For centuries, at least in the West, the church held an unparalleled position of trust and reverence. They were seen as the stewards of moral clarity in a world ever-increasing in cultural chaos. They were the shepherds who guided their flocks with conviction and commitment to the unchanging word of God.

In fact, as recently as 2009, more people in society trusted the clergy, but today? Well, let’s just say that pollsters from Gallup have given us a brutal reality check, and the news isn’t flattering.

According to their latest survey, public trust in clergy has hit a historic low, with only 30% of Americans rating their honesty and ethics as “high” or “very high.” Compare that to 56% just two decades ago. What happened? Did the culture lose its moral compass? Or—and this is the uncomfortable question—did the shepherds forget their job?

Let’s be honest: you don’t lose 26 percentage points in public trust overnight. It takes years of compromise, scandal, and outright failure to bring a once-respected institution to its knees. And clergy—particularly those in the evangelical camp—have been working overtime to alienate the very people they’re supposed to serve.

Rather than standing firm on the rock of Scripture, too many church leaders have decided to plant their feet in the quicksand of cultural relevance. Whether it be The Gospel Coalition, the Southern Baptist Convention, or Christianity Today.

Why preach conviction when you can pander? Why proclaim unpopular biblical truth when trendy platitudes will do? After all, isn’t it easier to follow the culture than to confront it?

Let’s chalk some of this decline up to the increasingly common public scandals that have plagued the pulpit. From tawdry sex scandals making headlines seemingly daily to embezzlement schemes that would make Wall Street blush, pastors have proven time and again that they’re just as susceptible to moral failure as the rest of us.

But when you claim to represent the eternal and holy God, your failures carry a weight that no financial guru or celebrity influencer could ever fathom. A scandal in the church isn’t just a lapse in judgment, it’s a betrayal of office on a cosmic scale.

And the public isn’t stupid. They see the headlines, they hear the excuses, and they draw their own conclusions, these so-called men of God are no different from the rest of us—maybe worse.

But scandals, as damaging as they are, are only part of the story. The deeper issue is the slow and steady erosion of conviction among church leaders. Too many pastors have traded the boldness of Paul for the cowardice of Pilate, washing their hands of controversy and refusing to take a stand.

They’ve adopted the language of inclusivity, equity, and cultural sensitivity, all while abandoning the language of sin, repentance, and redemption.

They’ve turned the gospel—the good news that should turn the world upside down—into a bland, inoffensive self-help message that wouldn’t disturb a fly.

Is it any wonder the public no longer sees the clergy as a moral authority? How can they, when the pulpit has been reduced to a stage and the preacher to a performer?

And then there’s the golden calf of modern Evangelicalism—relevancy. In their desperate bid to stay “relevant,” the church has adopted the aesthetics of the culture while neglecting the substance of the gospel. Skinny jeans and smoke machines won’t save souls, but they’ve become the sacraments of a church more concerned with optics than orthodoxy.

Ironically, in trying to be relevant, the church has made itself irrelevant. After all, if the church is just a pale imitation of the world, why bother with it at all? If it offers nothing distinct, nothing transformative, why should anyone trust it?

The clergy’s job isn’t to reflect the culture, it’s to confront it. Their calling isn’t to make people comfortable, it’s to make them holy. But too many pastors have forgotten that their role is not to be liked but to be faithful shepherds. Faithful to the word of God, faithful to their congregations, and faithful to the truth, even when it’s unpopular. Especially when it’s unpopular.

Truth is, trust is earned in ounces and lost in gallons. For centuries, the true church earned that trust through their commitment to a higher standard, their willingness to live lives of integrity and sacrifice, and their convictional proclamation of the gospel. But in recent years, they’ve squandered it.

And the public’s verdict is clear. They’ve not merely fallen from grace, they’ve jumped willingly into the abyss, trading the eternal for the ephemeral and the holy for the superficial.

However, there is hope. God always maintains a remnant and the mission of the true Church is not hindered by cultural or public trust. His word will go forth, His gospel will be proclaimed, and God’s purpose will be done. In the end, this is simply purging by fire and purification of the church—and that’s when, historically, the true church has flourished the most.