Steve Lawson: Why More Reformed Pastors Will Fall

Steve Lawson: Why More Reformed Pastors Will Fall

By: Deji Yesufu

Carl Desmonds reminds me that during the heat of the debate between Continuationists and Cessationists, I remarked that sexual scandals were more common among Continuationists and that one of the proofs that Cessationism is biblical is that it produces holy adherents. Sincerely, I cannot remember making such a remark but I know that it is something I can say. Let me begin this essay by admitting that such a notion is wrong and uninformed. I think that Cessationists are more prone to such sexual sins because, as I noted in my sermon last Sunday, we are in grave danger of shutting down the blessing of God’s word that comes to us in our conscience all in the name of “scripture alone”. When you remember that the Pharisees were also “scriptures alone” people, you will understand there isn’t much to celebrate by standing by a tag that does not carry corresponding holiness.

It is no longer news that Steve Lawson has fallen. What many people do not realize is that the statement given by his church, Trinity Bible Church, Dallas, was intentionally vague. The phrase used was “inappropriate relationship” with a woman – it did not say the man of God committed sexual sin. We also get an incline that Steve might not have agreed with his fellow elders about the seriousness of this sin. The church says they are pursuing an “ultimate goal” of Steve’s repentance. It appears that Steve might have confessed to some relationship with a woman, besides his wife, but does not think that such an action should require his being removed from the church’s leadership. The church and Steve are disagreed on this point. Steve has also not been permanently removed from the bishopric, but only suspended “indefinitely”. The words in quotes are the exact words of the church. In this essay, I want to suggest a few reasons why I think reformed churches will see more and more of their cherished preachers crash into moral failure.

In February 2024, I divided with many reformed thinkers over the Alistair Begg controversy. My position was simply this: taking a cue from Begg’s sermon on “Condemnation or Compassion”, I think it is time that reformed people shelve their puritanism and understand the place of practical grace and mercy in Christian living. We are too prone to draw the sword and butcher a wounded soldier. In 2020, Matt Chandler of Village Church was also reported to have been in a similar “inappropriate relationship” with a woman besides his wife. It was discovered that Matt was involved in long chats with this lady and often used cuss words in those chats. The church leadership suspended Matt for less than a year and had him restored. Is there a possibility that the “inappropriate relationship” that Lawson had with this woman was something similar to Matt, and not sexual intercourse? But the penchant to condemn led his fellow elders to draw the long sword. The church’s note also made it clear that Lawson had reported himself to the leadership of the church. This is accountability. And in other clime, the church could have made the matter private – putting the man of God on suspension until a time they deem fit to restore him. Unfortunately, this vague note they published has not helped matters at all. Many people have reached their conclusions; the ministry of a gifted man of God is tarnished forever; churches have removed him from their preaching line-ups; etc. Perhaps reformed churches should go back and listen to that sermon that Begg preached titled “Condemnation or Compassion” again.

It should be noted that Steve Lawson himself has helped to rear this ugly tendency among reformed people. When the Begg controversy broke out, Steve said: “…There’s been a lot of talk recently about whether a Christian should attend a homosexual marriage. And there’s been a lot of talk recently about whether a Christian should attend a transgender wedding, and should bring a gift to the wedding so that they would appear to be compassionate and loving … One sin always leads to 10 sins. One sin always leads to 20 other sins, and one sin never is isolated by itself… I want you to know that the answer is no…” Is anybody surprised now that his local church is using his doctrine against him? If you breed lions, they will turn against you one day. One sin will lead to ten and then twenty… is the reason his elders will not countenance a matter that needs pastoral oversight and care, not condemnation. People forget that just as the pastor offers care to the flock, days will come when the pastor himself will need care. Lawson approaching his fellow elders had sought this kind of care from them. Unfortunately, he was provided with the same kind of meat that he had been feeding his flock for years. Now, why do I think this situation will encourage many more pastors to fall? I will explain.

John 1:17 states that the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came from Jesus Christ. Most of us know the distinctions between the law and grace, but we appear not to appreciate the spirit behind it. The law states that the soul that sins shall die – the spirit of the law is condemnation – it is black and white. It was what propelled the Pharisees. A woman is caught in adultery, and all they were thinking about was how to stone the person. They cannot fathom any other way out of it – it is the spirit of the law. Grace and truth, however, permit liberty of growth. It comes with compassion. It understands peculiar nuances of situations and allows for different parties to grow in grace. Grace also allows for the freedom that truth brings. It is in the spirit of grace that people can be sincere with one another – they can confess their sins one to another, and trust that brothers will not betray them – and run them over with a truckload of orthodoxy. This is very likely what Lawson was hoping for when he approached his fellow elders to confide in them. But he did not know that he had, over the years, reared Pharisees. And Pharisees only see black and white – law and death. It is people of grace who see the nuances of situations. Now, this is what the law will breed: it will not encourage people to be sincere anymore. These people will see what has been done to a fellow soldier, and they will cover up their sins. In the process of covering up, instead of repenting, the sin will get worse and worse. Until such individuals are either damned by their sins in hell, or their ministry is tarnished with a more serious sin in the future. In a local church led by Pharisees, coverup will be the order of the day.

Besides the tendency towards condemnation, another thing that is quite prominent among many reformed churches, particularly the ones in the United States of America, is the celebrity status that many of these men assume. Having spent a long time in the vainglory world of charismatic preachers, I know it when I see men concentrating more on gaining popularity than sharing the person of Jesus with the world. The leading way this is done is through these ubiquitous conferences reformed churches hold around the world. Now, we are all trying to outdo each other with conferences. In Nigeria, the conferences are held at about the close of the year – November – and everybody is trying to draw crowds to their churches. There is no doubt that conferences have their advantages. Except that I do not believe that conferences should be annual. The moment this thing becomes an annual gathering, I see no difference between what we are doing and what Redeemed and Living Faith are doing. Tim Challies quoted Jason Helopoulos as saying this: “We need fewer aspiring conference speakers and more faithful pastors committed to the local churches.”

The moment people like Steve Lawson began to spend more time preaching at conferences, and less time pastoring their flock, they begin to lose the edge of the heart of Christ’s work in the church. Christ never promised to be at conferences – our Lord’s commitment is to the local church. That is why he made Peter understand in John 21 that feeding the sheep and the Lamb is his central concern for his ministers. It means that when we are faithful to our calling as ministers in the local church, Christ will be faithful to preserve us. Conferences will make a pastor a great preacher – it will however detract from his ability to minister to the flock. There is nothing I can exchange for the sheer thrill of seeing a member of my church understand the doctrine of grace. This understanding will not come in the multitude and hullabaloo of a conference gathering; it will come in the place of patient prayer and teaching of God’s people. We will continue to have these falls among ministers as long as we prioritize the wrong things among reformed people. Christ will ensure that those men you have made idols of are brought to the ground – such that we all realize they were mortal men after all.

As we consider the Steve Lawson situation, let me offer my own candid opinion on how to restore a minister who has fallen into a situation now better termed “inappropriate relationship” with a woman besides his wife. First, I think the elders must thank their pastor for being honest and sincere with them on such a subject. Then I think the man should be suspended but in a manner that will be clear to the congregation that his fellow elders have chosen to watch over his soul, and to observe him – pending when he can be restored. If it is a situation of clear sin, where the man had been involved in unrepentant sexual actions, the church may decide to relieve him of his duties. If, as it is in the case of Lawson, the man brought the matter to light himself and is repentant, the church should suspend him for a while and seek to restore him to the pulpit eventually. Like it is with divorce cases, there can be no rule in these matters. It is the local church that should decide on what they will do with their minister. If, unfortunately as it is with Lawson, the minister had spent all his time building other people’s flock through conferences, and paid little attention to his, situations like these will arise and the people in that church will lack the requisite wisdom to deal with the matter. If, however, the man had built his church around sound doctrine, and a graceful spirit, when the days of his own needs arise, the church will rise and support him.

There can be no substitute for the local church. And a church is only as strong as the minister and the people under him. If a church has a wise, godly, and biblical minister, the people will be the same. He will offer his people pastoral care, and in the days when his own needs arise, they will return the favour. What I see in the Steve Lawson situation is a local church that lacks genuine wisdom, filled with Pharisees, and an environment where a lot of ungodly practices will be covered up. What will happen in such a church, denomination, or movement, is that cases of sexual misgiving, or inappropriate relationship with women will abound. This will not be the work of the Spirit of Christ in the churches, it will be the result of a people more concerned with learning from celebrity ministers than learning from the word of God.

Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY.