Apologetics and Responding to Sexual Abuse in the Church
One of the pressing issues for the church today, although not everyone agrees with this, is sexual abuse in the church. I remember when evangelicals used to point to Roman Catholics and abuse by priests as evidence of their theological error. Now, sexual abuse within evangelical churches is as rampant as everywhere else.
How do we respond to this?
Some churches have tried to cover it up. They may (privately) acknowledge that the pastor or Christian leader did something bad but might also respond with “Look at the fruit of the ministry!” The church is growing, donations are coming in, and people are becoming followers of Jesus.
They might see the victim who is seeking justice to be getting in the way of what God is doing and is refusing to forgive. Bringing accusations to light might be seen as an obstacle “effective” ministry.
Others may try to minimize the sexual abuse by seeing things primarily through the culture war lens. Why focus on sexual abuse when the real problem is women being too involved in discussing the Bible. Sexual abuse, as unfortunate as it may be, is not the same slippery slope to liberalism as women in ministry is. Plus some of the sexual offenders are some of the most effective culture warriors.
If this sounds like hyperbole, just look at some of the recent history of the Southern Baptist Convention. Their top leaders are actively minimizing the sexual abuse problem in the SBC.
How does this fit with Christian apologetics?
There could be a number of options. One is to deny that the abuse is happening or at least that it is not a major problem. This could be done by using apologetics-related skills to defend leaders and dismiss accusers.
Another option would be to dismiss the importance of the sexual abuse. One could point out that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and not the good or bad behaviour of Christian leaders. Apologists could insist that sexual abuse is simply irrelevant to the truth of the gospel.
I strongly believe that both options are in error.
As truth comes out and secrets become harder to hide, the reputation of the church is taking a hit. We regularly hear about pastors and leaders being charged with sexual abuse and other crimes.
Whether we agree or not, people outside the church do not separate the truth claims of the church about Jesus from the way the church manages abuse. The church loses credibility in the preaching of the gospel when they cover up, excuse, or minimize sexual abuse.
Christian apologists can live out their calling by demanding justice for victims and holding those responsible to account. Justice for victims is a basic biblical value that is found throughout the Old and New Testaments. It is much more prominent than some of the others issues that we spend our time and energy.
While it might feel like highlighting these cases makes our job more difficult in the short run, it will actually make our job easier in the long run.
How important is this? Here is an example:
Why did Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) fall apart? Yes, part of it was because Zacharias was guilty of sexual abuse. But it was also because their leadership was complicit in covering up Zacharias’s actions and attacking the victims for “the sake of the ministry.”
Compare that with L’Arche, the disability community partially founded by Jean Vanier, who was also guilty of sexual abuse. The leadership of L’Arche responded appropriately to Vanier’s actions and it continues to thrive today.
I call upon Christian apologists to consider that apologetics is more than sharing evidence for the existence of God or for the resurrection of Jesus. It is also about demonstrating evidence that we take following Jesus seriously, and that means standing up for victims.
