You probably heard about the recent mishap with Alaska Airlines flight 1282. Shortly after it departed Portland, a door plug blew out of the aircraft’s hull which caused the immediate and uncontrolled decompression of the cabin. The pilots quickly descended to an altitude at which the air was breathable and subsequently brought the plane and all its passengers safely to the ground. Thankfully, no one was killed or seriously injured in the incident.
The incident quickly garnered international coverage and many experts offered their comments on what it might mean for the airline and for the plane’s manufacturer. Patrick Smith, who writes at Ask the Pilot, provided an interesting perspective on all the attention the story garnered. “The amount of coverage we’re seeing serves to remind us of just how safe flying has become.” The story was so big simply because flying is so safe.
His comment got me thinking about the way Christian media and social media cover pastors who make shipwreck of their ministry through immorality or apostasy. Certainly this happens with some regularity and certainly it is never less than tragic. When it does happen, there are always victims, whether it is people the pastor has harmed through his unrestrained lust or people who have become confused about their own faith as they’ve witnessed the destruction of the pastor’s. Any time a pastor falls it is a major incident to those who are closely involved, and rightly so.
And yet just as flight 1282 can be a reminder of how safe flying has become and how the vast majority of flights reach their destination without incident, the fall of a pastor can remind us of all the faithful pastors God has raised up and how the vast majority of them serve their ministry selflessly, dutifully, and successfully. We pay attention to incidents in the air because they are so rare and there is a sense in which we pay attention to pastoral malfeasance for the same reason. If it was common, we would be accustomed to it and pay it little heed. It is its rarity that makes it especially shocking and noteworthy.
Sometimes the news can make it seem that every plane is likely to fall out of the sky and sometimes it can make it seem that every pastor is likely to fall.Share
Of course, we expect that every incident in the skies will be carefully investigated and that it will lead to actions to further improve an industry that is already very safe. Every airline, not just the one involved, becomes safer as the result of an incident or accident. And in the same way, we expect that the downfall of a pastor will cause individuals, churches, and denominations to reaffirm their commitment to godly character, sound doctrine, and safe practices. We expect that it will lead to both individual and corporate soul-searching and that it will lead to appropriate consequences and future protections.
Smith says that incidents like Alaska 1282 “and our focus on them, keep us on our toes. … It’s a way of being proactive and careful, so that we maintain the levels of safety we’ve achieved.” And may the same be true when we learn of a pastor who has rejected the faith he once professed or been found to have caused harm through an unrestrained lust for sex or power. May it cause us to be proactive and careful. But may it also cause us to better appreciate the great majority of the pastors we have known—pastors who serve us faithfully and well. And just as the actions following an incident in the air are meant to increase our confidence in flying, let the actions following an incident within Christianity increase our confidence in the local church.
Sometimes the news can make it seem that every plane is likely to fall out of the sky and sometimes it can make it seem that every pastor is likely to fall. But while the attention that is given to such circumstances is often appropriate, we should not allow it to make us think that it points to a problem that is universal. It should not even make us think it points to a problem that is more common than it actually is. Rather, it should reaffirm that God cares for us by giving us pastors who love us, who serve us, and who live to be a blessing to us.
(I wrote this article several weeks ago and scheduled it for today. Please don’t consider it a passive-aggressive response to any specific situation. By design, I was not thinking of any person in particular.)

Every one of us must deal with God. Every one of us must, at some time, face God. Every one of us must be prepared to give an account to God. For, as Scripture says, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” or “to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). F.B. Meyer once reflected on this reality, then charged his readers to consider the fact carefully and to prepare themselves well.

We all have to do with God. You cannot break the connection.
You must do with Him as a rebel, if not as a friend, on the ground of works, if not on the ground of grace, at the great white throne, if not in the fleeting days of time.
You cannot do without God. You cannot do as you would if there were no God. You cannot avoid having to do with Him, for even though you were to say there was no God, doing violence to the clearest instincts of your being, yet still you would breathe His air, eat His provender, occupy His world, and stand at last before His bar.
…
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.
Do you want guidance? Look up! those eyes wait to guide by a glance.Are you in sorrow? They will film with tears.Are you going astray? They shall beckon you back, and break your heart, as they did Peter’s.
You will come to find your heaven in the light radiated by the eye of God, when once you have learned to meet it, clad in the righteousness of Jesus.
Unconverted reader, remember there is no screen from the eye of God. His eyes are as a flame of fire; and our strongest screens crackle up as thinnest gauze before the touch of that holy flame. Even rocks and hills are inadequate to hide from the face of Him that sits upon the throne.

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Children’s Hunger Fund (CHF). They have three book bundles for giveaway, featuring titles that have both influenced CHF’s ministry and will hopefully encourage you and your famil y. Each giveaway package will also include hand-selected items from the Children’s Hunger Fund store. The giveaway will close on Monday, April 24 at noon EST.

Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church by Paul David Tripp
The church is experiencing a leadership crisis. What can we do to prevent pastors from leaving the ministry?
For every celebrity pastor exiting the ministry in the spotlight, there are many lesser-known pastors leaving in the shadows. Pastor and best-selling author Paul David Tripp argues that lurking behind every pastoral failure is the lack of a strong leadership community. Tripp draws on his decades of ministry experience to give churches twelve gospel principles necessary to combat this leadership crisis.
Each of these principles, built upon characteristics such as humility, dependency, and accountability, will enable new and experienced leaders alike to focus their attention on the ultimate leadership model: the gospel.

Agape Leadership: Lessons in Spiritual Leadership from the Life of R.C. Chapman by Alexander Strauch and Robert L. Peterson
Today we are desperately in need of examples of true Christian leadership. In the life of Robert Chapman we have such an example. Chapman was a widely respected Christian leader in England during the last century as a pastor, a teacher, and an evangelist. But he was best known for his remarkable life of love.
Chapman became legendary in his own time for his gracious ways, his patience, his kindness, his balanced judgment, his ability to reconcile people in conflict, his absolute fidelity to Scripture, and his loving pastoral care. By the end of his life, Chapman was known worldwide for his love, wisdom and compassion. He became so well known in England that a letter from abroad addressed only to “R.C. Chapman, University of Love, England” was correctly delivered to him.
In Agape Leadership, you will see godly, pastoral leadership in action through these biographical snapshots from Chapman’s life.

The Moon Is Always Round by Jonathan Gibson, illustrated by Joe Hox
Even young children want answers to the hard questions about God and suffering. In The Moon Is Always Round, seminary professor and author Jonathan Gibson uses the vivid imagery of the moon to explain to children how God’s goodness is always present, even when it might appear to be obscured by upsetting or difficult circumstances.
In this beautiful, full-color illustrated book, he allows readers to eavesdrop on the conversations he had with his young son in response to his sister’s death. Father and son share a simple liturgy together that reminds them that, just as the moon is always round despite its different phases, so also the goodness of God is always present throughout the different phases of life.
A section in the back of the book offers further biblical help for parents and caregivers in explaining God’s goodness to children. Jonathan Gibson reminds children of all ages that God’s goodness is present in the most difficult of times, even if we can’t always see it.
All you need to do to enter the drawing is drop your name and email address in the form below.
Giveaway Rules
You may enter one time. When you enter, you permit Children’s Hunger Fund to send you marketing emails. The winners will be notified via email. The giveaway closes on Monday, April 24 at noon EST.

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