Yesterday (February 11, 2021), Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) released the results of an investigation into allegations of sexual sin and abuse by Ravi before he died (you can read the report here). Especially in light of how many Christians looked up to and respected Ravi, and considering the large impact of his ministry over many years, the report is gut wrenching to read and heart breaking to contemplate.
As terrible as this news is, I’m thankful that RZIM hired an independent firm to conduct the investigation and that they released the report. Evil works best in the dark. Exposing it reminds us to be on guard and begins the healing process for those who have been hurt.
My purpose in this blog post is not to evaluate Ravi’s sin or the RZIM organization. Rather, my purpose is to use this sad occasion to highlight some biblical principles that can help us stop some future cases like this one and help us to respond rightly if we are in a church or ministry where there is evidence that a leader may be involved in ongoing, serious sin. I will focus mostly on sexual sin, but the biblical principles I share also apply to other types of sin like stealing, angry outbursts, and substance abuse. But before I share the biblical principles, I want to briefly share a little of my own experience.
My Personal Experience with Helping Stop Abuse and Healing those Who have been Hurt
About twelve years ago my wife, Hope, and I discovered a case of sexual abuse by a top leader at a Christian college. The abuser was eventually fired, but the process of getting to that point was difficult and costly (I’ve shared some more of that story in a previous blog post, here.)
Hope and I have also seen God heal and transform some victims of sexual abuse. In one case our role was mainly prayer and encouragement. In another case, we had the opportunity to invest deeply in a young lady who had been a victim of childhood sexual abuse. The healing process occurred over a period of years, not months. At times she broke down and cried like a little child in Hope’s lap. In both cases the healing process was long, difficult, and required great courage and strength from those who had been hurt. The needed courage and strength came from the Lord. Both ladies have been gloriously transformed and each has since served as mature Christian leaders in incredibly challenging ministries. They are my heroes. God allowed us to see both the depth of damage done by sexual abuse as well as His amazing ability to heal and transform people who have been deeply wounded.
What Should We Do?
In this short article I want to share four biblical principles that are relevant to preventing sexual abuse by church and ministry leaders and of responding to cases that occur despite our efforts to be on guard.
The biblical principles I will share here are mainly based on a passage written by the Apostle Paul almost 2,000 years ago:
17 The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
18 For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker is worthy of his wages.
19 Don't accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses.
20 Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will be afraid.
21 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.
22 Don't be too quick to appoint anyone as an elder, and don't share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. (1 Timothy 5:17-22 CSB17)
Paul’s Holy Spirit inspired ancient wisdom is relevant today. Here are the four principles:
1. Be careful when appointing ministry leaders.
“Don’t be too quick to appoint anyone . . .”
Churches and Christian ministries constantly need more leaders. Whether it’s replacing a pastor who has retired or moved to a new assignment, hiring a youth pastor, or finding volunteers to work with youth and children, there is often a sense of urgency in finding new leaders. Those who are serving on search committees or in positions of authority where they hire new workers are often stretched thin themselves. Nevertheless, we must not give in to the temptation to cut corners when it comes to choosing ministry leaders.
Earlier in 1 Timothy Paul gave qualifications for elders and deacons. Most of the qualifications generally apply to all ministry leaders in the church and in Christian organizations. The qualifications focus mainly on character issues. These types of issues take time and effort to test and verify. One of the main indications of readiness to lead in the church is that a person is doing a good job and bearing good fruit leading in their own home and family. When hiring someone who is not personally known to a church or ministry, careful efforts are called for, including checking references, in evaluating the character of a potential new pastor or other ministry leader. It takes times and energy, but it’s worth it in order to protect our churches and ministries from predators.
2. Carefully seek and evaluate evidence when there are accusations.
“Don't accept an accusation against an elder unless . . .”
If there is an accusation against a church leader (or anyone else in the church) it calls for careful investigation. If the accusation involves possible abuse of minors, it should be reported to legal authorities. A church wouldn’t try to deal with a murderer on their own, neither should we do so with cases of child abuse. The law enforcement agencies have resources and legal powers that churches do not have. And child abuse is a crime which calls not only for removing a guilty person from any church position, but also for putting them in prison in order to protect others in the community.
However, there are many cases that do not involve children (as far as I know the case with Ravi did not) and yet still need to be investigated. Paul makes it clear that we are competent to judge in areas where the church needs to make decisions (1 Corinthians 4:12-5:5). For example, if an older, married pastor is accused of having sex with a 19-year-old college student, there might not be any crime in the eyes of the law to investigate. But there would certainly be an urgent need for the church to investigate and make a judgment as to whether the accusation was true. You can imagine many other cases where a law has not been broken that calls for investigation by police, yet very serious sin has been committed by a church leader which calls for investigation by other leaders in the church.
In cases of sexual immorality, how might a church apply the rule that there has to be two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19)? I don’t think the requirement for two or three witnesses means that you have to have multiple witnesses to begin to quietly and carefully investigate an allegation that is credible. That would be an almost impossible standard to meet in the case of sexual sin. Rather, I think it means that we should not accept an allegation as true and should not share it publicly (or even privately except with great care with those who need to know in order to investigate the allegation) until the allegation is proven. And a high level of proof, such as two or three witnesses, is required.
In the case where a young lady at a Christian Bible college I was teaching at told my wife that a leader at the school had asked to sleep with her, we immediately asked her if she thought any of her friends might have had similar problems with this same leader. In that case we were able to find multiple witnesses in less than 24 hours after the first accusation. Other cases might not be as simple. Sexual immorality is usually carried out in secret and abusers often go to great lengths to conceal their sin and keep others from speaking. Still, there will often be corroborating witnesses in the form of other victims, people who saw inappropriate interaction, or electronic evidence like texts or photos on computers or cell phones. In some cases, the abuser may confess to some or all of their crimes.
RZIM apparently had the resources to call in professional private investigators. Many ministries and churches will not have the finances to pay for that. But it may be wise to ask for help from mature, godly, Christians with appropriate gifting and experience from outside the church or organization where the alleged problem is.
These cases can be complex and involve many people. Wisdom is needed. Thankfully, our God promises wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5).
3. Publicly rebuke church leaders who have committed sins serious enough to warrant their removal.
“Publicly rebuke those who sin . . .”
This one is tough. Sometimes churches and ministries prefer to sweep problems under the carpet and handle things quietly. I think this is why Paul went on to write, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.” It’s as if Paul knew we wouldn’t want to publicly rebuke fallen leaders, so he stopped to make it clear that we have to. These are the words of the Apostle Paul. This is also the Word of God. Our job is to trust and obey.
Remember that public rebuke in these verses only applies to church and ministry leaders. When your friend or neighbor sins, you are not called to rebuke them publicly. But when does this apply? How do we carry it out? Who do we tell and how much do we tell? Again, we will need Holy Spirit given wisdom to carry this out well. Based on over twenty years of ministry leadership experience, and some painful experience dealing with these types of issues, here are a few of my thoughts:
* If the sin is serious enough to cause a church leader to be fired or to resign, it should be shared with the church.
* All the ugly details do not need to be shared. Enough should be shared so that the church members will understand the basic nature and seriousness of the sin.
* If the guilty party maintains their innocence in the face of evidence that leaves no reasonable doubt of their guilt, or if they protest that they are being treated unfairly, enough additional details may need to be shared to establish their guilt and to show the justice of their removal.
* If the abuser seeks employment with another church or ministry, it is proper to share the basic facts in order to protect others from harm. In terms of exactly how to do this, in some cases it may be wise to get legal counsel.
* In sharing cases of sexual abuse, we must protect the victims. Some victims may want to come forward publicly. Most will probably want to have their privacy and identity protected as they attempt to work through a very painful experience. We should honor and protect them.
4. Honor good leaders.
“The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor . . .”
The sad news about Ravi Zacharias reminds us that some Christian leaders are wolves in sheeps’ clothing and so we need to be on guard. It also teaches us how not to deal with sexual abuse through negative examples and pushes us to do better (RZIM has confessed that they previously made many severe errors in responding to evidence). But we also need to remember the other side of the story.
Before he gives us instructions on how to guard against appointing bad leaders and how to deal with bad ones whose sins are discovered after they have been appointed, Paul exhorts us to honor good leaders.
I’ve known some bad Christian leaders who did a lot of harm to those they were called to serve. But I’ve known many more good Christian pastors and leaders. Most Christian leaders I’ve known are godly people who humbly serve others. They work hard. I’ve known quite a few who made significant financial sacrifices and accepted significantly more humble lifestyles in order to be faithful to God’s calling. Far from being the ones who damage souls, they are constantly ministering God’s love, truth, and grace to people in all of the most difficult situations of life. When church members lose family members, or face severe health problems, or are going through marital conflict, or dealing with depression, or find themselves trapped by a dark addiction, these Christian leaders are there loving, serving, helping, giving, and healing in Jesus’ Name. Most of these Christian leaders are excellent moral examples to follow. Of course, they are not perfect, but their character is such that by their life and teaching they encourage many others to live more godly lives.
So, let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
A Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we ask that you will bring much good out of the heart breaking report about Ravi Zacharias. May this news strengthen victims to report abusers and to share their stories when they are ready. May ministries and churches be more vigilant in guarding against sexual abuse. When the terrible happens, and sexual abuse occurs in a Christian organization or church, please give those organizations and churches the courage, strength, and grace to not cover up it up, but to deal with it in a way that best protects others from future abuse and also best brings healing to the victims.
Heavenly Father, heal those who have been hurt by evil sexual predators. Surround them with safe people who are called and gifted to bring healing, love, and truth into their wounded hearts. Transform them and use their stories to help guard others. Protect victims from the lie that there was something wrong with them that caused their abuse. Also help them to see that while not all Christian leaders are trustworthy, Jesus Christ is trustworthy.
Lord, please also encourage those who are understandably deeply discouraged by seeing a man whom they may have learned from and respected exposed as a liar, hypocrite, and sexual abuser. Remind people that Your truth remains true even when some of those who teach it are revealed to be false.
Bless and strengthen the many good Christian leaders who are humbly serving your people. Protect them from temptation.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
More Resources on this topic:
(1) In another blog post I wrote about one of the reasons that sexual abuse is so common and why some Christian leaders (and others) get away with it for so long. You may read that here:
Why is there so much sexual abuse?
(2) Despite claiming to take precautions, Ravi was often in situations where he could easily carry out sinful desires with little chance of getting quickly caught. If he had really and honestly kept what some call “the Billy Graham Rule” from early in his ministry, he might not have fallen into the terrible sins he eventually committed. I write about the Billy Graham Rule here:
The Billy Graham Rule: How Billy Graham was a good example to me.
(3) This blog post has some thoughts that are relevant to this issue:
Feelings, Thoughts and Prayers Related to the Kavanaugh Accusations
(4) Fighting the good fight against sin and being on guard against sin is important for all Christians, and especially for leaders. By fighting hard against relatively small (but still serious) sins we can avoid going down the path that it appears Ravi went down. This blog post has practical advice for fighting against temptation:
Practical Advice for Battles with Sin and Temptation
(5) This blog post you just read in response to the news about Ravi Zacharias borrows heavily from a previous blog post I wrote in response to a series of news articles about sexual abuse in Southern Baptist Churches. In fact, it is basically the same blog post reworked to make it relevant to Ravi’s case. If you want to read the one about sexual abuse in Southern Baptist Churches, which focuses more specifically on the problem of sexual abuse of children, here it is:
Sexual Abuse in Southern Baptist Churches and Ancient Wisdom from Paul Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
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