It seems like it is impossible to go through a month without hearing of another Christian leader and their misdemeanors. The phenomenon is interpreted differently. Some feel like Pastors are being victimized as believers post their judgements all over social media. Others would prefer to ignore it and avoid all discussions. But unfortunately some Christians have been trying their best to battle through the disillusionment that can often happen when people you trust are discovered to have a secret life.
So what exactly is disillusionment? To be brief, it is the shock, confusion, emotional and/or psychological instability that arises when you realize that the world or aspects therein, don’t work the way you once believed it to. These beliefs that we put our trust in, aren’t necessarily doctrine. They are formulas we have derived through life experience, that we assume to be biblical. For example: “If I do Christian things like serve at church, regularly attend church, read my Bible, pray…I will avoid hard things”. Often it’s not until a challenging situation, that we discover we had these beliefs in the first place. But disillusionment can settle in, in the process of relearning such beliefs.
For any person who is genuinely struggling with the disillusionment that has arisen in relation to such leaders, it is inevitable at some point that you will hear the statement, “Well the fact is they’re only human”. The statement is meant to imply that leaders are only humans too, open to the same temptations and frailties that all humans are. For a disillusioned person the statement couldn’t be more frustrating. They know that the person is only human, but usually that’s not the problem upending your previously perfect worldview. Here are four reasons why this statement can be incredibly difficult for a disillusioned person to swallow:
Why “They’re Only Human” Doesn’t Help
1. It can be dismissive
For the genuinely disillusioned person, they often can’t make sense of the mess in their head. All they have is a sense that something is not right, and no obvious way to organize that confusion. None of the confusion they are experiencing is intended to come across angry, or judgmental. They’re just doing the best they can to find psychological and emotional clarity, which is often buried underneath a massive mess of thoughts. Sometimes the reason we make a statement like this is because we feel some need to defend the leader. Maybe the disillusioned person is being too harsh or we can just sense that they have a really imbalanced view on the situation. And we may be right! Maybe we feel compassion for the leader…and that’s okay too. But if the cost of asserting our opinions equates to a dismissal of a believer’s very genuine and active process of internal reorganization, it probably isn’t worth it. At least not in that specific moment.
