Posted on 03/01/2021 7:35:00 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I write this with a heavy heart, as heavy as yours may already be from the revelations of Ravi Zacharias’ hidden life. If you hadn’t heard of him, Zacharias was considered one of this era’s greatest Christian apologists. If you haven’t heard the news, an independent investigation found he had systematically groomed vulnerable women over many years, plying them with attention and gifts, obligating them to return sexual favors, threatening them should they ever tell.
I interviewed Zacharias once. He was brilliant, charming, winsome.
And yet he was living a lie.
The Victims of Ravi Zacharias
We’re starting to lose count now of his victims. First are the emotionally and financially vulnerable women he strategically targeted. Then there’s the couple he bound with a Non Disclosure Agreement before rushing to the press to label them extortionists. There’s the Canadian woman he counselled as a teenager to get an abortion, later calling her a liar. And Zacharias’ staff were victims too, with Zacharias and members of his US board marginalizing, maligning and firing those who asked too many questions.
I have friends who worked for Zacharias’ UK and Australian offices – good, godly, fruitful people. Some have resigned. The UK office has split from the global organization. God’s work has suffered.
The Response from His Defenders
While most have responded to this news with the abhorrence it deserves, some Christians, eager to defend a man they revered, are responding in less than helpful ways. It’s important we challenge some of them:
‘These allegations have surfaced now that Ravi can’t defend himself’
Not so. While this independent report comes after Zacharias’ death in May 2020, the first allegations arose in 2017. A credentials issue raised alarm bells a few weeks before that, and the abortion issue stretches years back.
‘We’re all sinners. If you’ve lusted after a woman, you’re just as bad’
Yes, we are all sinners and Jesus condemned lust (Matthew 5:27-30). But this response sets up a false equivalence of sins Jesus never intended. For a start, Zacharias’ case isn’t one of sexual compromise as much as strategized abuse of power. Secondly, it ignores the fact that there are degrees of sin. Stealing a cookie isn’t equivalent to rape (imagine telling a raped woman that). Likewise, a lustful look isn’t the same as ongoing, unrepentant, targeted abuse of vulnerable women. In Matthew 5 Jesus points out the hypocrisy of those who ‘look but don’t touch’ and think they’re morally fine. He is not equating lustful thoughts with abusive acts.
No, we can’t judge Zacharias’ eternal salvation or damnation (Matthew 7:1-6). But for the sake of victims feeling heard, believed and finding healing, we must unequivocally condemn his abuse.
‘He who is without sin can cast the first stone’
Similar to the response above, this is meant to caution judgement of Zacharias’ actions. But not so fast. When Jesus said this he was coming to the rescue of a woman singled out for her part in adultery, while the man involved was conveniently overlooked (John 8:1-11). Jesus also said that anyone who caused ‘little ones’ to stumble would be better off having a millstone tied around their neck and being thrown into a river (Matthew 18:6). I don’t see that scripture quoted much. My goodness, this is so serious.
‘It’s the church’s fault for placing men on pedestals’
Halfway through writing this post, theologian Tanya Marlow posted this exceptional article on responses to the Zacharias scandal, tackling this one with great insight. “The reason St. Paul makes strict recommendations of the character of a leader,” she writes, “is that it matters. It matters. We have the right to expect Christian leaders to be people of good character, even if they are not perfect people. The Bible itself sets up this expectation.”
And then she adds:
“When we say to people who trusted Ravi Zacharias or Jean Vanier to be good people, ‘You shouldn’t have put him on a pedestal’, it is subtle victim-blaming of both the secondary victims and the direct victims… in so doing, we are blaming the people who trusted the abuser rather than the abuser for abusing.”
We must face the reality of Zacharias’ abuse, not avoid or excuse it. Only then can victims heal.
The Questions it Raises
Such an event has raised significant questions for many of us. Here are some I’ve read or had asked of me in the last few days:
Can I trust any church leader again?
“I thought I had processed all there is to process about my experience with sexual abuse,” Diane told me. “Then along comes yet another Pillar of the Community Everybody Trusted doing the unthinkable – just like my perpetrator… So what is the real church? What’s true? Am I following some kind of cult? Where is Jesus? How do I find a trustworthy church fellowship and/or pastor? This is what I am asking.”
Ravi Zacharias. John Vanier. Bill Hybels (alleged). Carl Lentz. Jerry Falwell Jr. Becki Falwell. John Howard Yoder. John Crist. James MacDonald. Multiple Catholic priests. There is a shaking of the church going on right now, particularly the American church whose influence reaches wide, and failed leaders and figures are being exposed. Not all of these failings are over sexual abuse, but many are. And they trigger folks like Diane.
There are things we could say to this: That these failed leaders make up only a fraction of a percent of the millions of Christian leaders around the globe. That the majority shouldn’t be tarnished by the behavior of a few. That we shouldn’t allow the crooked a double-win by letting them taint our view of the straight.
But for people who’ve faced abuse, trust simply needs time to be rebuilt. All I can say is there are good, godly people in churches all around us. And the sense a victim develops to sniff out suspect folks can be a trustworthy asset moving forward.
I came to faith through Ravi Zacharias. Is my faith based on a lie?
Russell Moore addressed this important question well by drawing on church history. When persecution hit the church in the fourth century, some clergy renounced their faith. The church suddenly had a question to wrestle: was a believer’s baptism valid if the pastor that baptized them later renounced Christ? The church concluded that a baptism wasn’t rendered invalid by the failings of the clergy overseeing it.
“Your salvation and discipleship are not dependent on whether the preacher from whom you heard the gospel is genuine,” Moore writes, “but rather on whether the gospel itself is genuine. It is.” Even Judas preached the gospel for a while. Those who believed through his preaching believed in the truth of Jesus.
How could Ravi be so fruitful while living such a duplicitous life?
Joanna asked me this question, one I’ve pondered too. Isn’t a holy life needed to be fruitful in God’s work? Yes. But the Christian message and its Subject have a power greater than the failed mouths that share it. The apostle Paul railed against those who preached from selfish motives, but could still be glad the gospel at least got preached (Philippians 1:15-18). That’s an astonishing thing to say. A duplicitous person can share a message people respond to because the message is true and powerful.
What do we do with Ravi’s books and teachings?
John Howard Yoder wrote seminal works on Christian pacifism. Jean Vanier’s writing on community and the disabled was invaluable. Ravi Zacharias gave responses to sceptic’s questions that were true and helpful. What do we do with these teachings now?
I’m in two minds.
Zacharias’ publisher has pulled his books from sale. His ministry has pulled his YouTube videos. I think this is right. Profit shouldn’t be made off an abuser’s work, and victims shouldn’t have to watch their abuser being adulated online anymore.
The problem of course is how much of the person’s work we denounce. Martin Luther wrote an abhorrent anti-Semitic tract, later used by the Nazi’s to drive the Holocaust. Karl Barth kept a mistress for years, to the heartbreak we imagine of his wife. We don’t bin either theologian’s works in total because of these failings. Instead, we condemn what is abhorrent in these leaders and affirm what truth and light they brought. If we wouldn’t dream of denouncing the L’Arche communities Jean Vanier founded for the disabled, why should we denounce other work of his, like his writings?
This has been my general approach so far, one taken by others, too. Truth shouldn’t be dismissed because of failed messengers.
But in this case, it’s a hard position to keep. One can’t quote Zacharias now (or Vanier) without bringing anguish to his victims and those he betrayed. As Tanya Marlow says, we’re not talking about someone who was grumpy, but someone “choosing to violate a woman’s body, an act that has a lifetime of consequences for that woman, the one thing apart from death that every woman dreads.”
Whether one can still learn from his books or not, I certainly won’t be quoting Zacharias anymore.
A Prayer
There will be much to learn from this sordid episode: about the importance of boards and governance, about treating allegations with seriousness and victims with utmost care, about accountability and not taking a sword to those who ask legitimate questions. I believe the US board of RZIM should resign, and I hope the ministry’s current donors will support the local branches, like the UK office, that now need funds to rebuild and continue their fruitful work.
But let’s end where we should. With the victims.
One night last week, after reading the official report confirming Zacharias’ abuse, I also read the story of Jesus’ arrest. When Judas and the mob approach, Peter, perhaps to defend Jesus (or maybe just himself), pulls out a sword and attacks one of them. Jesus’ response is swift. “Enough!” he says, before rushing to heal the victim. It wouldn’t be the last time Jesus had to heal a wound inflicted by one of his followers.
And so this is my prayer for each one left bleeding from this event:
Lord Jesus, would you heal the wounds inflicted by your followers.
Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker and broadcaster on faith an spirituality, based in the United Kingdom. He is the author of seven books, including his latest The Making of Us. Formerly a broadcaster in his native-born Australia, he is a presenter of Pause for Thought on BBC Radio and a regular guest on other broadcast networks around the world. For more information visit sheridanvoysey.com
Your church pastor, minister, or priest is just a “MAN”. (hu-man).
If its a woman, you are definitely in the WRONG church.
You have access to the written word. Ones faith should be in Hod not man
“Organized religion”
Did Jesus not say, Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst?
Your frustration and skepticism is understandable. But have you considered the possibility that you are significantly undervaluing the power of collective worship?
Thank you. I have wrestled with understanding this...believing this...accepting this...and finally, dealing with this.
I have given his books to many. I have them on my shelf and re-read them many times. What to do?
I have been disappointed in man before and no doubt will be again. Call no man good. We all need Jesus. With that understanding, I have always placed all of my faith in Jesus alone as my savior, so while this comes as a shock,
surprise and great disappointment, it doesn’t impact my faith. I hope those to whom I gave his books are not negatively impacted either.
God not man
Drat. My fat fingers on a small key board types lots of nonsense
“Nifster”—nickname for Jennifer?
He kind of is.
For a long time I justified myself when contesting His words with the smartass "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby", but now that I am 70 and semi-retired from the lustful glance game, I'm not so sure.
Exactly. How was he a “church” leader? He was an independent and headed a para-church organization. I am skeptical about all such organizations because they typically are not accountable to anyone or anything beyond themselves. Often, one or two people are in charge, and nobody questions their authority.
We are members of a Reformed Presbyterian church where the ruling body consists of ordained elders. If you have a problem that is not resolved at the local church level with the body of elders, you can appeal to presbytery, which is the body of elders that oversees churches within its region. If you still are not satisfied, you can then appeal to the General Assembly which oversees the entire denomination.
It is like our republican form of government, and even though it is far from perfect (just like our messed up government), there are ways to hold those in positions of authority accountable for their actions. Nothing is perfect in this life, and every organization consists of sinners, but having a leader who does not have an overseer is a problem.
It is always dangerous to attach too much importance to one individual, no matter how wonderful he seems to be.
“Martin Luther was a human being.....not a saint.....
...but God used him to bring about the Reformation”
Not for nothing, but you might be looking in the wrong direction for the behind-the-scenes intelligence, the unseen power pulling all the strings, in connection with that particular affair.
>>> Ravi’s fall should chasten all of us.
I was not really a follower of Ravi.
I heard him a few times, and was quite impressed with what I heard.
If I remember correctly, there might have been a couple of issues I was hesitant about agreeing with him on, but I don’t remember what they were. For the most part, I was convinced he was a true man of God.
I am not familiar with the charges against him, nor with his defense or admission of guilt...
But I do know that men of God in prominent positions of influence such as Ravi are TOP PRIORITY targets by the enemy... and we should not just assume that we ourselves are impervious to Satan’s snares... so yes... we should all be chastened by this.
With that said, It is very easy for us to assume Ravi was a liar on everything he said because of his failure... and I can assure you that the enemy will do everything in his power to convince us all of that. Satan would certainly want to tie Ravi’s sin to God’s truth... no question.
But we cannot let that happen.
Those who dismiss Jesus because Ravi sinned did not really hear what Ravi was saying about who Jesus is and what He did for us.
Church leaders are human and screw up. Faith should not be dictated by a human being.
It seems to me you can learn from what he did good as well as what he did bad. You shouldn’t ignore either since they have value.
As always, the lens through which you decide what is good or bad has to be the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and prayer not some fellow sinner.
Teachers should be above reproach but the truth of the matter is that many won't be. Any leader caught in major scandal should step down from leadership, perhaps permanently, but at least until the sin issue has been adequately addressed. All prominent Christian leaders need spiritual advisors who are willing and able to confront the prominent leader when necessary. Sadly, too many Christian ministries do not have that strong oversight to reel in these leaders when they go off the tracks.
I wonder if God doesn't allow some of these leaders to fall in part to let us realize that we have started to place our faith in them and not in God. Our faith should be in God alone who has revealed Himself through His written Word and through the Incarnated Word, His Son, Jesus Christ.
Best answers to my questions lay in scripture.
I believe both of these things to be true:
1. Men who assume the mantle of Christian leadership bear a heavy responsibility and will be called to account if their failings/hypocrisy cause others to stumble or fall away.
2. If you lose your faith because your charismatic preacher sinned, you are a cult member and a moron.
bump
You can go to church if you enjoy the tradition, the teaching and the music, but always remember that the people on the stage are just as flawed as you are. In many cases they are worse.
If you put faith in people you will always be disappointed. I'm never surprised when the preacher who always rages about homosexuals' turns out to be a flamer himself. Its almost predictable.
Nope
I will never forget the day I saw our pastor grab his wife’s butt. I was a young bride and it shocked me to witness the kiss she turned to give him. Of course it was all done in the kitchen of their home, I was just an invited guest who happened to walk in at the wrong moment. I knew from that day the halos given to pastors wasn’t real and they weren’t more holy than the rest of us.
I don’t look to man for my relationship with God. I will say that God has provided many a good man to present the Word in truth to me. For that I am grateful. His Word never returns to Him void.
If someone can talk you into becoming a Christian, someone can talk you out. If you respond with faith TO GOD, then HE will change your life. You must be born again, not merely of a changed mind.
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