Can we truly trust our church leaders, or has the well of faithfulness been tainted by those who fail to walk their talk? This episode takes you through a candid exploration of the crisis of confidence in clergy, sparked by alarming statistics and notorious scandals. Join me, Todd Rhoades, as we tackle the uneasy reality that despite being champions of truth from the pulpit, some spiritual guides have faltered, leaving their flocks searching for authenticity in leadership.
As we sift through the debris of fallen idols and the shadows of partial truths, we confront the lingering effects of high-profile misconduct, from Jim Bakker to Bill Hybels, and beyond. We also reflect on the personal impact of legalism and hypocrisy within the church, sharing stories of disillusionment and the quest for a faith that's lived out with integrity. This conversation is not just a look at what's been broken; it's an urgent call to restore trust through unwavering honesty and transparency in our spiritual communities.
Can we truly trust our church leaders, or has the well of faithfulness been tainted by those who fail to walk their talk? This episode takes you through a candid exploration of the crisis of confidence in clergy, sparked by alarming statistics and notorious scandals. Join me, Todd Rhoades, as we tackle the uneasy reality that despite being champions of truth from the pulpit, some spiritual guides have faltered, leaving their flocks searching for authenticity in leadership.
As we sift through the debris of fallen idols and the shadows of partial truths, we confront the lingering effects of high-profile misconduct, from Jim Bakker to Bill Hybels, and beyond. We also reflect on the personal impact of legalism and hypocrisy within the church, sharing stories of disillusionment and the quest for a faith that's lived out with integrity. This conversation is not just a look at what's been broken; it's an urgent call to restore trust through unwavering honesty and transparency in our spiritual communities.
Welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom. Today we're going to talk about an interesting subject.
Speaker 1:
I think it's church leaders who shade the truth. Okay, so back about six years ago, according to a Gallup survey, only 42% of Americans believe in clergy. That pastors have high or very high standards when it comes to honesty and ethics. But that's all of America. What about those that identify as Christians? That number went up from a whopping 42%. To what do you think it was 43%? It went up 1%. From the people that identify as Christians, about 10% of Christians say that they consider church leader ethical standards as low or very low. So one in 10 Christians say that they really don't trust pastors. So why is this?
Speaker 1:
I think there's probably a few reasons, if we're really honest about this, the first one being the biggest, baddest stories of unethical clergy always make the news, and it's like the firefighter that's a closet pyromaniac or the cop that sells drugs on the side. The dichotomy between what a person is supposed to live up to as a pastor and what they actually do as a pastor makes for an interesting story. And in the church there have been some whoppers and they make national news. Just think about Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggart and Ted Haggard and Bill Hybels or James McDonald or everything that's going on at IHOP. And it's just, it's crazy. Those kind of stories make national news and people who aren't Christians internalize these big media stories and they just suppose that all pastors and churches and leaders are probably the same One.
Speaker 1:
Pastor falling has an effect on really every pastor in some people's eyes and to be honest, I've been in ministry at some pretty high levels over the past couple of decades at times and I've seen some mighty people fall. I've known some of them and I have to say it's made me a little suspicious or cynical sometimes, and if I said I wasn't, I wouldn't be telling you the truth. Every fall from grace does erode at trust and as church leaders we all suffer those consequences, at least to some degree, of other people's sins. So that's one reason. Another reason is many people just have not had a good experience with the church. They just haven't. They've been hurt or they've been burned by unliving Christians, by hypocrites as they would call it, by pastors in the past, and quite honestly they don't want anything to do with Christianity or the church. While I was in high school, my church took a really legalistic turn, and out of 50 kids in my youth group, I would doubt that there's even a handful that are still living in the faith. Many more that I know want absolutely nothing to do with the church. So the last reason I want to talk about and this one might hurt a little bit, because some leaders are simply not purveyors of the truth Of course they share the gospel on Sunday morning, but when it comes to their leadership, they often fall short.
Speaker 1:
And this maybe goes back to the first reason too, but as I like to put it, they shade the truth. When you're put under oath, you're asked to tell the truth, the whole truth, and what? Nothing but the truth. Many church leaders just don't do that, don't do this, and the result many times is a group of people that lose their sense of trust in leadership. And I think the biggest way this happens is not by downright lying. That happens in the church, unfortunately, but I don't think that's the biggest way this happens. I think the biggest way that people lose trust in their leadership is when leadership starts telling partial truths and thus leaving out some part of the truth, and it's easy to do. It's a major temptation for church leaders.
Speaker 1:
We can even go back as far as Abraham. Abraham had a beautiful wife. She must have been drop-dead gorgeous. But when Abraham went to a new city, he told Sarah to tell the king that she was his sister, and that way the king would not harm Abraham. Instead, he would just take Sarah as his wife. That seems crazy, but awkward any way you go about it. But Abraham chose to conceal the truth that Sarah was not his wife, and he did this not just once, but twice, and we know all about that. Both times the kings became irate, and so did God. But here's the clincher. Think about this Abraham didn't really lie. Sarah was actually his sister, okay, actually his half-sister. So technically, abraham told the truth, but he left out a huge piece of the truth that Sarah was also his wife.
Speaker 1:
And this is how half-truths happen with church leaders all the time. It's very easy to do and sometimes it's even easier to justify you tell the good side of things, but you leave out the bad. You tilt the facts in your favor, but you give incomplete information, and in order to get your way. Now, in Abraham's case, what he wanted was not to get killed In order to get your way. You tell a half-truth, incomplete stories to make you look good are lies, and people know it before you do. Actually, a lot of times, and as soon as you try to determine what the meaning of is, it's too late. You've lost the battle of trust in your ministry. Of course, some church leaders do bold-faced lie, but many more, I've found, live somewhere in the shading of the truth area.
Speaker 1:
How honest are you with your team? Here's the bottom line Completely honest. Do you sway people by sharing only the good things or, in other situations, maybe you manipulate the situation by only presenting the negative? Really would like you to guard your heart, pastor. What you say matters, words matter, the truth matters. Learn the lesson from Abraham and be on guard for the temptation to share half-truths In fact roam like the wind.
Speaker 1:
I'd love to hear your comments, your feedback, your snide remarks are always welcome. You can reach me anytime at podcast at chemistrystaffingcom or send me an email to podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. Thanks so much. Hope you'll join us again tomorrow. We're here every day, monday through Friday, and you can listen to all the archives. Today is episode number 66 already. I can't believe that. So there's 65 previous episodes. If you're just new to the podcast, I should call it a Toddcast. That would be fun, wouldn't it? Sorry, I just saw a squirrel. So if you're just investigating and hearing the podcast for the first time, go to the podcast page. You can find 65 archived episodes as well, and I hope you'll join us here again tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.