When the Church Gets Exposed: Why Your Faith Isn’t Fake (Even When Leaders Fail)

For Anyone Carrying Church Hurt in Southern Indiana
At Vineyard Church in New Albany, Indiana, we pastor a lot of young families who are trying to raise kids with faith while navigating a culture full of cynicism and broken trust in institutions—including the church. When church scandals dominate headlines, it’s natural to ask hard questions about God, leadership, and whether your own spiritual experiences were real. 

Unfortunately, scandals sell.
They sell ad space.
They sell clicks.
They dominate airtime.
And the church has never been immune.
That part isn’t new. It just feels louder now because we carry the internet in our pockets. What used to be whispered is now livestreamed.
If you zoom out, church history reads like a Netflix documentary nobody asked for. Kings bargaining with popes. Power trades. Corruption. Even the heroes we admire weren’t spotless. Martin Luther changed the world, and also… yeah… the man had issues. Big ones.
God has always done His work in the middle of human mess.

This Isn’t New. It Just Feels Louder.

Growing up, the scandals I heard about were attached to names like:
Jim Bakker.
Jimmy Swaggart.
Jim Jones.

At this point, “Jim” feels like a risky baby name. No offense. But statistically… y’all have had a moment. LOL 

Then in high school, when I encountered revival culture, Lakeland, Florida was the buzz. People were getting saved. God was moving. And then… it wasn’t. An affair. A collapse. A story that became complicated overnight.
I remember thinking, If something real happened there… does this cancel it? Does it contaminate it?

Fast forward:

• 2020: Carl Lentz.
• 2023: Mike Bickle and IHOP.
• Recently: heartbreaking allegations surrounding Shawn Bolz. Personally, I feel the weight of this because Shawn Bolz is someone I have admired from afar and promoted. Heck, I have used some videos from him when speaking about the prophetic. Knowing what I know, I regret that and am sorry. Shawn is not a trustworthy person or minister, in fact he is harmful and manipulative. I encourage everyone to stay completely away from him, his ministry, and anything associated with him.

And now the questions get heavier.

It's perfectly reasonable to ask, "was any of it real?"

Was I manipulated?
Did God actually move?
Was my experience fake because the messenger was flawed?
If you’ve wrestled with that, you’re not weak. You’re honest.

In 2023 our church hosted Steve Nicholson, a Vineyard legend. Someone asked him, “What do you think the next big thing God is doing is?”
He paused and said:

“I’m not really sure… because I think the American church is under judgment. God is exposing things right now.”

He talked about being in a season of Babylon. Then he smiled and added:

“But that’s okay. Amazing things happen in Babylon too.”

That line has lived rent-free in my head ever since.
Because exposure feels terrifying.
But it is also mercy.

Genesis Is a Mess (And That’s the Point)

This year our church has been reading through Scripture, and I started preaching through Genesis for the first time.

And wow.

Not “wow, so inspiring.”
More like, “wow, this is chaotic.”

Genesis is messy.
Morally complicated.
Uncomfortably human.

Adam and Eve fail immediately.
Abraham lies about his wife.
Isaac copies him.
Jacob deceives.
Judah sleeps with his daughter-in-law.
Noah’s family fractures.
Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery.

These are the patriarchs.
The founders.
The “faith heroes.”

And they’re… a disaster.

Which means something massive:

God has always worked through broken people in broken systems with mixed motives and partial obedience.

So when we look at modern church scandals and think,
This must mean everything was fake,
Genesis quietly whispers,
No. This means God is consistent.

God Has Always Been Bigger Than Bad Leadership

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Some of what we experienced was mixed with ego.
Some of it was contaminated by broken leadership.
Some of it was manipulation.
And God still moved.

That doesn’t excuse anyone.
That doesn’t mean we re-platform people.
That doesn’t mean harm didn’t happen.

It means God is bigger than flawed messengers.
The Holy Spirit is not limited by our mess.
He doesn’t need perfect vessels.

If God waited for purity before moving, Genesis wouldn’t exist.

So What Do We Do With All This?

This is not a call to blind loyalty.
This is not a “trust leaders no matter what” post.
This is not denial.

You are responsible for what you see.
You are responsible for what you know.
You are responsible to walk wisely and protect your heart.

Something very much worth mentioning here: Leaders in the body of Christ are ESPECIALLY responsible for all of these things. As a whole, we MUST do better. 

But you are not responsible for carrying the guilt of someone else’s failure.

If you encountered God…
If you were healed…
If your faith deepened…
If you met Jesus in a real way…

That wasn’t fake.
That wasn’t stolen from you.
That doesn’t get revoked because someone else fell.

Exposure Is Mercy

Right now, it feels like God is cleaning house.
And honestly? That’s grace.

Exposure is mercy.
Light is kindness.
Truth is protection.

The church isn’t being destroyed.
It’s being refined.

God is not fragile.
Your faith is not fake.
And exposure is not destruction—it’s mercy.

Final Thought

Maybe maturity isn’t pretending leaders are flawless.
And maybe it isn’t throwing away faith when they aren’t.

Maybe maturity is trusting a God who has always worked in Babylon…
and still builds His Kingdom there.

God is big.
We are small.
His grace is sufficient.

And somehow, against all odds,
He keeps moving anyway.

A Humble Invitation

At Vineyard Church in New Albany, Indiana, we don’t pretend to be perfect. We are a community learning how to follow Jesus honestly, humbly, and... imperfectly. We believe God still moves, still heals, still speaks, and still transforms lives—even in imperfect churches. Especially in imperfect churches.

If you’re a young family, a skeptic, a former church kid, or someone quietly rebuilding their faith, you’re welcome here.

-Pastor Brian & Pastor Alex