Opinion on Ravi Zacharias' Sexual Misconduct
Growing up in Christian community, the name Ravi Zacharias was always put "up there" with the great leaders across Christian history. A famous apologist that defended the Christian
faith against what we would call "false idols", he was a modern-day Paul to many: we wanted to be like him, giving a good account of what Christianity really is to others. A figurative Christian Captain America, to use today's words.
That is until eyes caught the heading of the Christianity Today article on my social media website. As the comments under the post seemed vague and inconclusive, I decided to probe further and read the entire report published by Ravi Zacharias International Ministry, the NGO founded by him as well as the commissioner of the report.
As I continued to read through the 12-page report, my eyebrows rose considerably as any doubts to whether our Captain America had really betrayed all that he stood for got vacuumed out and thrown into an imaginary incinerator. The Ravi Zacharias presented in the report was a total stranger to the man that gave clear apologetic sermons: this was a sex maniac, a masochist in every sense of the word. The extent that he probes for victims, abuses their trust, even twisting Christianity and secretly funds his own habit using ministry funds is enough to make any normal human being fume with disgust.
Below are some things I took note of in the lengthy 12-page report - some taken as a personal reminder, others as a reminder to the corporate body of Christ a.k.a. the church.
The Perversity of Sin
As we look into the details of the report, there is the sense of evil undercurrents flowing throughout Ravi's actions. We watch in retrospect as he uses his position as a "Christian celebrity" to connect emotionally and spiritually with his victims. He then pushes their boundaries, sexually abusing them - and then trapping them by giving them money and/or threatening them with his status. He brazenly claims to one of the victims that she is "a gift from God" for his ministry, and even goes further to uses the salvation of souls as blackmail should she expose him.
Some people in the Christian camp may try to argue that Ravi was "possessed by the devil" or was "temporarily tempted". I do not share that opinion. The Bible makes it clear that the heart is exceedingly wicked (Jer 17:9). In fact, the Bible points out the same wickedness of its own characters: Moses' rash anger, David's adultery, Usiah's pride and the list goes on. What Ravi did, he did out of his own volition.
Why does that matter? It reminds us that if even a high-profile Christian leader can fall to sin and fail so miserably, we are no better. Ravi's case sheds light to how we may compromise our faith: by avoiding it, by coercing or forcing others to be silent about it, by justifying it and even by using God's work as a meat shield to cover up our wickedness. This should remind us to search out hearts for any wickedness, and to cling to God as our everything.
The Christian Leader Idolatry
After reading the report, I took the liberty to read previous papers covering the incident. An interesting fact came up: the reason why it took so long for the news to be revealed was due to "toxic loyalty culture" - the organization core, when confronted with the allegations in September 2020, outright denied it without investigating, and only after a prolonged ordeal involving leaders and other team members of RZIM coming out to testify did they commission such a report and publish it.
This was not the first time this has happened. In 2017, a victim had come forward to testify and sue Ravi on crimes along the same lines. The organization at the time had the same response - outright denial, and refusal to take any questions against their leader. It was later on revealed that when team members confronted Ravi on the issue, he either reprimanded them or left them on ice - with no one to tell him otherwise.
I usually get a little annoyed when people quote their Christian role models than the Bible. To a certain extent, our church leaders should be an example for us to follow: Paul also told his followers to imitate him - however, he said that they were to imitate him as he imitated Christ (1 Cor 11:1). In other words, a Christian leader should not be followed any longer if he no longer follows Christ. The problem is that we all too often put leaders on a pedestal. They come up with excuses for their "unique" personalities, defend accusations to the hilt and even if found guilty, try to justify their actions. It's almost as if they are treating them as God: every thing they do is right; if anyone questions them, then they are in the wrong, right?
This issue is not new in the church: Paul also expresses frustrations over the factions in the early church, where one person would claim 'Paul is the best!' and another would say, 'Nah, Peter's the head of the church, I follow him!' Paul points out that there is no other leader in the church except Christ, the true Head of the church. Christ alone is our example - if our leaders follow His example as in the Bible, we follow them; if they do not, we find another that does.
Transparency in Spiritual Leadership,
More than Ever
Despite all that, I will commend RZIM in their choice to investigate the incidents as well as to publish it on their website, alongside the statement from their leaders. Many churches in their situation would have probably tried to cover up, hide from the media, change their name and wait until the storm is over rather than to face the issue head on. The statement and apology released by them acknowledges their mistakes and includes steps taken to rectify and prevent such issues from occurring again.
Avoiding and suppressing the issue is often the more attractive choice for churches - after all, if they come out directly on that issue, what would happen to their witness? They would lose all credibility and become cannon fodder for the "atheists" to block access to the gospel of Christ. This mindset, although well-meaning, fails to see that the credibility of the gospel is already compromised by the act; to cover it up will only allow the wickedness to take root and fester in the church. This was the exact method that Ravi used to manipulate and hide his sins behind the ministry.
In the 21st century church, transparency is needed more than ever. With false doctrines coming in at all angles and the decline of sound doctrine, the church leaders need to be held accountable for their actions in guarding the spiritual welfare of their flock. Believers need to be able to question and confront actions that are out of line with the Bible, in a way that is respectful to both the leader and the member. Church leaders should take note of Peter's exhortation: that they are serving the flock as overseers, not lords above them. (1 Pet 5:1-4)
After all, the one and only LORD we have is Jesus Christ.
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