Written by Gawie de Lange
We are living in a sobering season. Almost weekly, another well-known pastor, leader, or Christian figure falls. The headlines are rife and the disappointment real. And while the reasons are often complex and debated, there is one truth that is quietly present with them all: people do not fall suddenly, they drift first. Most leaders who collapse did not wake up one morning and decide to abandon God. They slowly stopped walking closely with Him, like so many of us.
Are you remaining close?
We say we have a relationship with God. We say we love Him. But love is proved in closeness. Jesus Himself said, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you” (John 15:4). Remaining requires time, intention, and attention. Yet our days are too manic. We wake up rushed, get families to school and work, grind through an 8-5, come home to homework, meals, responsibilities, and exhaustion. When the day finally quietens down, our remaining energy is poured into numbing television and endless death-scrolling. In these moments the Word stays closed and prayer becomes optional.
Are you distracted?
If we are really honest, many of us are spiritually malnourished, not because God is distant, but because we are distracted. First, the enemy isolates us. Scripture warns us plainly: “Two are better than one … if either of them falls down, one can help the other up” (Ecc 4:9-10). Yet busyness, pride, and digital substitutes like Instagram, Facebook, and X have replaced real accountability. We withdraw from people who can ask hard questions, speak truth, and notice when our fire is fading.
What are you consuming?
Second, we are no longer filling ourselves with the right things. Paul urges believers to dwell on “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable” (Phil 4:8). Instead, our minds overflow with family feuds, political noise, and cultural agendas. What fills us will eventually spill out. When the Word is absent, something else takes its place.
Are you in constant prayer?
Third, we do not pray enough. Prayer is not religious performance; it is personal and conversational. It drowns out the roar of the world and tunes our hearts to God’s. Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray (Luke 5:16), not because He was weak, but because intimacy with the Father was His strength. Without prayer, discernment will grow dim, conviction softens, and compromise creeps in quietly.
Don’t be shocked
The fall of leaders should not only shock us, it should wake us up to search our own lives. This is not an article to create fear, but a call to return to Father. A call to return to the Word. A prayer with God is not optional for longevity and to stand, it is essential. When we walk closely with Him, we do not just stand longer, we stand stronger.
This article is featured in the February/March 2026 issue of JOY! Magazine. Read a digital version of this magazine here: joygifts.co.za
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Date published: 24/02/2026
Feature images sourced from FreePik
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