Opinion ¢ Tan Shangjun is a lawyer and a member of Foochow Methodist Church
The great responsibility of church leaders
I
remember reading Ravi Zacharias’ book I, Isaac, take Thee, Rebekah many years ago whilst on vacation, and found the book to contain much-needed wisdom on marriage from a Christian perspective (despite me still being single then). One portion from the book has remained entrenched in my mind ever since: “First and foremost, do not even flirt with the idea that there may have been somebody better out there or someone else with whom you may connect better. Infidelities are not always physical. Emotional vagaries of the mind can be equally dangerous to the health of one’s marriage.” (137)
How things can, and have, changed. When the Miller & Martin 1 report was released, the nature and extent of Ravi’s abusive behaviour left me and many others reeling with grief, disappointment and revulsion. The juxtaposition of the report’s graphic contents against the wholesome image that Ravi had portrayed has certainly betrayed the trust of thousands worldwide. One would be well-justified in ruminating about how something like this could have happened. “How could such a prominent Christian evangelist do such things?” “How could he have led such a duplicitous life?” “Why wasn’t this picked up earlier?” Many questions such as these probably have crossed many of our minds. What lessons, then, can we draw from this whole saga? I offer four brief thoughts (in no particular order of importance). First, we should examine ourselves to “see whether [we] are in the faith” (2 Cor 13:5). Ravi’s scandals should remind us that it is easy to maintain a head–heart divide where
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METHODIST MESSAGE June 2021
what we know does not translate into influencing how we act; it is easy for us to be Pharisees. In practical terms, the quality of our Christian life or personal behaviour is not necessarily correlated to the number of books we read, the depth of Bible studies in which we engage, the hours we spend in Christian service or the number of sermons a pastor has preached. It is, after all, possible to preach a sermon in church without a belief in God. We need to ever so often remind ourselves that Christianity requires us to daily take up our Cross (Luke 9:23). There is also no room for idols in the Church. It is undeniable that Ravi had built a strong following across the globe throughout his years of ministry, speaking at prominent events such as “Passion” conferences attended by tens of thousands. One can only wonder how many of us have put our trust in Ravi, seeing him as a “model” human being or Christian whom we should aspire to emulate. Perhaps this is a good time for churches and individuals alike to assess if we have fallen into the trap of idolising our pastors, church workers, or even the “brand name” or denomination of the church we attend. We would do well to remember that idolising humans can and will only lead to disappointment—the only “idol” we should have is Christ. Third, laity and clergy alike should be encouraged to report cases of abuse (regardless of their nature), and we as the Church should fully support victims or whistleblowers through the process. A Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) insider, Ruth Malhotra, has criticised the organisation’s leadership for trying to discredit victims and silence those who spoke up. 2 This is extremely unfortunate, and has arguably contributed to the present outcome.
