Seminary President Albert Mohler addressed the controversy surrounding his friend Stephen J. Lawson during Tuesday's chapel service, calling it a “moral disaster” and saying he would never be alone with a woman who is not his wife. He called on men to uphold the principle of not doing anything.
“Make sure you have safeguards and policies in your life that protect you from being exposed to this type of vulnerability, this type of temptation, this type of sin,” said President Mohler of the Southern Baptist Church. It means avoiding certain patterns in life.” Seminary.
Lawson, 73, was removed from his pastorate at Trinity Bible Church in Dallas, Texas, because of what elders said was an “inappropriate relationship with a woman.” Lawson is the founder of OnePassion Ministries, a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries, and a professor of preaching at the Master of Divinity School.
“The collapse of this house is huge,” Mohler said.
Mohler never mentioned Lawson's name, but he acknowledged that the news was shocking.
“What I want to share with you is that I never expected something like this to happen.…When a catastrophe like this befalls us, it is hard to look back and connect the dots. ” he said. “…they didn't form a pattern until I looked back. And one of those patterns was the experience of spending so much time traveling alone and spending time alone around the world. I think so.”
Mohler said the dots “should tell us something.”
“I want to speak more frankly than I have ever spoken before from this chapel, from this pulpit,” he said. “And I would like to share with you the words that a man of great honor in the Christian ministry, whose name I will not reveal, spoke to me. His words were as follows: “You Don't have sex with women, if you won't be alone with a woman, you're not a wife.
“The moment we allow something to happen, we expose ourselves to greater temptation than we would resist.”
This principle “is not just for pastors,” he says.
“This is for everyone,” Mohler said.
Such principles are often referred to as the “Billy Graham Rule,” after the late evangelist. Graham in his autobiography me as I amwrote about “the dangers of sexual immorality.”
“Everyone knew about the preachers who had fallen into immorality while traveling and separated from their families,” Graham writes of him and his team. “We made a vow among ourselves to avoid situations that gave the appearance of compromise or suspicion. From that day on, I would never travel, meet, or dine alone with a woman other than my wife. We decided to honor the mission of the apostle Paul, “flee from the desires of youth.''2 Timothy 2:22KJV).
On the other hand, Mohler said he doesn't feel that more pastors are failing than before, but rather that it's being “communicated instantly everywhere through social media and the digital revolution.”
“We do not feel that the numbers are increasing, but the social damage to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the mission of the Church, the wounding of the Lamb, and the damage to the reputation of the Gospel are increasing,” Mohler said. . .
Mohler encouraged students and pastors to remain humble.
“The Bible teaches that we should look at this issue not with some kind of moral superiority complex, but with a feeling of, 'Only by the grace of God will I get there.' And at any age, , No one can overcome temptation and the danger of falling under any circumstances.”
“…I just want to say that we need to pray for everyone involved.”
Photo credit: ©albertmoller.com
michael faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His articles have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star, and Knoxville News Sentinel.
