases. It’s a gross misuse of Scripture. It was set up as a trap for Jesus. It backfired because Jesus knew they couldn’t come up with 2-3 witnesses. The eldest dropped their stones because they knew wgat the law said. Paul tells us in Timothy to rebuke one in authority who is involved with sin publicly. Why? So others will fear and avoid the same error. It has kept me from getting involved in sexual misconduct because of the damage it would cause to my family, my reputation, and it would dishonor God.
Since Lawson knew the girl and her family for several years, might it be conceivable that there is a suggestion of grooming at play, here?