Over the past few days, a surprising number of posts have appeared on my social media feed, often by those who, as far as I can make out are, Christian leaders or commentators, many with their own large following, particularly in the USA. It concerns Philip Yancey.

Philip Yancey is well known to and esteemed by many in the Christian world, particularly through his writings on subjects that strike a chord, such as “What’s so amazing about grace”, and now there is his recent “shocking” announcement of an adulterous affair over eight years, followed by what appears to be a full confession and contrition. Following these posts, there have often been numerous comments by folk giving their own views on Yancey and what happened. These have been very wide ranging, but my purpose in writing is NOT to take sides or reflect on these per se.

I have long been aware of Philip Yancey as a Christian mover and shaker theologically aligned to many Christians on my wavelength, although with so many Christian heavy weights around maybe my ignorance of the man might be excused. I have been aware of his books and ministry but have not checked these out (although that may now change). According to Wikipedia: “Philip Yancey (born November 4, 1949) is an American retired author who wrote primarily about spiritual issues. His books have sold more than 15 million copies in English and have been translated into 40 languages, making him one of the best-selling contemporary Christian authors … Yancey lives in Colorado with his wife Janet, who he married in 1970. Over the course of his writing and speaking career, he visited over 85 countries … In a statement emailed to Christianity Today on January 6, 2026, Yancey confessed that he had engaged in an affair with a married woman for eight years and would retire from writing and speaking.”

Rather than my going over the many and varied, often appearing reasonable and insightful, comments encompassing thoughts ranging from sanctimonious condemnation to sympathetic compassion, along with thoughts such as what should have been and should be done by the different parties involved and where that leaves the church, etc., I would like to focus on what I can say that is helpful concerning the matter of what to make out of yet another Christian that many had looked up to “falling from grace”, based largely on my own life’s experience and theological understanding.

What Yancey did was clearly sinful and wasn’t just a momentary lapse. He carried on sinning while preaching a message that will have condemned his sinful actions – which can be taken as being hypocritical or yet another example of cognitive dissonance. The Bible says a lot about our needing to turn from “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” that might loosely be taken as to do with pursuit of sex, money and power, besetting sins among too many Christian leaders I have known of and others I may or may not know of. Every so often a story breaks concerning yet another respected Christian leader being found out and, given the esteem to which said leader was widely held, it came as a shock. One such example that particularly impacted me in recent years was Ravi Zacharias, who, sadly, did not appear to have repented at the end.

In both the Yancey and Zacharias cases, their sin was that of sexual immorality. Adultery is but one example, for this can be extended to any sex outside the marriage between a man and his wife, including lust and the modern-day accessing of Internet pornography, which between them has impacted many and likely in many cases it has been carried on in secret to not be found out. The need to safeguard against such temptation is clear, as well as emphasising the need to live disciplined lives and accountability. We must avoid putting Christian leaders on a pedestal, looking to God alone, but praying for and encouraging those who do lead. We live in a world where temptation abounds and the opportunity to stray from God’s righteous path is all too readily available and we need to take heed!

While God’s grace is indeed amazing, we mustn’t take if for granted, for we need to respond aright since God’s grace is also meant to lead us down the path of righteousness. The same grace that restored a broken King David (of the Bible) following his adulterous affair with Bathsheba will do so with all who repent, although the consequences of sin will be carried forth. I pray that at this difficult time Yancey and his wife, all those who have been hurt and affected by what has happened, as well as those struggling with temptation, will know more of that amazing grace, while recognising God is looking for a purified Church. I wonder if we are seeing Him cleaning house.