No, all sins are not equal.
Corollary: Some sins are worse than others. Our entire justice system is built on this concept.
But Christians have been conditioned to think that it’s false.
Jesus said lusting was heart adultery. So then, many extrapolate, it must be that lusting after a woman is just as bad as committing unspeakable atrocities against her. And then . . . you’ve got to draw the corollary. That means that committing unspeakable atrocities against a woman is no worse than lusting after her in your heart.
Really?
Jesus reserved his strongest language for the religious leaders who looked good on the outside, who acted holy in public, who laid rule after rule on the backs of the people, but in secret were practicing terrible sins and refused to be corrected, who considered their minutiae of outward-rule-keeping to be their ticket to holiness. You can read His scathing words in Matthew 23.
So now, another pastor of a fundamentalist megachurch (a megachurch full of minute rules) has committed atrocities. A pastor who, like his predecessor, wrote books and preached vigorously against these very sins, while covering them among other leaders of his church. Would we dare cry out with Christ against those like him, “Whited sepulchres! Full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness!”
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This article has now been incorporated into the book You can find that book here.
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Go here to download your free Guide, How to Enjoy the Bible Again (when you’re ready) After Spiritual Abuse (without feeling guilty or getting triggered out of your mind). You’ll receive access to both print and audio versions of the Guide (audio read by me). I’m praying it will be helpful.
This post gives me a lot to think about. It presents a different perspective on why Christian pastor/teachers, etc. don’t report sexual abuse. From my experience, the most common response was just to ignore it, to pretend that nothing was happening. If that wasn’t possible, then the emphasis went quickly to making sure the victim very quickly expressed forgiveness and even confessed his or her “part” in the abuse. The perpetrator merely had to tell the authority that he had repented and his sin would quickly be forgiven. He would be quickly restored to his position of authority. I recently read some posts focused on the response that people should have towards these circumstances. What I noted was that the victims were encouraged to forgive. They were quickly labeled with negative descriptions as if this is something they enjoyed or wanted or as if they enjoy living with the consequences. Those posting about the perpetrators focused on making sure that the person was dealt with gently with the understanding that anyone could fall to that level of sin, so we should not “judge”. The way this plays out, however, is that churches become the safest places for sex offenders, but one of the harshest of places for victims. The perpetrators do not have to fear any real consequences. They can rape or molest someone and if caught, simply express repentance. Christians, in their desire not to judge, forgive with the understanding that all of us are sinners. The offender moves on to his next target.
The victims, in the meantime, bear the brunt of everything. Not only do they have to bear the shame, humiliation, and brokenness that came with the original event, they also are expected to forgive. In Christianese, this typically translates that they should not tell anyone. They should not express fear, as fear is not from God. They should not cry or hurt as that is not “accepting God’s will”. They should not feel anger. They should not question. They basically are supposed to just completely shut off all feelings and keep the secrets. Those secrets destroy the victims. When they have nightmares and shake with the fear of the memories, they are to keep that a secret or be blamed for not forgiving. When they wonder where God was and if he cares, they are quickly criticized because we aren’t to question God. If they ever dare tell, then they are accused as trying to destroy the church, Christianity, and even God himself.
I’m not really sure what God’s perspective is on all of this. I’m not quite sure why so many Christian leaders offer more hope to the perpetrator than to the victims. Is this God’s perspective? I’m not sure. Every offender I have known was protected by the church. Each of their victims was shamed and treated in a way that church was clearly not a place of comfort or safety. Most victims I know eventually left church for a “safer” environment. The perpetrators stayed, were protected, and are probably still finding new victims.
Why is this?
Thank you, Anonymous, for your cogent perspective. I wish I had a clearer answer for why this is. The simple answer is “sin,” akin to the sin of the Pharisees. But I promise you that this is not God’s perspective–and we can be sure of that because this very sin is the one that Christ came down on harder than anything else. I’m praying that truth and light will shine into the darkest corners, followed by repentance and faith. “Mercy and truth are met together” in the person of Jesus Christ–I pray that they’ll know Him in His fulness.
The main target of the rebukes of Jesus Christ were the Fundamentalists of His day: The Pharisees. And they killed Him. I think those two truths show us God’s attitude towards false religious leaders. They do get into power. They do control religious communities that have genuine believers in them. And when the appointed time comes, they are destroyed.
Evil in religious office goes back to Isaiah. In fact, it goes back to Cain and Abel, when Cain defended his grasp of the favor of his parents and his role as the firstborn son by killing Abel so that Abel could no longer pre-empt him in terms of the favor of God. God had promised Eve that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. It seems that Eve assumed that person was Cain. When Abel became a threat to Cain’s role, Cain killed him. Cain sided with evil because he wanted the prestige of being the one who would destroy evil. He wanted all mankind to regard him as the Savior of all mankind.. And its been that way ever since with false religious leaders. They lay great claim to their own goodness, but they are desperately determined to cover up or even kill anything that threatens their prestige.
So ….it has to somehow follow that all Fundamentalists are Pharisees, falsely religious, controlling, etc? Aren’t those conclusions the same as the accusations? Aren’t there bad apples in every barrel, but not the whole of every barrel? Isn’t it somewhat prideful to sit in judgement over a whole ‘stream,’ group, stripe…whatever one wants to call it, not considering God’s work in individual hearts, families, congregations, etc? I understand the need to call out wolves, but that is to protect the sheep, not abandon them, let them all loose out to pasture so all will be confused, discouraged, preyed upon, destroyed. God made people to need Him, the Great Shepherd, and also under shepherds. He knew our needs and has put forth examples of means of leadership & governance in His Word. I don’t think people here are intentionally promoting extremes, but it can seem in some writings/ comments the vitriol is pretty thick against groups as a whole who are being perceived as evil, when actually a couple of personal bad experiences have spoiled the whole in that person’s eyes. While it is true, when the fruit of a movement is all fallen, one should shun that: I think one should carefully consider before throwing stones at a perceived motive, as that is God’s judgement call. People finding the Lord, being saved, walking with Him is, of course, really the ultimate goal in all of this, right? Perhaps I am just misunderstanding.