How do you respond when someone who holds a position of authority in your life makes a mistake? Your response to this happening in your life will be very telling about the condition of your heart and, ultimately, your level of submission to the Lord.

Handling Leadership Failures, As a Follower

In Genesis 9, there is a relatively minor story of post-flood Noah and his family after they disembark from the ark. The text tells us that Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. As any decent farmer would, Noah partakes of the fruit of his labor. Ultimately this results in Noah becoming drunk and naked in his tent. It’s evident in this story that Noah made a poor choice and found himself in a rather embarrassing situation. Being naked and passed out drunk in your tent doesn’t exactly scream dignity. However, the point to focus on in this story is what happens next.

Noah’s youngest son Ham happens to see Noah in his inebriated and nude state. At this point in the story Ham has a choice. Ham can either cover his father’s nakedness, or he can choose to publicize his father’s failure. Unfortunately for Ham, he chooses the latter. Instead of choosing to cover his father’s embarrassing moment of failure, he goes outside and tells his brothers Shem and Japheth all about how their father is passed out naked and drunk in his tent. And that response is a revelation of the fallen human condition.

One important thing to recognize when we read scripture is how the text shows us something about our fallen nature. As the scripture reveals our fallen nature to us, we better understand our need for the grace of the gospel. In this case, the scripture shows us that our sinful nature tends to be uncovering to leadership failures when we are followers. Is that true for everyone? Speaking in generalities, yes, but not everyone will always respond similarly. It will always depend on the heart of the individual. In this case, Ham had some rebellion in his heart towards his father and was opportunistic about seeing his father be humiliated. On the other hand, Shem and Japheth were willing to cover their father’s mistake and preserve his dignity. The scripture explains that Shem and Japheth took a garment, placed it on their shoulders, and walked backward into the tent, placing the garment on their father to cover his nudity. At this moment, Shem and Japheth honored their father despite his mistake.

The approval or disapproval of each of the brothers’ decisions can be seen in Noah’s response to them. The scripture tells us that Noah woke up and knew what Canaan had done. Noah then pronounces a curse on Canaan for how he handled the situation. Conversely, Shem and Japheth receive a blessing.

In man’s fallen condition, there’s a tendency to harbor rebellion in the heart towards authority. The nature of man wants what it wants. It often responds with rebellion when forced to submit to what it doesn’t wish to. This rebellion will often express itself in the attempted undermining of authority. That’s the situation we get a glimpse of here in Genesis 9. Rebellion, in the most simple explanation, is the opposition to authority. An important note, there’s no authority apart from God. What that means is that all authority originates from God. Therefore, rebellion against authority is most often a manifestation of a person’s rebellion towards God himself. There’s much more to be said on the subject of authority, but that’s outside the main thrust of this writing.
Let’s take a few moments to make this practical. If you’re reading this article, it’s reasonably safe to assume you have some spiritual authority in your life, whether that be a pastor, elder, Bible study leader, etc. Imagine that you notice this leader making a mistake of some kind. For illustration, let’s assume you observe the leader telling a lie in a moment of weakness. How you handle that failure places you right in the context of the Genesis 9 story we just discussed.

Leaders are not infallible beings. God himself is well aware of this, and we should also be. To hold leaders at any level to an expectation of Christ-like perfection is not only irrational, but it’s also a complete misunderstanding of the fallen human condition. The fallen human condition is one that we all have, leaders or not. At this point, bells in your head will make you want to respond by saying, “the Bible says somewhere that leaders are to be above reproach.” And that is 100% true. But above reproach in no way indicates that perfection is required of them or expected. What does above reproach mean? Above reproach means that your leaders have demonstrated character that shows they live their lives in a way consistent with Biblical teaching, and they have modeled a life and character for you worthy of being followed. It doesn’t mean that they are or will be perfect. As followers of a leader or leaders, we will need to learn to handle the failings of leaders with mercy. It’s safe to say that everyone wants their failings to be addressed mercifully. We ought to treat those who lead us in the same way.

When you have a leader that fails (notice I didn’t say if), it’s wise and preserving to respond like Shem and Japheth, and it’s unwise to respond like Shem. Might you be tempted to react like Shem? Most likely so. That’s where you stop and ask Jesus for the grace to honor the authority he has placed in your life. This is the gospel in action. We human beings need the grace of the gospel to live life in the way that the Lord calls us to live. It’s ok to know you don’t meet the standard. Knowing that means you know that you need the grace to do so. And the grace you need is yours as a provision of the gospel of Jesus. Cry out and ask Jesus to help you love your leaders in a way that honors God. Honoring God by honoring your leaders will promote unity in your church, make your church stronger, and it won’t undermine the leadership of your church. Gossiping about leadership failures only weakens the church and erodes the local body’s spiritual authority.

To summarize, pray for the grace to handle leadership failures in a manner honoring Christ. Also, pray for the leader that their weakness would become a strength. Most importantly, be merciful and forgiving. Leaders are still fallen human beings and will therefore make mistakes. Be careful of your expectations of them and recall what it means to be above reproach. It’s not perfection; it’s consistently living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ and modeling a life worthy of being followed.
At this point, it’s necessary to make a valuable distinction. I used the example of you observing your leader telling a lie above. When that’s a one-time issue, it’s a mistake. When that’s a recurring trend you notice in your leader’s life, that character flaw needs to be addressed. Your leaders are still your brothers and sisters in Christ. Matthew 18 applies to them in the same way it applies to every other member of the body of Christ. Therefore, go to them if you notice a character flaw in them. Go to them one on one and face to face. Don’t go talk to another member of the body about them. Have a conversation with the leader, explaining what you notice. One of two things will likely happen. They will receive what you have to say and, at the very least, prayerfully consider what you’ve shared with them. The other possible outcome is that you will discover that they have an additional character problem: a lack of humility. In the case of the latter, they will deflect your comments, likely become defensive, and offer several blame-shifting excuses. At this point, you should go to another leader in the church and discuss the matter. By another leader, if we’re talking Biblical church government, this would be an elder or another pastor if your church has multiple pastors. From that point, the elder/pastor can shepherd you through the process of handling this very sensitive matter.

To conclude, we humans have a natural predisposition to undermine our authority. As we can see by Genesis 9, it’s a foolish thing to give in to that temptation. Genesis 9 also shows us that it’s good to cover the mistakes of our authority. Ask Jesus for the grace to do this. Pray for your authority often. If you see them struggling, talk to Jesus about them, not one another. Leaders are fallen human beings as well. Handle them with mercy as you want to be handled with mercy in your failings.