Should “Fallen” Missionaries be Restored?

Mike Winger put a video on Youtube that addresses the question on whether Pastors who have fallen morally should be restored to ministry. It is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPlmF6pLZJE. He brings up numerous issues (13 in all) that should be addressed when it comes to this issue. I found it interesting and relevant. His answer of “Maybe” to the question of restoring pastors is very appropriate. I do recommend watching the video.

A slight concern that I have with the video is that it is almost totally related to sexual sin, with fornication/adultery being the primary area. It is an all too common problem, but there are so many problems that a pastors may have and I am concerned that some churches drift into two tiers of sin— sexual sins (unacceptable) and nonsexual sins (that might be overlooked). That being said, Mike Winger does address somewhat other types of sins as well. For me, the concern is not that we focus too much on sexual sins, but that we worry too little about other types of sins.

But what about missionaries? Let’s start with sexual sins. Should a missionary be restored who has had problems with sexual sins?

I see three issues that makes the situation with missionaries different than for (typical) pastors.

#1. Missionaries often serve in a place where it is easier to get away with sexual misconduct. For some missionaries at least (including myself) accountability partners are not well-positioned to keep track of them. Most churches and communities are positioned better to keep track of their pastoral staff. Just thinking for a brief moment now, I can only think of five missionaries I met who have been caught in sexual sin on the mission field. With more thought I may come up with others. Two of them were in settings where their accountability structure was weak. A third had a more formal accountability structure in place, but because he served in a creative access country, that structure operated at a bit of a distance. The fourth was caught but only after he was retired. Only one, the fifth, was caught on the field in a setting where there is, in theory, a strong accountability structure in place. But in that case, the accountability was more of an illusion. Five is not a really large number… but that probably says more about how easy it is to avoid being caught in the mission field than how few do actually fall in this area.

#2. Although missionary is a ministerial calling just as is a pastor/overseer, there is often a tendency to see it more like a secular job. The process for becoming a missionary can often feel more like interviewing for a secular job than does the process of being called by a church. I am an independent missionary, but in my limited interaction with mission organizations, they often feel a bit like a secular corporation. I remember a Christian musical artist who came to our church many years ago. In a moment of offline forthrightness he expressed the curious quality of Christian Music label meetings. He said that each meeting starts with prayer… but immediately after it is all business— numbers and dollars. Spiritual concerns are bracketed or completely set aside. I think the idea of “firing” a missionary is not as traumatic to most as “firing” a pastor. Christians tend to be closer emotionally to their pastor than to a missionary they support. Additionally, mission organizations often operate on a more openly transactional, rather than relational, way than the typical church.

#3. Missionaries are ambassadors of the faith… often to people who are not Christian. The title itself suggests a more apostolic role— bridging the gospel with those who have not responded. The title pastor, on the other hand, suggests the primary role of ministering to those who are already Christians. In I Timothy 3 it is noted that pastors (that is, overseers) are supposed to have a good reputation with outsiders. Most churches, on the other hand, often don’t care all that much if their pastor has such a reputation in the community. They want their pastors to have a good reputation inside the church, but if outsiders feel otherwise? Not necessarily a problem. Missionaries, on the other hand, can completely be sabotaged by having a bad reputation in the community in which they serve.

Looking at these three points. The third point is that sexual sins can sabotage ministry for a missionary even more than for a pastor. The first point is that the weaker accountability structure (often) may make problems more likely for a person who has a proclivity to yield to sexual temptation. The second point is that there is (usually) less of a pressure to restore missionaries than there is to restore pastors. Situations for missionaries vary wildly, but I think this is where things trend on average.

Based on these… I see sexual sins as being a potentially bigger problem for missionaries. Therefore, there are even bigger practical questions about the wisdom in restoring a missionary to mission ministry than in restoring a pastor to pastoral ministry. Add to that the relative ease of releasing missionaries and I don’t see much of a practical demand to restore missionaries. One of the five I mentioned before had been caught in sin more than once without being “fired” but that person had some friends in high places ministerially. The restoration of that missionary was completely ineffective. More recently, I knew another missionary who committed sexual sin. He also had friends and relatives in high places… but he was immediately “fired.” Maybe things have changed?

Of course, sexual sins are not the only sins. I had a missionary friend who struggled with anger. After a couple of years he had to leave the mission field. In the US, being an angry pastor may not be a big problem. Some angry pastors seem to be appreciated for their “performance art” in preaching, if nothing else. In Asia and many other places, having problem with controlling one’s anger is a BIG problems for missionaries. Trouble with handling money is huge on the mission field. Laziness can also be a huge. These problems can be bigger on the mission field, again, because of less accountability partners.

In the end, I do tend to agree with Mike Winger regarding pastors… and see it even more true for missionaries. He said, we should ALWAYS focus on restoring “fallen pastors” to God… and only SELECTIVELY AND CAUTIOUSLY consider restoring them to ministry.