I think when a leader falls into sin; the church’s response is either of two extremes. One, to cancel the leader who fell into sin or to cover the leader’s sin in such a way as to not hold him responsible for his error due to his position. I think both extremes are wrong. It’s important that leaders are held accountable as the scripture says they receive the stricter judgment because they have an entry point to lead others astray. Their visibility gives them greater influence and with that a greater responsibility to properly carry the weight of leadership.
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. – James 3:1
There is a level of transparency and humility needed to recover from sin in general, but this transparency and humility required carries a greater weight as a public figure. Judgment from the mature and immature will be a given. I hesitate to judge others—meaning casting a punishment on them for their wrongs or even attempting to determine exactly where their heart is. I would not feel comfortable saying John Gray is simply evil due to his fault because I simply do not know his heart. I can only judge by what I’ve seen. This is in line with scripture that says:
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7
Some genuinely have undealt with issues where they have formed unhealthy sinful habits that they rely on to bandage their real issues, yet they still genuinely want to obey God. While others have no regard for God. They do not seek to obey him or love him at all. The latter are those who take God’s grace for granted. They misunderstand God’s grace as a pass for sin rather than the patient enduring of the Lord with our weakness and empowerment for us to overcome sin.
God’s grace is not a pass for sin. It’s His empowerment to overcome sin. Becoming acquainted with our weaknesses, in this case, the prowess to sin, should cause us to humble ourselves before God seeking his power to overcome sin. A person with an evil heart who simply dishonors God; there is nothing that can be done for him/her unless the heart changes toward the Lord.
God’s word warns about those who consistently crucify the Lord with their deeds saying there is no more sacrifice left for their sin:
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. – Hebrews 10:26
Again, the above is for someone who simply disregards God’s law who isn’t struggling to obey God but simply willfully giving in to sin. Only God can perceive the difference. It’s like David who was involved in sin but still had a heart after God. He was broken at the fact that he had broken God’s law once he came to himself. Sin has a way of blinding us to the truth when we are in it and sometimes God will send others or allow life circumstances to allow us to come back to who we are in Christ. This happened to King David. He humbled himself accepting the judgment that was allowed because of his actions.
John Gray and those currently involved in sin must humble themselves, confess their sin to God, and trust him for forgiveness and cleansing from unrighteousness:
God’s faithfulness to his word to forgive us is instant, but the purification from all unrighteousness is a process that we have to continually submit to for the rest of our lives. It starts with us taking responsibility.
Thankfully, John Gray confessed he was wrong in a message to his church. This is the beginning. He and others struggling with sin will have to continue to take responsibility. This means that he cannot deflect the responsibility for his adulterous indiscretion on the women or woman involved like so many church people do.
In the case of sexual infidelity or fornication, the church has had a history of vilifying and demonizing the woman as a Jezebel or Delilah; while giving the man a pass. This behavior deflects from the real issue and provides an opportunity for the same sin to re-occur over and over again.
Deflection is the opposite of taking responsibility. While the woman/women will have to take responsibility for themselves. John Gray will have to take full responsibility for his action as a man of God and a leader who carries the potential to lead others astray on a greater level.
John will have to deal with the root of why this was allowed to happen. The Bible says that a good tree cannot produce bad fruit. Somewhere there were bad seeds planted in him that produced bad fruit. This will have to be examined and resolved. This will be a process.
We’ve had other leaders in the body of Christ go through similar experiences. Da’truth and Tye Tribett had been involved in adultery in the past with other women while on tour. Da’truth humbled himself and went into a process of being restored and mentored by Cece Winans and her husband. Tye Tribett also went through a process. It was not just chucked up in a confession, prayer of forgiveness, and vilification of the woman involved.
Instead, Da’truth took responsibility for his actions, and he and his wife were restored. He’d even preached on how he’d let his guard down allowing certain things in that opened him up to compromise. The sin of adultery is a thing of the past for him and the experience made him stronger. He continues to minister across the country and properly rep the name of Jesus. Those who are mature will need to walk with John Gray to help him to deconstruct the mindset that opened him up to sin. He will need to be built up and restored in the truth.
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. – Galatians 6:1
In short, John Gray and others struggling with sin will have to humble themselves, confess their sin, and ask for forgiveness from God. In the process, he will have to continue to take full responsibility for his actions not deflecting what happened on the other woman/women, and begin a process of repentance.
Repentance means to have a change of mind and to change directions. He will have to work with other mature believers who will assist him in deconstructing the wrong mindsets that caused the wrong patterns of sin in his life. He will need to be restored to the right mindset that is in line with God’s word and way of doing things. His new mindset will cause new actions that lead to deliverance and freedom from sin.
I am genuinely praying for John Gray, his wife, and anyone involved. This can be a lesson to many both inside and outside of the church that if there is hope for John Gray; there is hope for others struggling with sin if we are willing to submit ourselves to God’s process. It’s not God’s will that any should be lost, but that all should come to repentance; that includes God’s leaders too, who are also recipients of God’s grace.
Leave a Reply