We can all learn from Yancey’s confession
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I grieved learning about Philip Yancey’s eight-year affair with a married woman. My initial feelings were anger and frustration that a great author and my teacher in so many ways had compromised his very effective ministry and witness due to a lengthy affair. Then I read the letter of confession and admission that he sent to Christianity Today. I was surprised by how quickly the feelings I had at first melted away. I encourage you to take the time to read it.
Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing About Grace, was a needed teaching in my life. I can honestly say that nothing about his affair removes a single word of truth from that book, and maybe from any other book he has written or sermon he has preached.
Yancey isn’t accountable to us. He is accountable to God, and his letter of confession to Christianity Today reads like a thoughtful, Davidic confession. That’s what I want to talk about in this article today.
What can all of us learn from Yancey’s mistakes, and especially from his confession?
Are you sick of sexual sin?
Before I write another word, I want to say clearly and bluntly: I am married to a preacher who has never been anything but faithful to me and our marriage vows. Don’t spend any time reading between these lines and wondering about that. We have been married forty-five years and counting. I jokingly tell people (even previous pulpit committees who were looking to hire him) that I have always told Jim, “If you ever have an affair, the last thing you need to worry about is losing your ministry!” I just think it’s good to be blunt and honest about most things! “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord, but it’s good to let your spouse know you are next in line.
I am blessed to be married to one of the straightest arrows you will ever know. That said, I have accused Jim a few times over the years of prioritizing his relationship with a church over his relationship with me. Almost every preacher’s wife who is reading this article is nodding her head and shouting “amen” right now. Truthfully, ministry wives (and husbands) are just as called to the ministry as their spouses. They give a great deal of themselves to the churches they serve, but in return, they receive many blessings.
One of the biggest problems we encountered in our pastoral ministry was the staff members who fell into the area of sexual sin. When a person in ministry falls, it impacts everyone and everything he has accomplished while on staff. Satan is a brilliant economist. When a Christian leader falls, many of those they have ministered to also fall. That’s why I wanted to write this article.
Are people in ministry more prone to sexual sins?
I am not a counselor or statistician, but we have dealt with this issue a lot more often than I would have thought. We have learned a few things along the way. I read a great article from a Pentecostal minister that is worth reading. We should pray for everyone in a position of public ministry. Each day, they arrive at work with a target on their backs. Ministers don’t need to wonder about that; they need to know that. Satan is after those in ministry and desperately wants them to fall. Almost everyone in ministry is gifted by God to do their work.
Here are my thoughts on the “why” those targets exist.
- God often blesses a person’s ministry for the sake of others, even when he is unable to bless their own lives because of their sin. People line up to tell ministers how a sermon or church program was a blessing to them, making it easy for preachers to think, “Well, God is still using me, so it must not be that bad.”
- Many in the church treat the person with respect, even if the person is not respectable.
- Ministry can appeal to the broken who are seeking admiration and respect, thinking that God will “fix them” if only they attend seminary or serve a church.
- The vast majority of a church staff are called, equipped, gifted, and compassionate people. The weak side of those gifts can sometimes lead to wrong choices.
And ALL of those points above are true for every Christian, even a gifted man like Philip Yancey.
What should we learn from Yancey’s confession?
- Philip Yancey wrote: “To my great shame, I confess that for eight years I willfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman.” He was blunt and honest, boldly confessing to God and everyone about his sin. He did not make excuses or explain, hoping to find understanding for his sin. He understood it was sin and that he needed to be forgiven. The apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). I believe God has forgiven Philip, and that’s how I should feel.
- Philip Yancey’s wife said, “I, Janet Yancey, am speaking from a place of trauma and devastation that only people who have lived through betrayal can understand. Yet I made a sacred and binding marriage vow 55½ years ago, and I will not break that promise. I accept and understand that God through Jesus has paid for and forgiven the sins of the world, including Philip’s. God grant me the grace to forgive also, despite my unfathomable trauma. Please pray for us.” James, the half-brother of Christ, told his church, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). Janet Yancey has asked us to pray for her. I feel called to pray for her right now. Will you?
- Philip Yancey also accepted the consequences of his sin. He said, “I am now focused on rebuilding trust and restoring my marriage of 55 years. Having disqualified myself from Christian ministry, I am therefore retiring from writing, speaking, and social media. Instead, I need to spend my remaining years living up to the words I have already written. I pray for God’s grace and forgiveness—as well as yours—and for healing in the lives of those I’ve wounded.” The apostle Paul told us, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).
I was so glad that Philip Yancey confessed his sin to so many who have been blessed by his ministry – and confessed with the same honesty we see with King David in the Bible. Even great servants of God fail; they always have and always will. That target Satan has placed on Christians in leadership is dangerous. If you want a powerful witness, then you need to understand that you are accepting that target.
A powerful ministry requires an effort to maintain a strong dependence on God and a strong effort to walk in humble desperation for the strength only his Holy Spirit provides. When tempted, we are to submit to God, run away from Satan’s ideas, and beg for God’s thoughts through prayer, Bible study, and an overwhelming desire to walk in his ways.
Yancey’s letter is a powerful lesson. How does God want us to apply his confession to our own lives? Pray for the Yanceys, the other family that was involved, and then allow the Spirit to turn your prayer inward. We all have things to confess with a pure heart, and choices to make that will move us toward God’s higher standards.
Our prayers can prompt the Romans 8:28 of another minister’s fall and bring God glory as we work to help bring about his kingdom purpose.
