A Current Kingdom Comment. About an 8 minute read.
Sadly, some who are already slipping down the integrity slide won’t read this post. If avoiding facing the possibility of integrity compromised describes us, the slide is already dangerously close to a fall. Thank God, others are ready to face integrity challenges.
Still yet others already consistently take measures to “stand firm” (Ephesians 6:10-14). Facing our integrity challenges is honorable, an act of integrity itself.
Integrity: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty
Dictionary.com
My heart deeply saddened when I read the linked news article from Christianity Today regarding apologist Ravi Zacharias. Somewhere along the way something went wrong. A slippery slide. Integrity compromised. Leaving, at best, a tarnished legacy.
Compromise: discredit, dishonor, implicate, put under suspicion, sell out
Thesaurus.com
Perhaps you would agree, “There but for the grace of God, go I (insert your name).” Though the quote is not from the Bible–it is attributed to a number of historical figures–it does ring true. Paul’s firm hold on God’s grace sounds similar: “By the grace of God I am what I am . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
I’m pretty sure Ravi would have agreed, “There but for the grace of God, go I.” At least publicly. But true spiritual integrity happens in private first.
Perhaps you are like me. I would be a liar if I said there was no compromise in my internal integrity. That is why it must not be held privately, that is, secret. It must be public, that is, made known to someone. Not public in the sense that I would describe in an blog to all the world the details of compromised thought-life integrity, financial integrity, time-use integrity, telling-the-truth integrity, or ways the clear-Scripture-revealed-attributes-of-a-Christ-like-follower-of-Jesus integrity may have been compromised. It must be public in the sense of being accountable to someone(s) who is respected and trusted, has our best interests in mind, and is motivated to lovingly help us succeed in our spiritual walk.
Why is accountability important? It is an admission that Jesus-followers are vulnerable to the human sinful nature. We are created in the image of God, to live in community, God himself being a community of Three. We are told not to “not give up meeting together” so that we can “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,” and “spur one another on to love and good deeds,” and so that we will not “deliberately keep on sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth” (Hebrews 10:23-26). Also we are told to “confess your sins to each other so that you may be healed” and that this leads to “righteous . . . powerful and effective prayer” (James 5:16).
Maybe like me, you’ve observed both of the following: one church leader says the only person he needs to be accountable to is Jesus, eschewing vulnerability; another who in tears submits to church discipline, embraces accountability, and is transformed. Both true situations. I wonder which finishes with lasting integrity?
Apparently, Ravi got to the point that he avoided accountability. He may been slipping down the integrity slide for too long. According to the CT article referenced above, “Much of the abuse uncovered by investigators took place around massage, which Zacharias relied on to treat a chronic back injury. He regularly traveled with a personal masseuse and criticized a fellow RZIM staff member who questioned the ‘appearance of impropriety’ for doing so.”
Let’s not point our fingers too quickly or judgmentally. Let’s not pridefully think this could never happen to us. We are in a war (Ephesians 6:10-20). The battles are bloody. There are potential casualties when the fight is not engaged humbly, obediently, vigorously, and in the power of God’s might. Note that Paul himself seems to request accountability as he pleads for prayer to “fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it publicly as I should” (vv. 19-20). It’s as if he may be saying, “Let me vulnerable here. I’m in prison. Being in prison is not fun. Not-Fun-At-All. So, yes. I do get fearful. When I open my mouth about Jesus again, I’m just going to get thrown into the slammer again. And the beatings are brutal. Please pray that I wouldn’t have second thoughts about declaring the gospel publicly and boldly.”
Let’s have the same stand-firm-together attitude for each other and our leaders, praying for each other’s spiritual success and spiritual integrity.
Herman Moldez is a nationally recognized Filipino Christian leader, pastor, mentor, and pastor-trainer. Herman notes that accountability is a two way street. Boards and Councils close to a leader on the slippery slide of integrity-compromised need to hold the leader accountable.
In the recent report published in christianitytoday.com about the investigation surrounding Ravi Zaharias (RZ), a word that comes strongly to me is “accountability”.
When a leader becomes a successful and recognized superstar, it becomes dangerous. We don’t need to be as famous as RZ to see our need to review our own systems of leadership accountability.
Boards and Councils often become lax in keeping the main leader/pastor accountable – asking the awkward question, giving uncomfortable feedback, and not just success and statistics but stories of struggles as well. These questions are important when the Senior Pastor or CEO makes the church/organization famous.
In most organizational structures at work today, the one on top is almost untouchable when the leader is defensive and dictatorial, or when the board leaders give a blind trust and fear of losing a celebrity from whom organizations/church leaders and members derive prestige by association. The superstar leader easily becomes the main product that sells and brings so much profits of all kinds.
We need to review the influence of corporate leadership and management that operates in our churches today. God’s people must be structured not as a corporation but as a community, a relationship of family and friends that relate in vulnerable grace.
There is so much for us to learn because a failure of one of us serves also as a warning. We are all standing on and walking with feet of clay. (Herman Moldez. Personal correspondence with Filipino leaders. Used with permission.)
“We are standing on and walking with feet of clay.” All of us.
There but for the grace of God goes (insert your name).
Accountability. Community. Integrity. Humility. Internal integrity uncompromised, exceeding that of public visibility.
Precious Lord Jesus, we yearn for the integrity that comes from walking in your Spirit with the fellow-followers that you have given us. Journeying together. Spurring each other on to love and good deeds and integrity.
Ravi Zacharias’ legacy? Ravi’s teaching has powerfully impacted so many, and for that he is loved, and will continue to be. The measure of his impact will not be fully known until eternity. But there is integrity compromised. He did have feet of clay.
Ultimately, legacy’s value probably doesn’t rest in our opinions. Legacy’s value for us all is measured in God’s forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
Community Conversation
How have you been impacted by slide of integrity compromise in the past?
How has this news and this post effected your thinking?
What changes do you need to reinforce and strengthen internal integrity?
Excellent article! Sunday’s message was on Moral Purity and hit on this. So very sad and is a warning to each one of us to follow closely to our Lord!
I feel like jumping to the topic of personal accountability derails the real issue at hand with the RZ situation and so many like others like it. The church has major cultural issues with how they handle leadership and celebrity. It doesn’t take some big personality like Ravi either, there are little cults of personality that dot the countryside that are completely disinterested in factual personal holiness in those that teach and lead them.
What is coming out now, and finally being condemned, about RZ has been known in public spaces for years, and in private ones for who knows how long. While he was still a name that you could get for a conference, no one was interested in even hearing any of these things because he was still a commodity within the culture. People were more than willing to downplay and disparage people who were abused by him in order to cling to the image of who they wanted him to be. He is dead now, so they can now play act that there has been a reckoning now that there are very few consequences of culture and clout.
Personal accountability is all fine and good, but if you are trying to cultivate it in a culture that has exactly zero interest in holding those in positions of authority accountable for anything, then it’s not going to amount to anything. The church, particularly the American Evangelical church, may have an issue with personal accountability, but the larger one is the one that goes as far back as anything and that issue is idolatry. We let these men teach us about God, so that we allow them to become functional deities who cannot be attacked because that would be attacking our very concept of God himself… and that is being generous. I suspect that these people just make us feel good, they make us feel like we are champions in our own lives, they make us feel smart, they make us feel like we are better than “those people.” They are the shifting sand that so many of us have built our houses on, and we will deny that the house is falling until the very end… then quietly build our next shack just a little ways down the beach.
Idolatry. Yes, it certainly happens. And often leaders have been idolized. Anytime anything or anyone is loved at all in a way that distracts from or competes with loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength–repentance is needed. I suspect that leaders–and the rest of us–slide into integrity compromised when we start to love ourselves, our success, and what people think of us more than we love God. Community and relationships of trust can help us–leaders or followers–from getting too big for our britches. And get us back on our knees. With others. Before God.
Well written Steve. I am currently finishing up on an Apologetic course from RZIM and being in the course has provided me with the complete updates from both the RZIM Leadership as well as the law firm that conducted the investigation. When I was in seminary, one of my teachers, Dr. Warren Benson said that the watch-word for the next decade will be ‘accountability’. As you wrote Steve, it is an every-day watch-word for us all. There is an excellent article called “No Man Fails on Purpose” – it is too long for this post, but I will email it directly to you, with a theme of men discipling and holding one another accountable. Thank you for your exhortation Brother.
Glad you wrote this , Steve . I’ve been lamenting Ravi and others in church leadership for years , but there has been little discussion . What’s especially disheartening is when an atheist is more sympathetic to the abuses than a Christian . At the same time, I also acknowledge how I’ve fallen short so many times over the years . I pray for integrity for my family and myself so that I may be shining BRIGHTER each day until the day I meet my Lord and savior , Yeshua .
I handled my own inner battle with temptation to sin by sharing with a trusted person who was in a similar ministry to my own. It was, however, a very huge risk because there was almost no one else on earth whom I felt would keep my confidence. Even in, and probably especially when, you are a minister, missionary or Christian worker it would be devastating to your life and career if the person were to let your confidence be known to others. But I do have A FANTASTIC testimony about what happened every time – as soon as we would begin with prayer and a contract o confidentiality, I would have to enter a place of true humility and admit my imperfections – begin to confess my temptations and struggles. To my great surprise and relief, IMMEDIATELY the power of the temptation would lose its grip! It was as if the “public” sharing with another believer was THEY KEY to unlock the demonic hold and force it to fly away forever into the care of Jesus. This is why I’m thrilled to read here your new focus and to encourage everyone that we have GOT to learn to provide safety and confidentiality for one another because ALL believers have these struggles, no matter who they are. And we must testify of our processes such as begging God to help us hate the sin we love and don’t want to let go of, and to provide us with the humility to respond and confess when He shows us the person He has placed in our lives to share so vulnerably with. This is a desperately important aspect that needs improvement and strengthening in the Body of Christ today.
Thank you Shelley for your testimony of the positive and strengthening results of being vulnerable with an accountability partner. Yes, when we admit, confess, repent, there is amazing freedom and movement toward healing and victory over sin.