As I’ve read the various reports coming out of the Southern Baptist Convention (including the 288-page report from Guidepost Solutions), it has struck me how many of their decisions were based on the image they wanted to present to the world. Up until recent years, the SBC might have been described as growing, influential, mission-minded, and reaching the world for Christ. And yet under the surface there was abuse, deception, and decay. The safety and security of vulnerable men, women, and children was sacrificed to the idol of the institution. Many Protestants, while watching similar events play out in the Catholic Church in prior decades, knew that the story wasn’t going to end there. Similar themes of the abuse of authority played out in the Mars Hill Church downfall. Russell Moore commented in the July 2022 issue of Christianity Today,
“[I]nstitutions seeking to protect themselves will take on the name of Jesus to say that victims, survivors, or whistleblowers are compromising ‘the mission’ or creating ‘disunity in the body’ when they point out horrors. But God will not long abide the misuse of his name for those who worship their own twisted appetites.”
Satan has expertly warped people’s priorities in order to undermine the influence of the Church as the Body of Christ. Some have no doubt concluded that if the Church can’t be trusted, then neither can the God it claims to represent. There are a number of things that I think we can learn—as individuals, churches, and denominations.
1) No human being besides Jesus Christ is infallible. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). When we put our pastors, elders, and denominational leaders up on pedestals, they will be sure to disappoint us in some way. We need to look for ways to guard against sinful actions through true accountability, and we need to have plans in place for when someone does fall.
2) No human institution is infallible. While the universal Church is not manmade, many of our existing programs and polity are created through human ingenuity and consensus. None of us have perfect knowledge or foresight to predict every possible outcome or prevent any possible abuse, but we should endeavor to do our best. “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2.Cor. 4:1-2).
3) The Church can only have one priority. Up until the past hundred years, the word priority had no plural. The Church exists to glorify God by obeying His Great Commission and Great Commandment. We cannot “prioritize” people, pastors, buildings, money, or statistics. To do so is to remove God from His throne. “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13).
4) The Church and its leaders will have to give an account to God. We should desire to do whatever it takes for each person to have a clear conscience before God. “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your soul, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things” (Heb. 13:17-18).
5) When any segment of the Church has failed, we should seek to make amends and hold sinners accountable. We are called to confront sin in the local church (Matt. 18:15-17), and to come alongside those who have been wounded by the sins of others (Rom. 12:15-17). Those who seek to cover up sin by showing partiality are just as guilty as those who have sinned. “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:8-10).
Sometimes that may mean removing a person from church membership or leadership and sometimes that may require dismantling the manmade institutions that have been corrupted (1 Cor. 5:1-13). The glory of God requires that we do not seek to protect the reputation of sinful individuals or institutions. “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light” (Luke 8:17).
“And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:17).
© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.
