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Your Pastor Is Not King David

By Tim Meshginpoosh
david harp king
"King David Playing the Harp," painting by Gerard van Honthorst. (Image: Wikimedia)

(OPINION) Having seen my share of pastoral sex scandals over the years—from Jim Bakker in 1987 to Steve Lawson ahora—I find them grieving on many levels.  

Even when the pastor is not in my camp, I always want a minister who is wearing the jersey for Jesus to discharge his duties with honor, transparency, and integrity. I love Jesus. I love the Church. I want pastors to represent that good Name well. When they don’t, the fallout is severe: to the victims with whom they took sexual gratis, to the church body, to the pastor’s family, and to the larger Body. 

When a minister’s cover gets blown, the pattern is remarkably familiar. Sometimes, he resigns; other times he is fired. Many of us may have good recollections of his ministry, as we may have learned many good things from him over the years. As a result, we struggle to reconcile that a man who preached and wrote and spoke so well descended into some very dark places and became something incongruent with his pulpit persona. 

When word of the scandal breaks, almost immediately—like clockwork—a block of his supporters will put up a defense. They will minimize the severity of the offenses. They will paint him as a man of God who “slipped up.” They will even discuss his restoration to ministry.  

And if anyone objects, those supporters will cite King David as an example. Despite David’s grievous sins—he took another man’s wife, got her pregnant, had the husband killed, and then moved in to take on the widow and look like a hero—David was not put to death or forced from the throne.  

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As the thinking goes: David, like the minister, was anointed and recognized for his calling. And just as that calling was permanent, the calling for the man of God today is also permanent. 

This is a flawed line of reasoning. 

For one, a pastor is not a king. The only king in the church realm is Jesus, and He shares that with no one. A pastor, on the other hand, is an elder, and that office carries particular biblical requirements laid out in 1 Timothy 3. Among those requirements, a man who would be an elder must be “above reproach” (verse 2) and “have a good reputation with those outside the church” (verse 7).  

Putting family dynamics and spiritual ramifications of adultery (and sexual abuse if the parties were in the pastor’s care) aside, a pastor who violates his wedding vows is no longer “above reproach.”  And given the nature of that offense, it is likely that he may never be able to surmount that “above reproach” requirement again. 

In addition, a pastor who violates his wedding vows will earn contempt and cynicism among outsiders. A church that restores such a pastor to office will only amplify that contempt and cynicism. This is shown by the massive decline in pastoral credibility. Our culture of “restoration” only makes this worse. 

But what about the appeals to King David? Let’s talk about David. 

david
Statue of King David in Jerusalem. (Photo: Flickr/ Creative commons)

While I’ve seen several ministers—and/or their supporters—appeal to King David’s continued reign after his forgiveness, I have yet to see any honest discussion of King David’s consequences.  

Let’s give those a look.  

As a result of King David’s sins: 

  • His first child with Bathsheba died. No amount of praying and fasting by David would change God’s mind.  
  • One of David’s sons, Amnon, would rape his own sister, Tamar. 
  • Another son, Absalom, killed Amnon for his rape of Tamar. 
  • Absalom would mount a coup d’etat against David, forcing him to flee Jerusalem in disgrace. 
  • Absalom took David’s concubines and raped them in broad daylight for the whole world to see. 
  • Absalom was killed in the ensuing battle, with David mourning bitterly over his death.  
  • Another of David’s sons—Adonijah—tried to go around David and make himself King. (David had promised Bathsheba that her son, Solomon, would succeed him.) Adonijah’s attempts to become King would eventually get him killed. 
  • King David, despite asking TWICE, did not get to build the Temple. 
  • His successor, Solomon, while starting out well, descended into a life of entitlement and idolatry, which led to the breakup and eventual destruction of Israel. 

Now, to be fair, I am not calling on these pastors to suffer like this; I do not wish them evil. I want them to live long and well, just not as clergy. But here’s what they need to do: 

  1. You need to be honest about what you did. This was not an “oopsie.” You cut corners on integrity at various stages in your life. You put your gratification before the vows you made to your wife, God, and the Church. 
  2. If you’re going to use King David as an example, then look to how he sought to make it right with Bathsheba. He chose their son Solomon as his successor. Likewise, you need to take ownership of that baggage and work—as far as it depends on you—to settle matters with those you have wronged. 
  3. While your sins are forgivable—thank God that God forgives all manner of sin—you must accept your consequences, which may include permanent disqualification from church office. The Church doesn’t owe you a job.  

While it is fair to grieve that such ministers—some of whom have been helpful for us at key times in our lives—have failed terribly, we should also grieve for their victims, demanding full accountability, honesty, and transparency.  

And while we should all want their restoration to the Body of Christ, we also need to hold the line for Biblical requirements for church office.  

In other words, your pastor is not King David. 

This commentary does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Roys Report.

Tim Meshginpoosh is a software engineer and active in his local church as a teacher. He enjoys Bible study and endurance cycling, and lives in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, with his wife and daughter. Find Tim on X.

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33 Respuestas

  1. I have a genuine question that I’m asking with a gentle tone out of sincere curiosity. Would those who say that an evangelical pastor “ruled out” of ministry due to a sex scandal (like Steve Lawson) also say that self-identified homosexual or lesbian ministers be “ruled out” of ministry due to their scandalous sex practices? Is there a difference? I only say this because in the world of bloggers who rightly calling out evangelical ministers who fail morally, there seems to be silence on the LGBQT issues in the Methodist, Episcopalian, and other mainline denominations that not only place those who practice same-sex sexual immorality in the pulpit, but ordain and empower them. Before someone objects by saying, “You’re just against gifted women preaching and teaching others.” No, I’m not. I believe in the sacred Scriptures and the sacred Spirit who gifts His people sovereignly, not according to gender. I’m genuinely asking both the author of this article and readers if the same condemnation of the heterosexual immoral in the pulpit applies to those who practice same-sex sexual immorality?

    1. There is certainly condemnation from genuine Biblical Christians who don’t recognize such denominations as “mainline” anymore.
      And I don’t personally know any regenerate Christians who condone such behavior (which used to be regarded as “wrong” even among the lost where I live).

      They have chosen their way and it’s not the way of Christ or the way of Scripture.
      Jesus condemns fornication, adultery and any sexual relationship outside that of a man and woman in marriage:

      “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
      For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
      And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
      What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark 10:6-9)

    2. Crickets. Best question ever, as it begets total cognitive dissonance. A culture that descends into equity justice is exactly where we are at. You will only get crickets as no one wishes to address this elephant in the room.

    3. I don’t think you’re asking this question in good faith, but I’ll answer it in good faith anyway. My church is fully affirming (people of any gender or sexuality are fully welcomed and celebrated in all levels of worship and leadership), and we hold all those in leadership to the same standards, meaning, yes, if there is infidelity in any marriage, it would be equally disqualifying.

      The main difference being that we do not believe that the Bible teaches that same sex relationships are inherently immoral. We did not come to this lightly- we did a year and a half of theological study as a congregation, led by our theologian in residence.

      Also, you make a lot of strange assumptions in your post. A minister being homosexual or lesbian does not automatically mean that they’re having sex with anyone. Just like a minister being straight does not mean they’re having sex with anyone. Side B homosexuals exist, and single people with sexual ethics exist. Also the thing at the end about equating homosexuality with your stance on women pastors is confusing. We have 3 ordained women pastors at our church, none of which happen to be gay. We do have a gay woman on our staff, and she is an excellent preacher! but being gay isn’t a requirement for women preachers- there are many women clergy who are straight.

      The summary is this: at least for my church, we hold all leadership to the same biblical sexual standards- being unfaithful to one’s spouse is disqualifying.

      1. And here we see the problem clearly delineated, and Wade’s question answered. Jen attends a church that is fully affirming, and Jen openly supports something that the Bible clearly says is a sin. This is why Jen has no problem with homosexuality and why her posts on this site are always progressive dogma enabling. Homosexuality is clearly forbidden, biblically. There is no credible doctrinal debate otherwise. But todays secular culture and progressive christian poseurs attempt to do end runs around this fact for several reasons. Such end runs are useless because the person may be able to rationalize the issue and pretend God no longer has a problem with this behavior, but God hasn’t changed His mind about it at all. Compromising biblical values always illustrates a person who is more interested in conforming to ever-changing secular society than they are with conforming to the Gospel.

        1. I get you and agree but my problem is that a high number of lets call them Christian Right Pastors and men who beat the ANTIGAY DRUM LOUDLY are Church Pedoes and Church Rapists. They seem to get a pass and are covered up for where the Adulterer gets canned. In this case John MacArthur is a PEDOE PROTECTOR fires this dude and also a gay Pastor if found out but the PEDOE goes along his merry way never to be reported to the Cops. Your crooked finger needs to be pointed in the right direction first.

      2. To JEN MANLIEF: With all due respect, your church’s “Theologian in residence” is in serious error! The Bible is irrefutably clear on the subject of human sexuality, and Homosexuality is not acceptable on any level! It is indeed a perversion and God rightly calls it an abomination which means “The detestable thing”. In Romans 1 when Paul is speaking about Homosexuality, he uses the following adjectives to describe it: “Unnatural, Against Nature, Shameful, An Error, and that it has A Penalty – The Personal Judgment of God.” In his Epistle of First Corinthians chapter six verse nine, among other sins that will keep People out of Heaven, he says, “Those who practice Homosexuality” and “Those who are Effeminate”. There is simply no way around it, Homosexuality can NEVER be accepted in a Christian worldview!

      3. Eddie and Wayne, of course I know all of the arguments. I used to be there. I can recite each and every one of them. That was also our church’s starting point in examining scripture, and I acknowledge that this is absolutely the impression you get from our english translations for sure. But we dug deeper, and in general approach scripture with a hermaneutic that believes Jesus (and therefore God) was alway FOR the outcast, those on the margins, and people who were on the underside of power. We see that all over Jesus’ life with who he invited in, ate with, redeemed.

        I’m not going to change your mind, but I do hope that one day your mind and heart are soft enough to be open to change, to follow Jesus more fully into this and his love an acceptance of all, even the outcast. At that point, you’ll maybe be open to digging in theologically and seeing where you might actually be wrong on this issue. Most of all, I hope you become safe enough to know some gay Christians- because man, their faith is SO beautiful, and I’ve grown so much for knowing them.

        I prefaced by saying I didn’t think the question was asked in good faith- and the responses tell me that people just want to tell me why I’m wrong, which is fine- but please know, 15 more people can come here to do that and I won’t engage further, because I’m not here to argue. I came here to answer the question, in good faith, and I did.

        1. Predictable. “But we dug deeper.” It’s the Jen Hatmaker defense. As if no one in the church understood this issue for the last 2000 years, and suddenly, you can abandon hermeneutics, exegesis and logic and just ignore what the text plainly says. That isn’t digging deeply. It is just placing your own subjective opinions above what the Bible clearly teaches. The comment is also a back-handed, and smug insult to people who still believe that sexual sin exists and is forbidden.
          Then we get the de rigueur pleading to “oppression” and “marginalization.” These people are not oppressed. They are reaping the consequences of their sin. Sin has repercussions and negative results. You should be lovingly but firmly showing why this lifestyle is not a good choice. But instead, you affirm their choice and encourage them to sin all the more. That will not work out well for them, or you, in the long run. But, by all means encourage them to continue in their sin because you are wiser and more enlightened than those actual following the Word.

          And then we get the “softened hearts” pleading. Anyone who does not accept your false teaching has a hardened heart. If you are going to dismiss what the Bible says about these things because of personal and subjective feelings, then why go through the charade of being a Christian and being in church at all? You’ve already jettisoned the concept of sin, so you don’t need the Gospel anyway. It’s useless to you and you are not abiding by it. You remember Jesus? That guy who died for our sins? Are those sins suddenly not an issue? How do you make the problem Jesus died to solve suddenly a non-problem?

          1. it’s also pretty smug and arrogant to assert “no one in the church understood this issue for the last 2000 years”.

            If you were willing to dig deeper, you might learn this.

            Praying for you.

        2. To JEN MANLIEF: I have dug deeper, using both the Hebrew and Greek texts, and the exegetical insights are clear. God created Male and Female, and gave .en and women different but complementary sexual and reproductive organs. There is no way around it! If God wanted people of the same gender to have sex with each other, why didn’t He give them to the capacity to enjoy sharing in the reproduction of human life like He did with a male and female??

          A man’s body is NOT designed to have sex in the same way as a woman is designed. And we ALL know it! Stop trying to excuse perversion and barbaric conduct.

          1. God also created Day and Night, and yet we have dawn and dusk and sunsets sunrises and a few minutes to hours every day that don’t fit neatly into either day or night. God also created animals, but those very animals have changed over time to adapt to the world they live in. Even in Godself, the trinity, has expressions of God that do not fit neatly into a binary system of spirit and human. God is complex, and not binary, which means God is open to things that are complex, and not binary.

            And if sex was only for procreation, you might have a point. But sex is for many things, including connection and pleasure, and if it were only for procreation, then sterile people would be out of luck, right? no point in sex for them! or post menopausal women, or any number of other situations where procreation isn’t possible. In fact, there is nothing in the Bible that even implies that sex is ONLY for procreation, so that’s a bit of a moot point, Biblically, wouldn’t you say?

            Anyway. I’m not actually interested in getting in this debate with you (or anyone for that matter), but I will pray that your heart is softened and opened to the fullness of God’s design for the universe, and at the very least you stop trying to kick people out of the Kingdom that God God-self has invited to the table.

    4. I think you have examine if a church is the church of Jesus Christ or the church of Men’s creation.
      The ‘gathering of SAINTS’.
      Sometimes its a handful within a crowd of church goers (man made) Cling to The Word of God.

    5. 1 cor 5:12
      What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
      . Well if we look around the churches men have created.. We see all the confusion&chaos.
      Trust Jesus, cling to His Word. Follow only Him, no matter which church u find yourself in.Ask Him to teach you.

    6. I say that evangelical pastors “ruled out” of ministry due to a sex scandal. I also say that self-identified homosexual or lesbian ministers be “ruled out” of ministry due to their scandalous sex practices. I base this on Cor 5:11, which lists six heinous sins that merit excommunication. Sexual sin is only one of those six.

      I am an outlier in the advocacy world. Almost a pariah.

  2. I have read and heard these types of comments for many years, the main reasoning of all these articles is God is a God of Mercy and forgiveness, but the one who sins is the one who will suffer. All of the Pastors are involved, their many years of biblical studies, the cost of college, and their Marriage that was built on trust along with those who served and trusted them is now gone down the drain, let alone the woman who was involved, these Pastors are now not allowed to serve. no, they are not KING they are of a higher calling, and that calling is restoring and building up immortal souls. and those souls will never die, they will either be in the kingdom of heaven or the pits of hell, and thanks to Pastors like these, their sins can cause more damage than one can think, I will pray for Pastor Steve, but he must come forth with a Heartfelt Apology to those he has damaged including the woman he sinned with.

  3. Agreed! the one correction I have is that

    “While your sins are forgivable—thank God that God forgives all manner of sin—you must accept your consequences, which DOES include permanent disqualification from church office. The Church doesn’t owe you a job.”

    David wasn’t able to build the temple because his sin disqualified him from faith leadership. Pastors should never get a second chance to abuse the flock. There are PLENTY of other jobs available- as you said, the Church doesn’t owe anyone a job.

  4. I am largely in agreement with this, with one caveat:

    Given human nature, if all the facts were known none of us is above reproach. I suspect that the same character traits that make someone a good leader also incline him to specific types of sins. So, as a practical matter, how do we end up with *any* leaders that meet Biblical qualifications?

    1. We start looking for boring leaders. People with charisma often can charm their way in and out of situations, whereas people without it have to rely on character.

      Is it possible for people with charisma to have character? yes. I know some. But it’s more rare than boring people.

      We pick leaders and follow them based on american values, not biblical ones, in part because churches are a business and have to make money to stay open, so they need charming, engaging people to stay open. We will continue to have character problems as long as the “church” functions with capitalism and need to make money.

  5. As guilty as these pastors are (and they are!), their congregants need to own the fact that they are the ones who placed these guys in leadership. And even after low-character pastors are exposed those who hired them often still refuse to disqualify them. That kind of celebrity pastor worship is also a form of idolatry that needs to be called out.

    1. Troy has it exactly right – the abuser wouldn’t get far without a ring of enablers (active and passive), who protect the sinning leaders by silencing the messengers. One group is acting from idolatrous loyalty, the other from self-preservation.

      Sadly, this is why worldly authorities are eventually called in. To extrapolate on Paul’s rebuke (1 Cor. 11:31), if we in the Body judged our own evildoers rightly, we would not need to be judged by outsiders.

      AND BTW… if the “King David” comparison is sincere, the people using it will welcome their leader’s sins being recorded in detail — and being publicly accessible for future generations — as King David’s sins were.

      1. Hannah – perfectly stated!

        AND BTW… if the “King David” comparison is sincere, the people using it will welcome their
        leader’s sins being recorded in detail — and being publicly accessible for future generations —
        as King David’s sins were.

  6. If you carefully questioned the supporters of fallen pastors, they probably believe their pastor is superior to David. David was given consequences none of these pastors will ever receive. Many of these fallen church rock stars are quite wealthy and could quietly retire. But no, they are drunk with power and ambition fueled by their enabler-supporters.

  7. One minor addition. David’s fleeing in disgrace resulted in him being a wanted outlaw (homeless, without money or resources) in his own land with many of the people and all the authorities wanting to kill him.
    If the pastor want to be compared to King David, I will agree just as long as they suffer all same repercussions that resulted from David’s sin.

  8. Maybe look into why the pastors proceed to this point after years and years of ministry. Perhaps early intervention of some sort is the better thing to do rather than letting the it go until it all comes tumbling down as they approach retirement age

  9. The main point is that David was not under the New Covenant and did not see Jesus, the cross, the Resurrection (and ALL that they entail!) the full canon of Scripture or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
    [Old Testament anointing was very different in nature.
    Indwelling was only possible after the cross and resurrection (says Jesus in John 7:39 and the 180 conversions of Peter, Paul etc after Pentecost: 2 Corinthians 5:17 are inarguable evidence. Also, passages like Romans 8, Galatians 5 & 6 etc etc could not exist in the OT)].

    It’s always jaw-dropping to me when people make comparisons with Samson, Solomon, King David etc. I genuinely question such people’s conversion because a regenerate Christian (the only kind: John 1:12-13, Romans 8:9 etc) knows how to interpret Scripture, knows that we are called to imitate ONLY Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1) and cannot forget the DIFFERENCE Christ coming made.

  10. You might want to read my book A Bag Full of Rattlesnakes. As a Pastor that sinned, yes sinned! My sin caused a lot of hurt, I now live with that. I stayed out of the ministry for 5 years. Like the prodigal I tried coming back to God as just a servant, but He brought me back as a son. Like Peter, I thought God was through with me in ministry, but like Peter I got the message when the angel said, “Go tell His disciples, AND PETER!” God restored my marriage after 8 months of separation, God restored my ministry after 5 years of beating myself up, and God restored using me to reach the lost and others who thought they too were disqualified. I continue to battle with the harm I caused, but I keep my eyes on what God has done through me since my sin that might have never been had I stayed in my disqualified mode. Peter accomplished much more after his sin than he ever did before.

  11. Tim, well said! I was once married to someone who preached from the pulpit and used females in the church as food. A wolf in sheep’s clothing cannot lead a church down the wrong path without first deceiving them. Or his own family. Vows are broken to the wife and the church. Just because David was in the bible didn’t make him a superhero who could cause damage without consequences. The consequences happen the instant the leader or authority figure uses the sheep for food. If a church leader cannot handle being a decent human being even by normal worldly standards, they probably need to be choosing a different job that doesn’t involve people at all.

  12. Apologies if this posts twice:

    “The only king in the church realm is Jesus, and He shares that with no one. A pastor, on the other hand, is an elder, and that office carries particular biblical requirements laid out in 1 Timothy 3.”

    So, Jesus is King, but you quote Paul? What happened to “He shares this with no one.” Jesus covered how religious leaders are supposed to live, along with the rest of us, in His Gospels. Why do christians default to Paul, and not God’s Commands, or Jesus’ teachings when quoting scripture?

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