Hi, my name is Pete Scuzaro. I want to welcome you today to the emotionally healthy

leader podcasts. Our topic today is the scandal beneath all the church scandals and what to do

about it.

All right, let's begin now, our focus today of scandals.

And scandals have been going on for the decades since I've been a Christian in the 1970s.

And it's not just any more so today than it was then.

It's been continuous through my decades of walking with Jesus.

And it's not just here in the United States, in North America, and Canada, it's not just a Western church issue. It's a global church issue from Africa to Latin America, to Asia, to the

Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, you name it, it is a global issue. Now, I heard a statistic

recently that only 30% of leaders

finish well. I don't know how true that is. However, in my own experience, I say that's probably

about right. But we want to get today at the scandal beneath the scandal. And so a unique moment we're living in

is because of social media and global communications, when there's a high-level scandal,

it's now spoken all over the world. It goes everywhere. The lack of integrity in the church,

of us claiming to be something

countercultural, but not living up to it, now becomes secular news. And so we all have a vested

interest in this topic. It's so critical, not just for pastors, board members, leaders,

and churches, all of us who name the name of Jesus, because the very name and mission of Christ, the glory of God

is at stake in this. And it applies to every minister. I don't care how small or larger church is.

The future of the mission of Jesus is at stake and the next generation of leaders that were

forming. So scandals don't begin the day they're exposed. They begin years earlier, very, very quietly.

In small decisions made, whether it's boardroom, staff teams, behind closed doors, and in small compromises, and ignored red flags and poor decisions made.

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