Jack Hayford

The recent rash of marital failures among high-profile Christian leaders is forcing a showdown in the church. It isn't a showdown between those who have failed and those who might criticize them—it's a confrontation needed to face down a mind-set that, if left unchanged, will bring an onslaught of hellish delusion. It's time we take a hard look at why so many marriages—especially of those in leadership—are being torn apart. We need to know how to respond and what the consequences could be if decisive action is not taken now.

There simply is no way to describe the present situation in lesser terms: We are at a point of crisis. Failure has been evident across the entire spectrum, from renowned evangelical Bible preachers to charismatic evangelists, and from noted national youth leaders to ascending Christian TV superstars. Though the unprecedented increase in the number of broken marriages and moral failures occurring in general among church leaders is tragic enough, the crisis is amplified when high-visibility leaders go in and out of marriages.

The Bible says in Galatians 3:28 that because of what Christ has done, there are no longer any differences among us. “There is neither Jew nor Greek” (no ethnic or national difference); “neither slave nor free” (no economic difference); “neither male nor female” (no gender difference), “for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus” (NKJV). This verse refers to the equality we have in God.

But if we are all equal, how is it that the church has so often been guilty of sanctifying a chauvinistic system in which women are put—and not always gently—in second place? I believe it is time for us to revisit the issue of what a woman’s place is in God’s order of things.

She was the picture of shyness, standing at the door and bashfully glancing my way to ask, “Can I see you, Pastor Jack? “

I beckoned to her, and the 8-year-old walked across the prayer room to where I stood. I knelt to greet the child, so our eyes were at the same level.

“Hi, Aimee,” I smiled. “What do you want?” “Pastor Jack, I wanted you to hear a song the Lord gave me.”

The service was about to begin, but right then she seemed a more precious and urgent matter than the multitude gathering for worship.

“Sing it for me,” I said. And she did. It was a tender little tune.

“That’s beautiful, Aimee. You keep singing it to the Lord Jesus, will you?”

Breathe deeply. Do it again, please. Now, touch the most solid object near you and answer this question: Which of these two is most important in sustaining your life—breath or material things? Simple to answer, isn’t it? Breath, of course. Without breathing we cannot live. Our bodies need a constant supply of oxygen, and it’s …

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