Ministerial Restoration - By Kenneth E. Hagin

Because the local church is like a family, you will have some of the same problems in a church that you have in a family. Children need to be disciplined, and sometimes church members need to be disciplined or corrected.

But the same thing is true concerning pastors and ministers. Sometimes ministers experience problems — moral, financial, and even doctrinal problems — just as other people can have various problems. Sometimes they need discipline and correction. And we need to help them when we can.

Years ago I asked a leader of a certain denomination, "When ministers miss it and fail, why isn't it handled biblically? The Bible says in Galatians 6:1, '. . . if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.' Why aren't ministers restored like the Bible instructs?"

He said, "Brother Hagin, I believe many men who stumble and sin could be restored. If folks want to repent and do right, they ought to be helped. Of course, if they won't listen and won't take biblical counsel, a ministerial association wouldn't have any choice; they would have to revoke their credentials."

I was concerned about this, because I knew that some ministers who failed and made a mistake could have been restored. Some of them never did get back in the ministry because when they missed it, their denomination publicized it, and their reputations were ruined.

Then when everyone knew about their problem, these ministers were told, "Now go prove yourself." But after their downfall was publicized, no one would fellowship with them! And pastors wouldn't allow them to preach in their churches, so the majority of them never got back into the ministry.

Why don't we restore and recover ministers who have made a mistake? Of course, if they don't want to be recovered and don't want to live uprightly before God, that's a different thing entirely. But I'm talking about ministers who want to repent and do what's right.

In Galatians 6:1, the Bible says, "consider yourself, lest you also be tempted." After all, in the same circumstances, some of us might not have done as well as some of them did. But we are so quick to criticize and judge others.

I was concerned about this, so I went to the Lord in prayer about it. I said, "Lord, Your Word says, '. . . if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. . . .' I said, "Lord, it doesn't say to destroy ministers who miss it by broadcasting their problem; it says to restore them. Why don't we restore them?"

The Lord answered and said, "Your answer is in that verse."

I didn't see what He was talking about. I said to Him again,

"Lord, why don't we restore ministers who stumble and fall?"

He said, "Your answer is in that verse. Read it again."

I read it again, but I still didn't see it. I asked the Lord the third time, and again He said, "Your answer is in that verse. Read it again."

I said, "Well, if it is, I can't see it."

Then again I read, … ye which are SPIRITUAL __________ "

I saw it! The Bible is saying, "If there are any spiritual people among you, they would restore those who have fallen — not judge, criticize, or destroy them."

I said to the Lord, "Oh! I got my answer."

One denomination deals with restoring fallen ministers in a way I feel is most scriptural. For example, years ago one of their ministers got into moral difficulty with one of the women in the church. He was married and so was the woman. They both repented and wanted to walk right before the Lord.

The supervisor of the district came to counsel the minister and told him, "It would be good for you to change churches. We are not going to publicize this to anyone because you've repented and straightened it all out among yourselves. We are going to restore you, but it would be good for you to move to another state, and we will give you an opportunity to prove yourself."

So after a time of restoration, they gave the minister another church to pastor in another state, and they didn't publicize that he had fallen. But they told the supervisor in that other state about the minister's problem, so he could be of help to this minister. They practiced this scripture and restored the man, and they put him in a situation where he could prove himself.

However, this particular minister did the same thing again; he had an affair with a woman in that church too. The district supervisor went to him the second time and gave him a period of time to restore himself spiritually and make restitution.

But this time he told the minister, "We will give you one more chance. But if you get into any moral difficulty the third time, we won't restore you to the pastorate again. You will be immediately dismissed, and you can never renew your papers with us."

The Body of Christ shouldn't publicize everything that happens within its ranks. Things like this shouldn't be brought out in the public. Those of us in the Church should have enough spirituality to deal with these things privately within the confines of the Church.

When something happens in your family, do you go out and broadcast it? No. In the same way, the Church is a family. We ought to have enough sense to know how to deal with some of these problems in the Church and help people so their lives can be restored, not ruined, and they can learn how to be a blessing to the Body of Christ.

I know one minister who was used mightily of God years ago. He got into moral trouble, and the superintendent of that denomination told me, "This man's wife admitted to me that she was to blame for it. She admitted she had never been a wife to him, and it caused her husband to stumble. But she repented, and their marriage was restored."

That man's ministry was also restored, and he had a fruitful ministry. You see, we ought to save people if we can. The Body of Christ should be in the saving business — restoring folks — not destroying them. You understand it's a different thing entirely if people don't want to repent and do what is right. If they want to keep on doing wrong, they will need to be dealt with scripturally.

We do see accountability in the New Testament (1 Cor. 5:5). And following the New Testament pattern, those disciples who went out from the Jerusalem church were accountable to that church (Acts 15:1-23).

In other words, traveling ministers answered to a local congregation. And if there was a problem, they would go back to the home church they came out of for advice or to settle issues of doctrine (see Acts 15). The disciples answered to the church they had come out of as opposed to an outside board or congregation.

Excerpt from He Gave Gifts unto Men by Kenneth E. Hagin