He also had a history of this behavior. He now blames those who left the church as not having “love”.

Why do pastor’s fall? It’s simple. They’re broken people living in a broken world, just like the rest of us. I would like to shoot the person who decided that it was a good idea to place a pastor on a higher pedestal (literally and figuratively) than the rest of us. We look to them for guidance and for direction (and to an extent we should), but their position in ‘the church’ is no greater in the kingdom of God than the janitor faithfully collecting the trash or cleaning the toilets every week or the nursery worker holding a crying infant. Every person equally plays their part in the body of Christ.

But somewhere along the line we’ve elevated the position of pastor to an unhealthy level. We’ve created “glamour roles” in the church, starting with the pastor down to the worship leader, etc. I think it’s because of this pressure and in some cases even popularity, that leads to a pastor trying to find strength in his own abilities. Over time, one mistep after another lends itself to public failure and then we all wonder how/why it happened. Pastors need accountability too. They need friendship. Constant prayer and fellowship. I’ve seen firsthand how Satan absolutely barrages a pastor and his family, in ways the average person sitting in a pew will never understand. If you want to watch the dominoes fall, it only takes one and who better than the “head”?