And why integrity doesn’t mean perfection.

In the Old Testament book of 1 Kings, we find a challenge to consider within the area of leadership. But first, let’s get some context.

By this point in the Scriptures, King David, who was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), has walked through a significant moral fall (2 Sam. 11-14). As great as he was at following God, he was human, fell into sin, and suffered greatly for it.

What should happened to David now?

• Should he be cut off from ever leading again?
• Should all society shun him?
• Should a public forum be held to discuss his punishment?
• Should we cancel him completely, and erase him from history?

All of that sounds pretty straightforward doesn’t it? I mean, that’s how we deal with leaders who fall in our society today. We have such an advanced culture in comparison, so it must be the best method, right?

Perhaps we’re missing something? Maybe we should pause and take a look at the bigger picture?

A moral failure shouldn’t erase decades of faithfulness.

Using David as our example, we must consider David’s fall within the context of a life of faithfulness, following the Lord. Does that make him innocent? No. Does that erase his destructive behaviour? No, but it still matters.

What about the end of his life? We see the outcome in the first verses of 1 Kings, at the very end of David’s life.

“1Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. 2Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.” 3So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.”

Did you catch that? He’s old in years and struggling to stay warm. So, they decided to bring a beautiful young woman to lay in bed with him, and keep him warm, but “the king knew her not.” This means, he didn’t have sex with her. Even though, he likely could have if he wanted to.

• Side-Note: Interesting that they used body-to-body warming, which is now a well-known wilderness survival technique for hypothermia victims.

Some may argue that he was too old to make any advances on the woman. It’s possible, but I don’t think so. I’ve met enough creepy old men to know that lust doesn’t age out or die. I think David’s failure was a hard journey, and he learned a hard lesson, and he remembered it. Considering he was advanced in years, and he would soon be seeing the Lord face-to-face. I think David chose integrity over pleasure.

Still think David should have been cancelled?

Let’s look at a couple of comparisons. First, consider David’s life in comparison to the men who followed David throughout his life. Why didn’t we ever read about their sin? Were they perfect? Not if they were human. Did they have any significant moral failures? They may have, but we didn’t read about them. Why not? Because they weren’t in leadership, so it’s not recorded.

Remember that lots of people fall into sin. Lots of people have destructive events following sinful behavioural choices every day. And yet, we don’t hear about them because they’re not in leadership.

Now, compare the leaders who came after David.

As a second comparison, the men in leadership following David’s reign didn’t seem to have a specific time of moral failure. And yet, there were definitely certain areas of their life that were over-all, very sinful. There character in general lacked integrity in areas, so there was no big fall from faithfulness.

Look at Solomon and Jeroboam as examples. Both of these men made overall life-choices that separated them from God.

First, we read about Solomon.

“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.” (1 Kings 11:1-2)

God had requested that Solomon lead the people of Israel. Yet, Solomon was more concerned with setting up the first Playboy mansion! Surely Solomon would have remembered the blessings that David experienced by following God’s commands, but his lustful desires for women consumed his better judgment. So much so, that it was recorded as a life-practice instead of a time of failure.

Next, we read about Jeroboam.

“Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.” (1 Kings 12:31)

God specifically appointed the Levites as the tribe responsible for spiritual oversight. That didn’t matter to Jeroboam though! Obviously, he wanted to stack the deck with his own people. So once again, we see a man who has been appointed into leadership, yet he lacks integrity in overall life-chooses, neglecting faithfulness to God’s instruction and guidance.

So, how should we view leaders who fall?

The short answer is, we need to stop cancelling them. We need to stop giving a life-long cancelling to leaders who have experienced a significant moral failure.

I get it, that when a leader is caught in a moral failure, there are often victims and corporate wounds. So those leaders should definitely step away so a time, giving space for healing and restoration, for everyone involved.

As for the leader experiencing consequences, they will. And it will wound them deeply. They will experience consequence in their marriage, their family, close friends, and the organization they lead. Believe it or not, it will hurt enough without us publicly blasting them over and over again on social media.

Instead of cancelling the leader, we should pause and consider their faithfulness over the span of time that they served.

• Did they love the Lord?
• Did they follow God?
• Did they live a life of integrity up until that moment?

If so, let’s not forget that. Let’s pray for them, asking God to restore them to that previous time, when they honoured Him and followed Him.

Yes, Scripture does state that leaders will be judged more severely (Jam. 3:1), and therefore, the consequences will be more severe. Nevertheless, let’s let God do the judging, and let leadership teams and boards provide subsequent consequences and pathways for restoration.

What about leaders like Solomon and Jeroboam?

What if we have leaders who have a pattern of moral failure? We can’t ignore that this is different. This is truly a character and integrity issue. In these situations, I believe that their faithfulness to God should be put into question, when reviewed in line with their behaviour and decisions.

This is obviously a complicated process, that may lead to leadership structure problems within the board or leadership team.

• Why was this person chosen?
• How did they get into leadership or influence?
• Who is following them?
• Why are they allowed to continue leading?

These questions will likely bring to light a systematic problem that needs to be corrected, so that a faithful leader with integrity can be chosen to lead into the future.

How should we choose our next leader(s)?

Every church, non-profit or business has some form of leadership that is governing the mission, vision and values of the organization. When it comes to choosing leaders, we should carefully consider the overall character and integrity of the individual.

They should be men and women who are faithful to Scripture both in what they say and how they behave. The Word of God is not just something they talk about but it is displayed as a standard for their lives.

They should be men and women who faithful to the mission, vision and values both in word and action. Unless of course, they have been asked to help lead the organization toward a revitalization of these core purposes.

They can be men and women who have failed in the past. Don’t rule out someone because they have a blemish, until you know all the details. Look at it, talk to them about it, and in doing so, integrity will rise to the surface. If Jesus has restored their heart, He can restore their leadership as well.

Overall, may we continue to seek out men and women who carry overall faithfulness to God and integrity in life. By obtaining these leaders, we will experience seasons of health and growth.