Well-known expositor and pastor Steve Lawson has resigned from the ministry he founded, OnePassion Ministries, in the wake of revelations he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman.
The board of OnePassion released a statement, saying Lawson has “resigned from all his duties” as president, following his confession of the relationship—“a sin that has disqualified him from ministry.”
It added that Lawson “regrets the damage he has caused to his family, the church, the reputation of OnePassion Ministries and most of all Jesus Christ.” The board stated that all upcoming ministry events and engagements have been canceled.
The board added that Lawson’s sin is a “reminder that we have been warned of the craftiness of the enemy.” It provided a link for current supporters to stop or adjust any “recurring giving.”
Lawson’s resignation from OnePassion follows after Trinity Bible Church of Dallas announced Thursday that the pastor had “been removed indefinitely from all ministry activities” due to his misconduct, The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported.
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Lawson also served as Dean of D.Min. studies at John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary. Though Master’s has not released a statement to the public, Nathan Busenitz, executive vice president and provost at Master’s, sent an email to “Master’s Men,” which was obtained by TRR. In it, Busenitz said the news of Lawson’s “disqualification came as a shock to all of us.”
He added that since Lawson is no longer “above reproach, he has permanently disqualified himself from ministry. As a result, he can no longer be part of the faculty of TMS . . . nor will he be affiliated with our ministries at any level.”
Neither OnePassion’s brief statement, nor Busenitz’s email, clarifies whether the woman involved was under Lawson’s spiritual authority.
TRR has reached out to One Passion, Trinity Bible Church, and The Master’s Seminary for clarification on this issue but has not heard back from any of the ministries or the church.
Texas is one of 14 states with statutes criminalizing clergy sexual misconduct against adults. The Texas law states that a “person commits an offense if . . . the actor is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person’s emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman’s profession character as spiritual advisor.”
Church elder: “There have been a lot of questions”
During last Sunday’s service at Trinity, Elder Mark Becker addressed the scandal briefly, saying, “It’s been a difficult week for all of us. It has been an emotional week. It has been sobering to say the least.”
He also indicated that Trinity will not be answering any questions about the scandal.
“There have been a lot of questions and there’s probably going to be a lot more questions,” he said. “The only questions that are important at this point concern us as a church, as a local body, and how we will move together forward from this.”
Becker emphasized focusing on Christ and being the “Lord’s church.”
“We are here to worship the Lord. . .We will continue to trust that the Lord will lead us forward,” he said.
Lawson, who is married with four children, has authored more than 30 books and worked as a teaching fellow and board member at Ligonier Ministries. Lawson is no longer listed as a fellow on Ligonier’s website, but Lawson’s messages can still be found there.
Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.
28 Responses
I applaud TRR for making this point and keeping it in the news.
Otherwise, it will disappear and remain in obscurity like the Tony Evans mystery has.
It’s surely disrespectful of him (and then) not to come clean and come into the open.
Also, not being transparent invites speculation and isn’t Godly.
Secrecy is not in anyone’s interest.
Words like clean, light, open, transparency and truth are Christian.
Words like darkness, obscurity , closed and lies are unChristian.
God cannot clean up stains that are hidden from Him. Yes, He is omniscient but He will not override our will. We can choose not to show Him.
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and [carnal, unregenerate] men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that does evil hates the light, and will not come to the light out of fear that their deeds will be seen and rebuked.
But he that does truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:19-21)
Thank you Liz, very well written.
It is extremely frustrating, but not surprising, that these ministries are working out of the same communication playbook, saying the same things we have heard time and time again:
– The devil made me do it.
– Don’t ask questions; let’s focus on the church.
– We are “moving forward” (i.e. nothing more to see here).
– Using trite phrases like “worshiping the Lord” and “trusting to Lord”, but giving no details on what
those phrases actually mean to the ones that are saying them. Those phrases shut down discussion,
creating fear in folks that want to hold the church accountable, but don’t want to feel they are bad
worshipers and untrusting of the Lord.
Jesus is about truth and justice. These men who claim to be speaking for Jesus are not answering these questions:
– Under Texas law, was a crime committed?
– What is being done for the victim? The other person (assuming a women), IS a victim. Lawson was in
highly respected Christian leadership positions. Moral failure from men in powerful positions is abuse
that victimizes people.
Again, moral failure from men in powerful positions IS ABUSE THAT VICTIMIZES PEOPLE.
Your mention of a possible violation of Texas law is well-founded. My sense is that the woman involved is in California. There was more time and space in Lawson’s life at the Master’s seminary, etc., for him to practice extra-cirricular activities. MacArthur and his minions would have looked the other way for as long as they could.
The Master’s Seminary and Grace Church do not allow women to hold high profiles, in any measure. Hence, without an easily-identifiable “other,” Lawson’s dalliances would have been kept out of plain sight for a long time.
This horrible news came as no surprise to the multiple entities Steve Lawson was a part of. Take notice of the swift domino effect of his being cancelled by all of them. They all knew in advance of Trinity Church’s public dismissal of him; each one–TMS, Grace Church, all the Ligonier, One Passion, and Trinity, near-simultaneously erased Steve Lawson publicly. It was a concerted effort, smooth as glass, no room for the “aha” response, no waiting to see what Sproul’s puppets would say.
Lawson’s adultery was foreknown; by how many and by who threatened to reveal it first, we wait to learn.
Not to mention calling it an “inappropriate relationship”. This can be anything from “two consenting adults having a one-time act outside of marriage” (sinful, but not illegal) to Robert Morris’ actions (absolutely illegal).
Did Lawson force or coerce the other person into it, or was it a random hookup where the other person didn’t even know who he really was or what he did for a living?
Your mention of a possible violation of Texas law is well-founded. My sense is that the woman involved is in California. There was more time and space in Lawson’s life at the Master’s seminary, etc., for him to practice extra-cirricular activities. MacArthur and his minions would have looked the other way for as long as they could.
The Master’s Seminary and Grace Church do not allow women to hold high profiles, in any measure. Hence, without an easily-identifiable “other,” Lawson’s dalliances would have been kept out of plain sight for a long time. And a very long way from wife Anne.
This horrible news came as no surprise to the multiple entities Steve Lawson was a part of. Take notice of the swift domino effect of his being cancelled by all of them. They all knew in advance of Trinity Church’s public dismissal of him; each one–TMS, Grace Church, all the Ligonier, One Passion, and Trinity, near-simultaneously erased Steve Lawson publicly. It was a concerted effort, smooth as glass, no room for the “aha” response, no waiting to see what Sproul’s puppets would say.
Lawson’s adultery was foreknown; by how many and by who threatened to reveal it first, we wait to learn.
Bingo. Who knew what and when did they know it? If they knew and covered it up, the whole Reformed industrial complex is stripped of any creditability whatsoever.
The devil does not make us do anything..He just exposes what’s in us. We then humble ourselves before the Lord asking Him to cleanse us of all these hidden wrong desires in our hearts which are only revealed to us by the light of His Word as we abide in Him.
James 1:15, James 4:7.
Only the Word God, exposes our hearts, cleanses&heals our hearts of sin & all that is wrong in us.
There is absolutely no righteousness in me, but I cling to Christ who is my righteousness & by His strength only can i follow this path of righteousness. There is no greater enemy to me as my own heart. Beloved Christians let’s yield to only Him&His Word beloved Christians.
Very good points… do not talk, just look the other way, to jesus the light, while the darkness is all over and the shout down of very affected people, because they follow this men.
Sad