WHY ARE CLERGY TEMPTED BY SEX? It happened again. A decent pastor with multiple gifts destroys his promising ministry by having an affair. The church feels betrayed and their sense of trust in future clergy and, perhaps the church and faith itself, is seriously damaged. The denomination agonizes over how they can prevent other pastors from making a similar mistake.
If you would have asked this intelligent pastor before these events if for a brief thrill, he would like to destroy his career and have his faith called into question, he would have told you that that would be crazy. Yet it happens again and again.
SEMINARIANS FACE THIS ISSUE TOO
In my novel, A Star and a Tear, amzn.to/1aTDdgs, the protagonist, pastor Frank Sessions, has been asked to speak to seminarians at a local seminary about the relationship between sexuality and spirituality. The seminarians are struggling with how to respond to this issue in light of a recent scandal that has challenged the integrity of faith in their community.
He opens his lecture with a humorous play on the fact that the verb “to know” in Hebrew suggests having sex. He relates that to the statement in Genesis that “Adam knew Eve and she conceived . . .”
“‘The point is,” Frank continued, ‘I think it is vital to the health of your future ministry that you know—no pun intended—what you are doing instead of acting out of ignorance, blissful or otherwise.’ He paused and let his eyes scan the entire audience. ‘Each of you was created by an act of sex.’ He noted the smiles on some of their faces. ‘All of you will be affected by sex throughout your ministry, even if some of you choose the route of celibacy.’ They’re not smiling anymore. Now they’re beginning to think about their own future in the ministry. Frank waited a full ten seconds before continuing.”
A SAD BUT REAL TRUTH
“‘Here is the sad truth. Some of you will have your careers, reputations, even your lives destroyed by an act of sex.’ There were a few heads nodding in awareness. ‘That’s not because you set out to destroy yourself, and it won’t be because you have used reason and logic to arrive at your decision to act.’ He paused for a full five seconds to let his words sink in.
“‘Don’t assume that the corporate leaders, politicians, teachers, pastors, social workers, police, or people in any other professions set out to destroy themselves when they ruined their careers and lives through inappropriate sexual behavior. Whatever makes a person risk everything for a relatively brief physical experience, it is not because they lack intelligence or knowledge. So please don’t think you are safe because you are too smart to do such a thing.’
“The students were listening now. It was no longer an academic subject—it was their lives that were at risk. They chose to enter the profession full of hope, and they now saw that the future held risk and danger for them. Frank wanted them to understand that the danger was real, and he seemed to be getting that message through.”
IT TAKES MORE THAN KNOWLEDGE
The exploration of that theme is integrated into the mystery novel. I include the excerpt here to emphasize the point that you do not educate yourself out of this problem.
A mystery novel exploring the church and sexuality
