![[wall-of-authenticity.jpg]] ##### Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. – 2 Samuel 11:1 This past month the circles I run in were rocked by the fall of another celebrity pastor. For many, the "senior saint" of the conservative evangelical preachers is John MacArthur. Behind John is a pastor by the name of [[Steven Lawson]]. He was the popular pastor of a large church in Dallas (it's been a tough year to be a celebrity pastor in Dallas), he was Dean of the D.Min program at the Master's Seminary, which is the school founded by John MacArthur, he was a Teaching Fellow at Ligonier Ministries, the ministry founded by the late R.C. Sproul, and he was popular on the conference circuit. He is in his early 70s and has been a mentor and teacher of two generations of preachers. In mid-September 2024, it was announced that he was stepping down from all of his positions due to infidelity. It was soon revealed that Lawson's infidelity was not simply an unfortunate occurrence as sad as that would be, but had in fact been a 5 year affair with a woman in her 20s. This caused a shockwave that reverberated throughout the conservative evangelical world. Men like Albert Mohler were [visibly shocked](https://youtu.be/OVkGDvshMys?si=3xSF_UNTGsgYqfDr) and struggled to come to grips with the news, and it caused a lot of introspection. **How does this happen?** Wait, we know **how** it happens, but why? ### Why Things Like This Happen? I read articles and listened to podcasts all asking the same questions. Al Mohler wasn't the only one who was at a loss for words. > [!NOTE] Self-Deception and Self-Acceptance > I started jotting down thoughts and phrases and this picture started to emerge...the contrast between Self-Deception and Self-Acceptance. These may not be the correct terms, but it's where I am at right now. The wall of separation, in my mind, is one of authenticity. That's what is so shocking when we hear about the fall of someone like Steve Lawson. It is so completely counter to everything we know about him. How can someone stand and preach with great conviction and theological accuracy while at the same time carrying on a multi-year affair with someone who is young enough to be his granddaughter? This diagram is where I have landed today. Everyone of us have a battle between pride and humility, and, honestly, it is probably a lot more difficult for someone as gifted and influential as Steve Lawson. But what are the common denominators we often hear when the curtain is pulled back and we begin to see the real man? #### Common Denominator 1: In the Wrong Place Unsurprisingly, the story of every great man who falls into sexual sin today is compared to David, but I think a key to what we see in our culture of celebrity preachers today is in the very first verse: > The Army of Israel went out to battle and David stayed home. - 2 Samual 11:1 Where was David's place? It was with his troops. That's the point the biblical writer is making here. David wasn't where he should have been, and that's how the trouble started. When someone reaches the status of a man like Steve Lawson in today's culture, they are in demand. He was on the road all the time, staying in hotels, away from his wife and away from his family. I think this is where a lot of the problems start with high profile preachers...they are on the road a lot. They are in the wrong place. #### Common Denominator 2: Pride and Ego Then, we begin to see many of the character traits that are common among high-capacity leaders. I've started to list them out here: - Need for approval or status. - Need to always be right. - Need to be in control. - Ability to quickly see the faults in others, but not oneself. - Ability to rationalize one’s own faults. - Need to be perfect. - Strong avoidance to embarrassment while at the same time being easily embarrassed. - Strong need to protect oneself at all cost. - Clever at lying to oneself and others to cover mistakes, faults, and imperfections. - When challenged and/or embarrassed, respond with anger or isolation. - Ability over time to rationalize the conviction of the Holy Spirit regarding sin in one’s own life and start to believe you are morally virtuous. - Beyond accountability. Listen, most of these are manifest strengths we look for in leaders, but, if you spend time with a lot of these guys and get to know them well, you will soon learn that many of their strengths are really rooted in insecurities, and in some cases, these insecurities can prove deadly. Here's the thing about a lot of men in ministry who become influential even celebrity level pastors: in most cases they didn't start out with the intention of becoming a big dog. If you read the biographies of these men they often started out with a small, handful of people and a big desire to reach people for Jesus. These guys remember what it was like to go door-to-door talking with people and inviting them to church and then seeing only 15 or 20 on a Sunday morning. They tell stories of meeting in borrowed buildings that are falling apart and reaching a point of absolute physical exhaustion. But over time God blesses the ministry and they go from 15 to 20 people on a Sunday to 200, then 500, then 1,000, then 2,000 and now, here they are today, with a church with 15,000 to 20,000 members and everyone wants to know how they did it. You see, I don't think Bill Hybles, or Mark Driscoll, James MacDonald, or Tony Evans, or Steve Lawson started out thinking some day they will be a celebrity pastor with everyone inviting them to speak at their church or conference. I think it happens slowly over time and then suddenly, without expectation, a switch flips inside a man and he starts to think, "yeah, I am hot stuff. I'm the man. Look at me. Earning big money for a 60 minute talk, book deals, merch, millions of social media followers. I am the man!" They may not speak that out loud, but it's there. Others start to treat you like you're big stuff, and it gets in your head. Worst of all, you believe it. Honestly, I think that is the tipping point. You start to believe you are more virtuous than is probably humanly possible. The Devil is crafty in how he convinces us that our sin doesn't matter. "Look at how God is blessing your ministry and your life." You hear this all the time, especially from the men and women who know the celebrity pastor well and they see the open flaws and sin, but are hesitant to say anything because it might bring harm to the church or to the cause of Christ. It's a tale as old as time. I am curious when the history books are written on the Boomer-influenced American Church of the 1980s to mid-2020s how future historians will judge the rise of Celebrity "Pastors." In spite of all the fruit from this era, this is clearly one of the more destructive patterns to emerge from the last 30 years.