Beyond the Pulpit: Why Character Matters in Church Leaders S6E20

I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Does your church or ministry struggle with physical, emotional, or spiritual safety issues? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison and I’m so glad you’ve joined me today. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission on this podcast is to find actionable steps to improve every aspect of safety in our houses of worship and beyond. We’re going to do that by investigating The Unlovley Truth about real crime news stories that are happening in real churches. I’ve got new cases for us to investigate today, so let’s dive right in. 

 

Highlights from this episode include:

 

• “The Money Doctor” turns out to be “The Money Thief”
• Another Texas megachurch does terrible PR job
• Former pastor, longtime criminal

 

2 Peter 1:3-8

 

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

 

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is an excellent blueprint for living a holy and mature life AND it can help us recognize who around us is doing the same and who maybe needs to not be in a leadership position

 

First, let’s notice that we get these attributes through God’s holy power. It’s not about our awesomeness, which means we must be humble. And we need to look for humble leaders. 

 

Peter explains why things can go sideways - we give in to evil desires. One way to avoid that is to be accountable to people. Allow them to speak into your life when they see areas of weakness or sin. And for goodness sake, let’s stop following leaders who refuse to be accountable. If anyone says something like you can’t hold leaders responsible because the Bible says “do not touch my anointed ones - they are taking that Scripture completely out of context. It’s about the patriarchs in the Old Testament. It’s not a license to refuse to be held accountable today.

 

Moving on - start with faith, add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. If your leaders aren’t displaying these traits in increasing measure - it’s time for new leaders. 

Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com. 

 

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“The Money Doctor” turns out to be “The Money Thief"

 

Another Texas megachurch does terrible PR job

 

Former pastor, longtime criminal