Does the road wind uphill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
(Christina Rossetti, 1861)
I was planning to return to this column by writing some inspirational piece to begin the year. But like many I was blindsided by the news of Philip Yancey’s confession of adultery. It wasn’t just a one-time weakness. It was eight years. Like many, I’ve been blessed by his writings which are biblical and compassionate. There are few who know how to do this — to be rooted in Scripture yet compassionate about the human condition. Ironically, he will now need people who will love him and hold him accountable with the same biblical fidelity and compassion.
I suspect the news of such giants falling shocks us because we tend to put our leaders on pedestals. When we do so, it’s so much more painful when we see them fall. Maybe part of the problem is us? We should not be putting our leaders on pedestals, to begin with. We should be loving and encouraging our leaders as we should be loving and encouraging all our brothers and sisters.
But there’s no running away from the horror of adultery. It’s a betrayal of vows made to God and to one’s spouse, and to one’s community. In this case, since the other person involved was also married, many more lives have been pained.
To date, we have not been told when these events happened. It could have been earlier in his life and had stopped already but if it happened recently, and his confession marks the ending of the eight years, then we need to note that this is a person who has committed adultery in his 70s and is struggling with Parkinson’s. We may think that as a man gets older his testosterone level will drop, and he’ll be less inclined to sexual sin. But sexual sin is rarely about sex itself and is often related to other needs and wounds.
I read this story as someone who is now entering his 70s. It makes me more aware of my own need to take care of my spiritual life and my walk with God and my love for my beloved wife. I don’t think that growing older means that we are less susceptible to temptation. The kinds of temptations we are more vulnerable to will probably differ as we age. Maybe seniors grapple more with pride, a sense of entitlement, the difficulty of forgiving people, etc. I think the enemy knows us well enough to tailor-make a set of temptations for each of us. And, of course, there is always the temptation to sexual sin, a perversion of the gift that God gives to those in covenant marriage, and which holds the promise of acceptance and intimacy.
I suspect that many in ministry, especially those who are most effective, struggle with loneliness and fatigue. When your ministry has blessed many lives, you will receive many invitations to minister. You will often receive generous accolades which can be very seductive and breed pride. If you have a very heavy ministry schedule, it means you have less time to rest, and to spend time in friendships that hold you accountable. All the more, we must live with a Work-Sabbath balance. And we must be walking with a few friends who know us in-depth and who love us enough to hold us accountable.
I suspect that going forward my ministry will be more about how to disciple my peers, those in their late 60s and beyond, not just to remain true to God and committed to ministry, but also to live lives of purity.
I suspect and I hope that many of us have gone beyond a stone-throwing response to people who have fallen. We pray for healing for all those who have been hurt by Yancey’s adultery, and that includes many of his readers. Yancey has done the right thing in confessing, repenting, and withdrawing from ministry. We hope that in time, and there are no shortcuts for these things, his confession and repentance will lead to restoration and healing. This is what we desire for him.
As we begin a new year, we recommit ourselves to the Lord and ask Him for wisdom and strength for 2026 to be a year where we remain true to Him and to the ones that we love. Help us, Lord.