Betrayed: More Details About Steve Lawson’s Double Life Revealed
Additional details are becoming known concerning the adultery and recent disqualification of former Trinity Bible Church pastor Steve Lawson. According to inside sources speaking to Protestia on condition of anonymity, the fixture in conservative, reformed evangelicalism was “living a double life in the heart of the reformed community.”
The young woman Lawson developed an “inappropriate relationship” with is an alumnus of The Master’s University (TMU). However, the two did not meet because of Lawson’s role as head of the Doctor of Ministry program at The Master’s Seminary (TMS, which resides inside Grace Community Church, 17 miles south of the university), but due to her attendance at the church that housed the seminary where Lawson taught. Lawson served on the board of TMU, but this appears unrelated to his relationship with the woman, who had attended Grace Community Church as a child with her family, moved away, and returning to the area to attend college at TMU.
According to witnesses close to the situation, the young woman’s family was close to Lawson and supportive of his ministry. Lawson accepted the lead preacher position at Trinity Bible Church in Dallas around the same time the young woman graduated from TMU, and Lawson’s time away from home teaching expository preaching at TMS (as well as his frequent traveling for preaching appearances and conferences) provided both the proximity to the young woman and the distance from family needed to engage in what amounted to not just an affair but a secret second life that reportedly saw him paying for travel for the young woman to rendevous with him during ministerial trips.
While Trinity Bible Church and the various ministries Lawson was involved with (his OnePassion Ministries, The Master’s Seminary, Ligionier, G3, etc.) have been relatively silent on the particular circumstances of Lawson’s affair, sources close to the situation report that the illicit nature of the relationship between Lawson and the young woman was suspected as early as March.
Reports have publicly circulated of whistleblowers reporting their concern with Lawson’s interaction with the young woman only to face retaliation from authorities at both Grace Community Church and The Master’s University, but Protestia has yet to confirm the validity of such claims.
Any evidence that affiliated ministries or staff at Grace Community Church knew about Lawson’s double life has yet to materialize, yet Grace to You Executive Director Phil Johnson recently offered details that Protestia has been able to confirm from other insider sources, including the age of the woman, the length of the affair, and that she currently lives “nowhere close” to any of the ministries where Lawson served. It has yet to be confirmed whether or not Lawson and the young woman have ended their relationship, but she was not under Lawson’s instruction at either the Master’s University or the Master’s Seminary and was a legal adult at the time the adulterous relationship began. At this time, Protestia is choosing to keep the young woman’s identification private per her family’s wishes.
It is our ongoing position that repentance, healing, and closure for those harmed by Lawson (particularly in light of his apparent swift removal from public ministry) requires more transparency than what has been offered to date. This is a developing story.
Correction: An earlier version of this story contained language that could be have been interpreted to imply Trinity Bible Church, Grace Community Church, or other ministries may have had knowledge of Lawson’s affair as early as March, but the intent was to indicate that concerning behavior was observed with Lawson in March, and that these observations may have led to a process resulting in Lawson’s admission and firing in September. Reliable sources at both Trinity and GCC report that there was no suspicion of Lawson’s affair at either church or parachurch ministry.
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After we’ve finished getting to the bottom of this Lawson mess, can we move on to Joel Beeke’s divorce from his previous wife? I’ve always wondered about the details but as you can imagine, they have always been in scant supply. I am leery of every one of these “conference celebrities”. And their fan boys who will show up here directly if they read this.
You are being mean. He was betrayed and abandoned.
I’m not being mean. I’m asking a legitimate question. Why have none of the details never been made public?
Earlier reports insisted that Lawson and the woman have said they were not “intimate,” as in they never physically consummated their relationship. If he paid for her transportation to meet him in various locales, and ostensibly her lodging, there is a near-certainty that they physically “hooked up.”
And the investigation has been on-going since March? This peels like an onion.
If the women was an adult, then she was just in the wrong as Steve. she knew he was married. why isn’t her name being blasted all over the internet to ruin her life? just saying!
Because, men that are leaders in the church especially those in the pulpit & preaching all over the country as leaders of the reformed community should be held to the highest of standards. This woman was wrong and sinned greatly, but she is not in the pulpit and writing books!
Because, men that are leaders in the church especially those in the pulpit & preaching all over the country as leaders of the reformed community should be held to a higher standard. This woman was wrong and sinned greatly, but she is not in the pulpit all over the country and writing books!
To save embarrassment. I’m convinced that a lot of people who are one degree of separation away from Steve are publicly reacting so strongly mostly because they’re embarrassed to be associated with Steve and when they reference the Bible to say things like “despite this Christ will build His church” it’s a spiritual way to grandstand against someone they now refer to as “Judas”.
It takes two to tango and the woman is never referred to as a “strange woman” (Pro 2:16), “evil woman” (Pro 6:24), or someone who “huts for the precious life” (Pro 6:26), neither is she mentioned as a co-sinner, she is either not mentioned at all or if she is, someone will inevitably refer to her as a “victim”.
Also, as someone who WAS a fan of Steve Lawson, my faith was never rooted in Steve Lawson. The real problem here is because of sin that Steve has committed, he as given opportunities for “the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme” (2 Sa 12:14).
Just saying- why in the world would this matter to you or anyone else? Apparently, the fact that a supposed “great man of God” was nothing but a philandering, no good, conniving fool doesn’t matter enough to so many people with this reply. The woman here, was apparently in her early 20’s when this began and from a family (if this story is true) that looked up to this man. He is beyond an adulterous loser, he lured or maybe was lured by a misled young woman. He should have been strong enough in either case to stand in the Lord and His Word, instead of basically turning her into his personal prostitute/mistress. Hasn’t this “great man of God” done enough damage to this young woman?
I have wondered that myself. She is complicit and willing to be in a relationship with a married man..that could be nothing but physical given her age. What other conclusion can be drawn? I don’t think she deserves “cover”. Let her serve as a deterrent to young women tempted to sin like this. She should give a public statement of remorse and if it applies repentance… as he should. She was not a rape victim where her identity should be protected and withheld. But this was consensual. What a double standard?! Women want to be in every way equal to men.. but not when it comes to taking personal responsibility for their actions.
Exactly. There are two guilty parties in this situation, not just one.
Who is the adulteress?
She shouldn’t be teaching or serving in any minsitry roles and should be held accountable,
just as Lawson is. (John 8)
Her name needs to be given immediately and they all know exactly who she is.
Grace Community Church used Steve Lawson as pulpit fill twice in July. On July 14, 2024 the GCC weekly bulletin stated: “Steven J. Lawson Preaching”. On July 21, 2024 the GCC weekly bulletin stated: “Indebted, Eager, and Unashamed; Steven J. Lawson Romans 1:14–17”. If what the alleged whistleblowers say is true and if they informed GCC before this, that would mean that they continued to use Steve as pulpit fill even after the initial “suspicion” in March. If the whistleblower allegations actually materialize, it would explain the exceptionally efficient scrubbing of anything and everything having to do with Steve Lawson from GCC, TMS, and TMU media outlets.
I understand that, completely. Steve is held to a higher standard but this women’s life isn’t being destroyed and her dirty laundry isn’t all out on the Internet.
There’s also a possibility this woman is lying, or the possibility nothing happened, or the possibility that all the organizations involved covered for him and are engaged in the same behavior. There needs to be a biblical due process.
Protestia (David), you’re withholding her identity because the family requested it? Since when does a family get to do that for an adult woman??? You’re treating her as if she were a child and lacks moral agency. You’re protecting an adulteress. She’s not a victim. It’s like when the Pharisees trotted out the woman caught in adultery and not the man, except you’re white knighting for an adulteress and trotting out only the man. All you’re doing is covering for the sins of women. It’s very feminist. When, as a private person, you commit such a sin with a public person, you have no reasonable expectation to remain private. Steve bears the much greater responsibility here as a pastor and a much older man, but you’re helping ensure that this woman doesn’t learn from her mistake and will look at herself as a victim rather than a sinner who needs repentance and redemption. What you and so many others are doing is shameful.