What should we do when high profile Christians mess up?

              Recently, the high profile Christian comedian John Crist came out and admitted to having inappropriate relationships with women. This included trading sexual favors for tickets, sexting fans, and other accusations. This is a tragic event, and I pray for peace and healing for all parties. These types of events lead to a couple of responses, with people distancing themselves from John, people condemning him, and some coming to John’s side to show that he has apologized and that he deserves forgiveness. My question to pose and think about today is this, what should we do when high profile Christians mess up?

              We could take this question in a couple of directions, and consider two different groups of people. The first being church officials, such as youth ministers, your pastor, all the way to the pope (if you are a Catholic). What do we do when they make mistakes and hurt the people they are supposed to be ministering to? First off, we need to make sure that these people are selected in a Biblical mandate (look at passages like 1 Timothy 3) and make sure that we are picking people that do not have a history of problems with regards to womanizing and the like. Now then, what about a case where the person changes after being selected and making it to their post, kind of like a husband who starts off well, but deteriorates into an abuser after 20 years. What do we do then? I think we need to be vigilant and hold our leaders accountable for their actions. Recently, both the Catholic and Baptist churches have had massive scandals about how leaders were abusing their positions and sexually assaulting church members, and then the church administration worked to protect the offenders. This I think is a blatantly unbiblical stance, in that we see that those who presume to take leadership roles in the church also assume greater responsibility for their actions and offenses (James 3:1). Instead, I think we should watch our leaders, call out their mistakes, and then help them on the path to redemption. Should they keep their positions after such a fall from grace, as it were? I’m not sure, but that could be the topic for another post.

              All of the above I think should be used to keep an eye on church officials, but what about high profile Christians like John Crist? He isn’t clergy, just a Christian comedian. We are all human, all subject to temptations, and all subject to mistakes. I think it is a good thing that he at least admitted to some wrongdoing, and that he at least seems to be seeking help so he doesn’t hurt anyone else. Redemption at this point has to start with his walk with Christ, and then we see the fruit of that redemption through his actions. If he did anything that is criminally wrong, I think he should be held accountable for it, as Paul stated about his own actions (Acts 25:11). Otherwise, we as the body need to show John forgiveness, and help him find his way back, and hold him accountable for his future actions when it comes to his dealing with the opposite sex.

              We are all human, broken, and seeking healing. Even those of us who have accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus are in the process of sanctification, and are subject to stumbling in our walk with God. We need to be able to build each other up, and to help each other when roadblocks appear in front of us. I pray for all of those hurt, intentionally and not, by John Crist’s actions, and that John does get the help he needs and that he finds his way back to a proper relationship with Christ. If you yourself are a Christian who has made a mistake, this isn’t the end of your walk with Christ, just a stumble. Pick yourself up, and take your worries to Jesus. He isn’t done with you. May God bless you and have a good rest of your day.