The Complicated Legacy of Ravi Zacharias

An update on this post. This was written just after his death. At that point, we did not have all the details. Not only was RZ’s abuse more serious, there have been serious problem with RZIM. Search for my more recent posts.

I was sad to hear about Ravi Zacharias’s death. He was loved by many and his family needs our prayers.

Like many people, I have my own Ravi story. About twenty-five years ago, I was part of an evangelistic group in St Catharines. I think I was the only non-Indian in the group.

We had a dinner meeting and there was a man I didn’t recognize. I was a new Christian at the time. I was told that he was a world famous scholar. I didn’t recognize his name and so I didn’t think much about it.

Many years later, I realized that one of the ladies in our group was Ravi Zacharias’s sister and that man was Ravi. I had no idea who I had met.

What is so complicated?

Tributes are pouring in about the impact of Ravi. Many are considering him one of the greatest Christian apologists.

I know a number of people were tremendously impacted by his ministry and books. There is no doubt that he did great things for the kingdom of God. You can read some of my thoughts here.

So what is so complicated?

The problem is that in the last few years there have been a number of controversies concerning Ravi. You can find some posts that paint Ravi as one of the worst Christian public figures in recent years.

I think that is an exaggeration. I believe that Ravi was basically a good man.

But there were problems. I am not too concerned about his use of the title “Doctor” even though all his doctorates were honoury.

More serious were his claims to have studied at Cambridge and taught at Oxford. These claims were proved to be false and RZIM quietly corrected his CV. You can find details here.

I say this not to dishonour the dead. I still have respect Ravi, even though I think he made some unfortunate choices.

It has bothered me that most evangelicals were either ignorant of or dismissive of these accusations. I understand that we want our heroes but it should not be at the expense of truth.

As far as I know, Ravi never publicly apologized for misleading people. No one is perfect but acknowledging faults strengthens rather than weakens our legacy.

Does Ravi Zecharias leave a good legacy? Yes he does. There is much that was great about him and his ministry. Ultimately his legacy is what he has built with RZIM.

But it is a complicated legacy because it is not untainted. Mistakes were made that were not adequately dealt with.

A part of Ravi’s legacy can be to encourage us to hold to truth and accuracy and when we stray, to come clean even if there are consequences.