Post Ravi Zacharias: 3 Things the Church Must Change Now

We’ve seen it before.  The pastor caught up in an affair, the coverup, the payoff, and the inevitable public scandal that splits a megachurch or topples a global Christian ministry.  Whether Carl Lentz, Bill Hybels, Andy Savage, or Jerry Falwell Jr.  the list just seems to grow of Christian male leaders caught with their britches down.

But somehow the recent revelation of famed Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias’ that has sent shock waves through the Evangelical Christian community seems even more disturbing.  The recent independent report by Miller & Martin PLLC doesn’t reveal a well intentioned pastor who simply developed an emotional attachment to a congregation member leading to some bad decisions but instead a sexual predator who for years used his position as a Christian minister to manipulate and abuse women for his own gratification.

Many others have chronicled the event from various perspectives and I highly recommend you check out Tanya Marlow’s article, “But his books are still good, right? – 5 things Christians must stop saying about sexual abusers“

So I was hesitant to jump into the fray on this issue until recently a pastor I know asked me what I suggest the church should do to stop this thing happening again in the future.  While arguably this side of paradise we may never stamp out such abuse in the church completely, we can put into place some common-sense practices that would help mitigate the fertile breeding ground within Christian circles said predators appear to operate in with impunity.

1. More Women in Senior Leadership

This almost goes without saying.  Having many more gifted women occupying lead pastor and other senior leadership roles within the church may not be the silver bullet, but would go a long way to breaking up the “Old Boy’s club” that is deeply embedded in much of church culture. 

Ravi Zacharias may have found a less conducive environment for some of his behaviors if there were a number of strong women on the board of RZIM ( not family members) who could look him in the eye and say, “Sorry Ravi, you won’t be keeping three separate phones and traveling with a personal female masseuse alone to Bangkok”

Sadly, rather than leading the way toward the equality and empowering of women, the church has too often only been pulled forward kicking and screaming.  Replacing poisonous Mad Men culture with a Jesus centered Kingdom culture would greatly reduce the opportunity for predators to operate.

2 Dismantle Toxic Authoritarian Structures

Although most Evangelical Christians in the West live in open democracies where power is shared, Rule of Law is prized, and transparency and equality is strived for, the church those Christians attend on Sunday morning are often anything but.  Evangelical ministries tend to be run by strong charismatic leaders who often (but not always) shun checks and balances, transparency, and the sharing of power.

Why?

Simply put, because deep down many Christians want a pastor who tells them

* what is right or wrong

* what God wants or doesn’t want

* what they should or shouldn’t do with their life

In 1 Samuel 8 the people of Israel demanded that Samuel give them a king. Samuel goes on to explain to the people that a king will control them, abuse them, and use their lives to further his own.

And yet, surprisingly they replied, “We still want a king over us!”

The Independent Report on Ravi Zacharias chronicles the actions of a man who cultivated an environment where he could control those around him, abuse those around him, and use their lives to further his own

You see the pattern?  A “king” can get away with a lot of nonsense before events eventually spin out of control.

Moving forward this “Man of God” fetish all too many churches participate in needs to be replaced with shared power, accountability, and transparency.  Churches and Christian ministries’ board members need to replace family members, golf buddies, and other senior pastors with no direct understanding of said church or ministry with competent men and women operating in the gifts God gave them

The days of being “in favor” or “out of favor” with the Senior Pastor needs to end.

3. Focus From WHAT We Believe To HOW We Believe

Peruse the website of any church or Christian ministry and you will no doubt find the What We Believe tab.  Inevitably it will list God, the Bible, Salvation, Jesus and a host of other points the church believes.  What is often missing is a similar tab detailing How We Believe

Ravi Zacharias spent decades telling Christians what they should believe and then giving them the tools they needed to defend said beliefs.  The problem was those decades of teachings others what to believe crumbled in the end because Ravi never quite understood how to believe.

Does it matter if you believe Jesus is the Son of God and he died for your sins if you are having and affair with your secretary or dipping your hand in the offering plate?

Jesus came along 2000 years ago and had the audacity to suggest that God was more concerned with How you believed than What you believed

To highlight this Jesus asked the crowds in Matthew 21:28-32:

What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

Until the Evangelical community decides that its the Son who does God’s will yet sometimes doesn’t always get the right Statements of Faith correct over the Son who can state the right beliefs yet doesn’t do the will of God we will continue to be rocked by scandals that topple our “Heros in the Faith”

Peace,

Steve