Can a pastor come back after an affair? Carl Lentz, the Biebers, and what the Bible says

What the Bible says

The standard for leaders is higher. Paul’s list of qualifications for an overseer begins here:

² An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

Titus 1:6–7 repeats the point, and 1 Timothy 3:7 adds that he must have “a good reputation with outsiders.” James 3:1 warns that teachers “will be judged more strictly.” These are conditions for holding an office, not conditions for being saved. A man can be fully forgiven and still not meet them.

Adultery leaves a lasting mark. Those who hold the strictest view often turn to this verse: “Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away” (Proverbs 6:33). If “reproach” in Proverbs is the same thing as “above reproach” in Timothy, the case for a permanent bar looks strong.

The fallen can be restored. “If someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1). And the great example is Peter, who denied Jesus three times and was then given back his work, three times, on a beach:

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.” ¹⁶ Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.” ¹⁷ Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

Jesus had already said Peter would turn back and “strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

Forgiveness does not erase consequences. David’s adultery and murder are forgiven in a sentence: “The LORD has taken away your sin.” The next verse is about what will still happen (2 Samuel 12:13–14). David stayed king, but no one should read that as a job guarantee: Israel’s kingship and the church’s eldership are different offices with different rules.

Churches should go slowly. “Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands,” Paul tells Timothy, in the same passage that says elders who persist in sin are to be rebuked publicly (1 Timothy 5:20–22).

What the Bible does not say

No verse answers this question directly. The Bible never says “an adulterous pastor may return,” and never says “he may not.” Both sides are drawing a conclusion.

Peter is not a neat parallel. He denied Jesus under threat, and he did not break a marriage or a congregation’s trust over time. And Proverbs 6 is wisdom about what adultery does to a man’s name among his neighbours. It does not mention church office. Paul’s “disqualified” in 1 Corinthians 9:27 gets quoted here too, though he is describing his own discipline and does not name adultery or say what a church should do.

How churches differ

• Early church canons (kept by the Orthodox). The Apostolic Canons say that a bishop, presbyter or deacon guilty of fornication is to be “deposed” (canon 25). The cleric loses his office but is not cast out of the church.
• Catholic. Latin-rite priests generally promise celibacy, so the rule is framed differently. Canon 1395 punishes a cleric who continues in an external sin of this kind that causes scandal with suspension, with penalties rising to dismissal from the clerical state; a public offence can also bring dismissal. A suspension must be lifted once the cleric’s contempt ends and any harm is repaired (canons 1358, 1361 §4), so a return is possible. After dismissal, return needs a rescript of the Apostolic See (canon 293).
• Assemblies of God (Pentecostal). The denomination’s bylaws in 1988 required a rehabilitation period of at least two years for moral failure, and Christianity Today described a two-year suspension and at least another year away from the pulpit, with counselling and reports. When Jimmy Swaggart refused those terms, the Assemblies dismissed him. Its spokesperson said it was “not an issue of forgiveness” but of standards for ministers. Those are the 1988 terms; we have not confirmed the current wording.
• Baptists and independent evangelicals. Each congregation decides, and opinion is split. In a 2019 LifeWay Research survey of 1,000 US Protestant senior pastors, 27 percent backed permanent withdrawal from public ministry after an affair, 16 percent at least a year, 18 percent two years or more, 8 percent less than a year or no withdrawal at all, and 31 percent were unsure. John Piper, a Reformed Baptist, says a pastor who has sinned sexually “can be a pastor again,” but that he should resign at once, take other work and make no claim on the church, since rebuilding trust takes “a long time.”

One line every church should keep clear: sexual abuse of a child, or of someone a pastor had power over, is not an “affair.” It is a different matter, and it belongs with the police and the proper authorities, not in a restoration plan.

Our take

The “never” camp and the “a few months” camp are both wrong, and the second does more harm. We side with the long road: a pastor who commits adultery should resign and step away from the pulpit for years, with no promise that he will ever return.

The strict view rightly separates forgiveness from office. But a lifetime ban needs “above reproach” to be permanently lost, and Proverbs 6, often cited for it, does not mention church office. A quick comeback is worse still, because it treats “above reproach” as a phrase to be managed. Reputation is not rebuilt by a good apology. Three months, which 3 percent of those pastors accepted, is not long enough for a wife or a congregation to stop flinching.

We would add two rules that most restoration talk avoids. First, the man does not get to decide. If he is announcing his own recovery, he is not recovered. Second, a platform is not a pulpit, and a celebrity pastor’s audience is the last group that should be consulted, because the people who love his preaching are not the people he hurt. Lentz’s “no plans” is wise, and so is his talk of “a whole lot of counsel.” But “completely qualified” is not a verdict a man gives himself. Writing about your own failure to help other couples can be a real service. It is not the same as a call back to shepherd.

As for the apartment, we have only one side of it, and it is not our quarrel. Anyone may withdraw a home they lent, and anyone may be hurt by how it was done.

Over to you

If your own pastor had an affair, repented and stepped down, what would you need to see, and after how long, before you could sit under his teaching again? Or do you think Peter’s story settles it faster than we allow?

Comments