DALLAS -- Isolation and a lack of support are among key factors that make ministers susceptible to sexual temptation, said psychologist Dan McGee, who counsels ministers and their families.
"In dealing with sexual misconduct, we're usually dealing with people who don't know themselves very well," McGee told the Associated Baptist Press. McGee is director of the Counseling and Psychological Services Center for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
"There are needs that drive them, not necessarily sexual, that they have not dealt with," McGee said. "The way it gets sexual is someone offers that kind of support and the person is so starved for support, the barriers come crashing down."
Many ministers believe their congregations have put them on pedestals, and they would let down their flocks by admitting temptation, said Jan Daehnert, director of minister/church relations for the Texas convention.
Ministers must be careful with whom they discuss temptation, Daehnert said. They should share with close friends and spouses only. Sharing with public groups and the opposite sex outside marriage may lead to rumors and inappropriate relations, he said.
Less than six percent of church firings in the United States are the result of moral failure, according to Focus on the Family statistics. A small percentage of that amount is due to sexual misconduct, including extramarital affairs, sexual abuse and pornography addiction.
