Moral failure. The blog makes clear enough what that moral failure was. In the UK, it's an epidemic. I've grown oh-so-tired - and, I confess, increasingly angry - over one story after another. And what bothers me most is the inadequate sense of shame.
No, emphatically not; I'm not suggesting that pastors guilty of moral failure should commit suicide. They need to trust in the mercy of Christ. They need to work hard to rebuild their marriage (but not their ministries). They need to do all they can to minimise the disgrace to Christ.
But shame would be a part of that. An awful lot less of 'well, my marriage had been a sham for years.' So what? If it's true, it increases your disgrace: you should have dealt with it earlier. With Christ and goodwill, miracles are possible. And true or not, there is no situation to which adultery is the right, proper, godly, moral response. No situation. Not a difficult wife, or a cold bed, or rebellious children, or stressful ministries, or a combination of them all.
There should be less, too, of 'Well, these things happen.' No, they don't. Measles happen. Road Traffic Accidents happen. Storms and hurricanes happen. Adultery is committed. You can't catch it by being in the same room as somebody who is affected. It doesn't come zooming round a stationary car when your visibility is impaired. It doesn't blow in out of a clear blue sky. Adultery is planned; it is committed; it is followed up.
I don't know what the cause of this epidemic is. I don't know what the solution is, or even if there is a solution. But I do know that Christians, and pastors most of all, need to learn to take responsibility for the way they live, and stop seeing themselves and their behaviour as victims.
