His heart:
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.
When you think of the Lord as an "avenger" in matters of sexual immorality, that underscores just how serious He is about these matters. We have been given the principles, tools, and resources in order to resist temptation and to combat uncleanness in our lives. He has set before us a holy standard that we cannot meet by depending on ourselves; we have to appropriate His holiness and develop a determination to root out the areas in our lives that are not pleasing to Him - certainly a lifelong pursuit, but the prescription for a life of freedom.
+++++
The Bible offers a "zero-tolerance" policy on matters of sexual immorality, and calls us to be holy
people, not out of our own strength, but through Christ. Ephesians 5 states:
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Another translation says there should "not be even a hint" of sexual immorality. That is the standard for the Church.
The numbers are breathtaking...the Houston Chronicle has published the findings of a study, done in cooperation with the San Antonio Express-News, which found that, according to the first story in the series:
In all, since 1998, roughly 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct, the newspapers found. That includes those who were convicted, credibly accused and successfully sued, and those who confessed or resigned. More of them worked in Texas than in any other state.
They left behind more than 700 victims, many of them shunned by their churches, left to themselves to rebuild their lives. Some were urged to forgive their abusers or to get abortions.
About 220 offenders have been convicted or took plea deals, and dozens of cases are pending. They were pastors. Ministers. Youth pastors. Sunday school teachers. Deacons. Church volunteers.One person being abused in a church setting is too many. And, multiply that by hundreds and you have the makings of a despicable trend. 380 people in authority misused that authority to take advantage of one or more human beings. Fortunately, over half of those have either been convicted or accepted plea deals and there are more cases pending.
These instances involved abuse of women by men, as well as men by men. Who knows how many of these abusers were exposed to or addicted to porn, allowing a abhorrent view of sexuality, rather than the fresh truth of God's Word to shape their view? In an age in which we see the culture, and even the Church, softening its stance on homosexuality, some of these instances of abuse involved a male being abused by another male.
One of the stunning aspects of the report is that, "At least 35 church pastors, employees and volunteers who exhibited predatory behavior were still able to find jobs at churches during the past two decades. In some cases, church leaders apparently failed to alert law enforcement about complaints or to warn other congregations about allegations of misconduct."
Plus, the article stated that, "Several past presidents and prominent leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention are among those criticized by victims for concealing or mishandling abuse complaints within their own churches or seminaries."
But, the big question circulated in Southern Baptist churches is: what do we do about this? The Chronicle talked to the interim head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, Augie Boto, who "helped draft the rejection of reform proposals in 2008. In an interview, he expressed 'sorrow' about some of the newspapers' findings but said the convention's leadership can do only so much to stop sexual abuses." Local church autonomy has been said to prevent the Convention from having centralized control over the issue. The article goes on to say, "Because of that, Boto said, the committee 'realized that lifting up a model that could not be enforced was an exercise in futility,' and so instead drafted a report that 'accepted the existence of the problem rather than attempting to define its magnitude.'"
Most recently, certainly, the Convention has been aware of the scourge of abuse in its midst. Messengers to the annual Convention in Dallas last year passed resolutions on abuse, as well as affirming women. And, a Baptist Press article reported on the announcement of a Sexual Abuse Study Group, in partnership with the Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. A release from Convention President J.D. Greear's office stated, "The group's purpose...will be to consider how Southern Baptists at every level can take discernable action to respond swiftly and compassionately to incidents of abuse, as well as to foster safe environments within churches and institutions. This group will study both how Southern Baptists are currently engaging these issues and develop recommendations in consultation with relevant SBC entities on strategies and resources for ministering to victims and protecting people and churches from predators."
The article said that the names of members of the group would be released "at a later date," but I have not been able to locate any names. Apparently, the ERLC is running the study. Another Baptist Press article reported that the study was "underway." You can only hope that credible and experienced people in this area are being consulted with in order to bring solutions that match the gravity of the situation, without politicization.
There are a number of principles that we can consider in light of this report.
First of all, we can acknowledge that abuse is real, and it is taking place in church settings. We have to open our eyes, and be prepared to confront evil where it exists. There are authorities, inside and outside the church, who need to know that instances of abuse are occurring.
We should develop an awareness of what is taking place. And, we should take all the necessary precautions in our churches to reduce the conditions under which abuse could occur, including proper supervision of church activities, protection in ministry to children, and the teaching of a healthy sexual ethic. People should be loved enough in the Lord to tell them the truth. One of the major threads of the Chronicle story is that people who had been involved in abuse in one church were allowed to work at another. Proper vetting of potential pastoral staff members, as well as volunteers, is critical.
We have to refine our attitude toward sexual abuse. It has come to our doorstep. Now, there is certainly debate about how the organizational structure of the Southern Baptist Convention could have contributed to widespread abuse. And, while Baptist leadership debates organizational controls, one of the key elements has not received a lot of play, as I see it - the preaching of holiness from the pulpit and its practice in the pews. In a culture steeped in moral relativism, where so-called "progressive" ideas are taking root and tolerance is the buzzword of the day, we have to align ourselves with the Bible's "zero tolerance" policy for sin. While some denigrate the proclamation of the gospel in dealing with injustice; truth is, many of our issues concerning justice would be eliminated or reduced with the injection of Biblical truth. When you consider that, according to Faithwire, 60% of Christian men view porn at least once a month, you can see how men are taking their cues about sexuality and interpersonal relationships from sources that are anathema to the Bible.
There is a better way, and that is to appropriate truth. Truth about freedom in Christ rather than coddling or covering up sin. Truth about properly resisting temptation. And, seeking the truth about those who are chosen to lead God's people. God has set up leadership roles for men and women, and while there are some who would blame the frequency of abuse on the so-called "patriarchy" in the Church, truth is, it is not a problem with the structure; rather those who would take advantage of it for power and worldly pleasure.
Finally, we should seek accountability Corporately speaking, regarding the Southern Baptist Convention, that can be tricky. Terry Mattingly has a great analysis at GetReligion.org. He writes:
This has nothing to do with good intentions or bad intentions. Many Southern Baptist leaders are horrified by the facts exposed by the Chronicle and News-Express investigation.
But what can they afford to do legally and financially, given the realities of SBC church life — where the ultimate power is at the local level?
Yes, I know that some associations have tossed congregations out for veering left on sexuality, the ordination of women and similar issues. I could see Southern Baptists, in the future, tossing some churches out of fellowship because they refused to discipline predators or declined to take part in VOLUNTARY efforts to prevent abuse and shelter victims. But that is not the same thing as creating a new institution that would be legally responsible for tracking and investigating abusers, while reporting their status to all Southern Baptists at the local, regional and state levels.He cites an "update" from this study of sexual abuse, which says, "Once resources and strategies have been developed, the implementation phase will launch a wide-scale, comprehensive effort to educate, saturate, and motivate Southern Baptist churches, entities, and leaders to embrace and incorporate the recommendations and findings of the study." [his emphasis added]
He asks the questions, "But what does it mean to say that SBC “entities” will “embrace and incorporate” these changes? Will that involve SBC associations and conventions taking on legal responsibilities and financial liabilities that they never have in the past? How about the creation of a national SBC agency to legally handle all of this?" I would point out that local church autonomy is certainly not something to hide behind, or use as an excuse for past inaction, but it is also a distinctive of Southern Baptist life; and it seems as if information-sharing and corroboration of best practices can be helpful, but centralization of power for the denomination's churches may be an unnecessary bridge too far. As Mattingly says, "Stay tuned."
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