In the 1980s, the evangelical church world was rocked by several scandals. The most public ones involved people like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Today, we’re experiencing a wave of scandals that make those days feel almost quaint.
So, what’s the difference? Mainly this.
The church scandals of previous eras were considered one-offs at the time.
They were seen as individual sins that required personal confession, repentance and, in some cases, restoration. Very few people in church leadership saw them as an indication of wider, systemic problems.
Today we know better. Or we should.
While all sins have bad individual choices at their core, today’s church scandals are no longer seen strictly as one person’s sin. They are acknowledged as evidence of systemic issues that have plagued us for generations.
So what? And why bring this up? There at least four reasons:
1. The Truth Matters
It isn’t a matter of opinion that these problems are systemic. There’s too much evidence to deny it anymore.
Those who argue that we’re hurting our testimony by demanding accountability for the sins of church leaders are simply wrong. We’re hurting everyone when we cover up the truth—no matter how awful the truth may be.
The pain of exposing and addressing hidden sinfulness is significant, and it should never be taken lightly (let alone gloated over), but it’s the essential first step toward healing.
2. Victims Deserve To Be Heard
For too many years a very small number of people had access to broad communication, so it was easy to control the flow of information and very hard for powerless victims to get their story told.
That has changed. Mostly for the better. One of those “betters” is that those who have been hurt have a greater ability to be heard. And that, at bare minimum, is required for their healing to begin.
3. Our Size Obsession Has Contributed To The Problem
We’ve created massive platforms (literally) that are contributing to the crisis we’re currently facing.
Bigger stages and brighter spotlights attract people who want to be on big stages under bright spotlights. So, we end up with more narcissists in church leadership.
Not every person on a big stage is a narcissist. And many people on small stages are huge narcissists. The problem isn’t the size of the stage (or church platform), but our obsession with it. When we’re constantly told that a big stage is a desirable outcome, it feeds our self-centeredness.
And now that the stages are literally unlimited due to online access, we no longer have the natural barriers of physical space to tamp down our worst narcissistic tendencies.
4. Justice Requires Transparency—And Transparency Demands Justice
You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. And acknowledgement requires proper disclosure.
We must stop silencing victims, covering for sin, replatforming perpetrators, and demonizing whistle-blowers.
Then, once the problem is acknowledged, it must be dealt with justly.
I won’t pretend that it’s easy to balance mercy and justice. That’s one of many reasons why transparency is so important. Without transparency we create excuses instead of pursuing mercy, and we seek revenge instead of administering justice.
When we let more more light in we can see the answers to difficult questions more clearly.
(Photo by Marco Nürnberger | Flickr)
