One of Australia’s most gifted Christian communicators says he is grateful to be back preaching in churches again.
Almost five years ago, Pat Mesiti stood down from ministry responsibilities with the Assemblies of God in Australia following revelations of personal impropriety. Pat Mesiti says it was a very challenging period in his life.
Over the last few years, Pat Mesiti has rebuilt his career as a corporate speaker in auditoriums around the world. But what excites him the most is that he is now back preaching the Word. After four years and six months of being accountable to Christian leaders, most notably to Christian City Church’s Pastor Phil Pringle, this February he began preaching again at Christian City Church in Sydney.
He says he now has a life-changing message for people who, like himself, have made mistakes.
“I know what it’s like and I know how to respond to the greatest challenges that life sometimes throws at us," he said. “I’ve experienced some great highs and some great lows. But I got back up, I kept attending church, I kept tithing, and now I help others to get back up. I speak to students in high schools about self esteem and hope and character. I speak to business people and professionals about overcoming life’s many challenges. My experience has taught me many things and I now have a new lease of life."
Pat says today he just wants to share his story with as many people as possible. “I humbly ask for forgiveness from the Body of Christ for the pain I have caused," he says. “I am grateful to God for His restorative power and for the support and counsel of many Christian leaders around the world as I have sought to rebuild my life, my family, and my ministry."
For Pat Mesiti, 2001 was turning out to be a great year. In fact, by late 2001 he had sold over half a million copies of his four books, he was presenting a weekly television program on Australian Christian Channel, and he was director of one of Australia’s most successful residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres. He was recognised as one of the key pioneers of Australia’s largest youth organisation, Youth Alive. As a corporate motivational speaker he was being booked a year in advance and was speaking to audiences around the world that sometimes totaled over 300,000.
“I was experiencing success in ways that many people can only dream of," he admits.
In October 2001 he was in the United States on a speaking tour when a phone call home to Australia changed his life.
“I had made a mistake – of a personal nature – and people were starting to talk about it. I had not done anything illegal, but I had hurt the trust of people closest to me, including my family. It began to dawn on me that my mistake could potentially destroy my career, take away friendships, and – worst of all – break up my family.
“One day I was standing before a crowd of 80,000 people, the next day I was a revealed as a failure to some of my closest friends and family."
Within a week, the Australian media began to label him as a failure. His high profile and his role as a minister of religion were an easy target.
“Allegations were made against me that were totally untrue," he said. “But people I respected advised me not to respond to the media allegations. Instead, I was advised to stop everything I was doing and to begin attending counselling sessions. My name and reputation were destroyed within a week, and I was told that I should do nothing about it."
Over the next few days, his world came crashing down around him.
“A series of resulting phone calls and meetings caused my life to plummet from success mode to frantic mode. The result was that my marriage ended, my business folded, my friendships were tested, and my sources of income dried up. Time stood still. It was like I was in a coma. The worst day of my life was when I told my children that I was a failure and that I had hurt their trust."
Then one day Pat Mesiti says he caught a glimmer of hope. “As painful as that experience was, there was also a feeling of relief as I began to share my tragedy and bare my soul with a friend. The pressure began to ease. The amazing thing was that the moment I spoke to someone about it, it was like a light began to glow in the darkness. That wonderful experience began a process of healing and restoration."
Pat says he has learned from his mistakes. “I have learned that when your world falls apart, you still have options. One option is to let your life disintegrate and crumble at your feet. The other option is to pick yourself up and start again. I’ve discovered that it’s not what is taken from us that counts, it’s what you do with what is left that makes the difference. Sometimes things are taken from us, and sometimes we simply drop the ball. I’ve dropped the ball and I’ve dropped the ball big time. Through my own failure I lost it all.
“I’ve come to realise that in the long run, it’s not the failure itself that counts. What counts is if you get back up. During my crisis, I remember specifically one of my closest friends saying to me, ‘Your best days are still ahead of you.’ So I got back up."
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