In recent years, the evangelical community has witnessed a troubling trend of minimizing the gravity of sin committed by influential church leaders. The most recent example of this is the way Gateway Church elders have addressed the allegations against their founding pastor, Robert Morris.
Robert Morris, the founder and lead pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, has been a prominent and influential figure in the evangelical community. Under his leadership, Gateway Church has grown to be one of the largest churches in the United States with over 100,000 members. However, because of the allegations of Cindy Clemshire, who claims that Morris molested her for over four years starting at the age of 12, Morris's reputation has come under intense scrutiny.
In recent years, the evangelical community has witnessed a troubling trend of minimizing the gravity of sin committed by influential church leaders.
When allegations against Morris surfaced, some hoped that the elders of Gateway would conduct a transparent and thorough investigation. However, what followed was anything but. In their initial statement, the elders downplayed the severity of the accusations by describing Morris's actions as a “moral failure” avoiding more serious labels like "abuse" or “molestation”. After Morris’s resignation a few days later, the elders went further in their language and admitted that their previous statement was wrong and made it clear that they were “heartbroken and appalled” at the abuse of a 12 year old girl. However, they still chose to use the term “inappropriate relationship” in their statement, softening the language used to describe this horrific event. Clearly, the sexual abuse perpetrated by a pastor against a young girl can not be described as a “relationship” of any kind.
Unfortunately, the minimization of sin is not unique to Gateway Church. Over the past few years, several high-profile churches and Christian ministries have been accused of downplaying serious allegations against their leaders. This pattern reflects a concerning trend within church leadership—a tendency to protect reputations and institutions at the expense of truth and accountability. The belief is that there is simply too much at stake.
This pattern reflects a concerning trend within church leadership—a tendency to protect reputations and institutions at the expense of truth and accountability.
Jesus understood the importance of right-naming. When He spoke with the woman at the well in Samaria, He told her to go and call her husband.
“‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’” (John 4:17-18 NLT)
While we don’t know the complexity of this story, Jesus knew that this woman needed both to own her sin and to be known in it. He called her out, not as a party trick to convince her of his omnipotence, but because He knew that in order for her to trust in Him, she needed to be seen, and she needed the gift of her sin being exposed.
When churches choose to sugar coat spiritual abuse or clergy sexual abuse, they don’t protect the church, the community, or the spiritual leader. In fact, they exponentially multiply the harm in all three.
When churches choose to sugar coat spiritual abuse or clergy sexual abuse, they don’t protect the church, the community, or the spiritual leader. In fact, they exponentially multiply the harm in all three.
The church is unable to heal while the infection of unrepentant sin continues to spread.
The community is unable to trust yet another institution that seems to value the needs of the abuser over the abused.
And the spiritual leader is unlikely to come clean, protected from the very exposure that could propel them to truly own and repent of their sin.
Numbers may continue to grow at these churches for a time, but numerical success is not a reliable indicator of God’s blessing. The truth must come out, or the damage will eventually be irreparable and catastrophic. They need the gift of exposure.
Unless churches and Christian ministries begin to rightly name the sin in their midst, the truth of the Gospel will be tragically diminished in a culture that is desperately hungering for truth. What makes Christianity unique is not adherence to rules or counterfeit morality. What makes Christianity unique is Jesus—who, knowing everything we ever did, chose the Cross so that we could be forgiven.
We have a responsibility to the integrity of the Gospel, not to the reputation of our leaders. Facing and telling the truth about sin gives space for God to bring the healing the Church so desperately needs.