A viral behaviour that has contaminated the body of Christ is to minimise sin while protecting one's public image. It is not transforming grace, but about scandalous denial.
Photo: [link]I. Seddoug[/link], Unsplash, CC0.
We live in times when the spiritual has become a spectacle, where the platform weighs more than the process, and grace—misunderstood—becomes an excuse to cover up wounds that never heal. Not all, but some— who should reflect the message they preach— have turned the pulpit into a stage, restoration into a superficial act, and brokenness into an emotional strategy to manipulate the discernment of others.
Likewise, one of the most viral behaviours that has contaminated the body of Christ is to minimise sin while protecting one's public image. When a leader falls and, instead of confessing out of conviction, does so because of external pressure, we are not talking about transforming grace, but about scandalous denial. It is a defensive dynamic focused on safeguarding reputation, not healing hearts. This is not a voluntary process of confession and restoration, but a covert reaction. It is disguised as a profound spiritual journey, but in the long run it ends up doing much more damage than it appears.
The most delicate thing is that, sometimes, an entire community — whether physical or virtual — participates in this same game without knowing it. Emotions are manipulated with vague speeches. Silence and loyalty are spiritualised, and narratives such as ‘ministerial rest’ or ‘personal retreat’ are constructed to avoid naming what really happened.
On the other hand, in this same context, when someone dares to break the script of complicit silence, they immediately become an uncomfortable target.
Not because they attack, but because they say what many prefer to keep hidden. In certain circles, people do not seek sincere friends who will confront them with the truth, but allies who will justify any decision, even the most harmful ones.
I believe that one of the most urgent crises in church leadership today is not the lack of spiritual gifts, but the lack of integrity.
[destacate] Those who lead and preach without integrity do not build up... they manipulate. A community that applauds the character and discards or ignores the truth has only normalised the distortion of grace[/destacate]In many spaces, those who expound or teach the Word have been allowed to become actors: fictional characters designed to please the audience, sustain structures and deliver messages that, even if they sound countercultural, seek to ‘please’ rather than transform. Today, unfortunately, preaching is done more to meet the expectations of others, even at the expense of the truth.
To what extent has it become normal—and even rewarded—for someone to have to ‘act’ in order to be accepted and promoted in ministry?
God does not anoint ‘characters.’ God anoints people. Real, upright people: people who fall, who get up, who cry and truly repent. People who do not cover up their mistakes, but surrender them to be transformed.
The problem is not stumbling. It is insisting on masks.
Because those who lead and preach without integrity do not build up... they manipulate. And a community that applauds the character and discards or ignores the truth of the man or woman behind it has not understood the depth of grace. It has only normalised its distortion.
In recent years, I have heard so much talk about God's love — as there should be — but sometimes ‘that love’ is used as a barrier and an excuse to avoid confrontation and demand mercy without brokenness. Phrases are proclaimed such as:
And of course, Jesus loved the sinner. But he never tolerated hypocrisy.
If we remain silent in the face of truth, we participate in the harm.When grace is reduced to an emotional excuse to avoid the desert, it ceases to be grace and becomes spiritual manipulation. Those who are covered up today will repeat the same sin tomorrow, because God was never allowed to transform their lives. Because everything that is not confronted, worked through and restored will inevitably repeat itself... and each time with more devastating consequences.
We cannot continue to pretend that it is okay to protect one — or a few — while dozens, hundreds, and even thousands end up being hurt.
A sin is a transgression; a mistake is an error
[destacate]Biblical restoration is a long road, not an excuse. It requires brokenness, repentance, discipline from the Lord, and sufficient time[/destacate]Another equally dangerous symptom in spiritually anaesthetised communities is the softening of language. We no longer speak of sin, but of ‘mistakes,’ ‘slips,’ or ‘difficult stages.’
But the Bible does not bother to accommodate our current cultural sensibilities:
‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’ (1 John 1:8)
Biblical restoration is a long road, on which there are no “shortcuts” (what we call “false bridges” in therapy). It is a process—and God is a God of processes—not an excuse. It requires brokenness, repentance, discipline from the Lord, and sufficient time.
Where there is no confrontation, there is no change.
Where there is no change, there is no transformation.
And where sin is not recognised by its name, there is no need for the cross or the Saviour.
I have seen leaders display emotional symptoms not as the fruit of genuine repentance, but as an unconscious strategy ‘not to lose the applause,’ the platform or the persona. Because in many cases, the show weighs more than the truth.
[destacate] True leadership is built on consistency and honesty. Genuine ministry is not forged in gift or talent, but in the humility that comes from recognising our need for God[/destacate]I have seen families who, instead of accompanying with love and firmness, cover up with dangerous silences, justifying the unjustifiable out of misguided loyalties.
I have seen communities that do not heal, not because God does not want to restore them, but because they never dare to call things by their name.
I have heard others say, ‘We couldn't have known this was going to happen.’ And perhaps, in secular leadership, that excuse would make sense. But those who have been called to spiritual leadership—and even more so when they represent a community or an entire denomination—are called to discern in the Spirit what is really happening.
It is not enough to have good intentions or to want to protect personal relationships; it is the responsibility of a servant of God to walk in integrity, lead with responsibility, speak the truth, confront with discipline, obey the Lord in everything, and humbly acknowledge when they have failed in that discernment.
True leadership is built on consistency and honesty, not on spectacle or appearance. Genuine ministry is not forged in gift or talent, but in brokenness; in the humility that comes from recognising our need for God. And when a man or woman recognises their fragility and vulnerability, and shows in their lives the restoring power of an almighty God, the message changes. No longer is “the person” the protagonist of the story, but the One who pulled them out of the deepest hole they found themselves in.
The church that heals and is truly functional is the one that dares to confront with firmness and compassion, to restore with truth and to redeem with purpose. Not the one that, under a misunderstood “grace,” ends up justifying the unjustifiable.
Around the world, thousands of Christians risk their lives for the truth of the gospel. Many die every day because of their faith, facing persecution, imprisonment, abuse and humiliation, even death, rather than deny or dishonour the name of Christ. And while they live and die with dignity, we hide behind cowardly excuses.
Integrity is the bastion that sustains the truth we profess. It is not fair to the gospel or to those who stand honourably for their faith that we behave this way. The light of the gospel must shine in us once again.
[destacate] If we continue to take refuge in the justification that ‘we are human and we all fail,’ we will never strive to be like Jesus. We must look to Him, not to others[/destacate]The gospel demands honour and integrity. There are no excuses that can replace it. If we continue to take refuge in the justification that ‘we are human and we all fail,’ we will never strive to be like Jesus. We must look to Him, not to others. As long as we continue to compare ourselves to those around us, we will never achieve the purpose of being transformed into His image. Our only model is Christ, not those who walk alongside us.
Perhaps we need to rediscover the Saviour, see His face again, and remember the purity of His call.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).
At a time when the temptation to live for appearances and self-justification is so strong, we must be alert. The enemy never sleeps; he seeks those who are distracted, who allow themselves to live in denial or falsehood, because he knows that when he strips them of the truth, life becomes vulnerable.
I know this because I have been there myself. I have needed forgiveness, companionship, and restoration. I have experienced wounds that have marked me and also moments when I have caused pain, but all of this has shaped me.
I have felt God's firm hand correcting me with love: not to expose me, but to transform me. There were long seasons when I had to remain silent, sit down and wait; many times I had to give up what I held on to most, lose in order to win. It wasn't easy, but it was real. In the midst of brokenness, I discovered that God is not a designer of appearances, but a craftsman of the soul.
He does not cover up scars; He heals them from within. That is why I believe in a grace that does not conceal, but transforms. Because I have experienced it. And because I know that it is there, in that sincere process, where restoration truly begins.
I write these words from the cracks that His hand has healed and with the certainty that only His grace, received in truth, can sustain and transform what no appearance can ever maintain.
• Am I the same person in private and in public?
• Have I disguised as ‘grace’ what is really avoidance or fear of confrontation?
• Am I part of a community that protects the truth... or hides sin?
• Do I surround myself with people who confront me with love, or only with those who applaud me without thinking?
José Daniel Pino, evangelical pastor and family therapist in Spain.
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