Pick Two: The Missionary Kids and Ravi Zacharias; Why Church is a False Gospel and a Total Lie
Boohoo, another church scandal. These scandals are now trending almost weekly, and still the assumption remains that in no way church itself could be the problem. The church is the people, but when it comes to judging a tree by its fruit, the people are not the church. Supposedly, the church is something above approach that sinful people mess up, because, you know, “grace can be messy.” On any number of doctrines and issues, the church, whether Protestant or Catholic, has it both ways. After all, it’s a “paradox.”
In the latest scandal concerning Christian superstar Ravi Zacharias, I noticed a familiar theme that harkens back to my coverage of the ABWE missionary kids scandal. Regardless of the horrific nature of that scandal, ABWE and the GARB denomination is still alive and thriving. How can this be? First, let me share an excerpt of a report that explains why church still flourishes regardless of its rotten fruit.
One woman told the investigators that “after he arranged for the ministry to provide her with financial support, he required sex from her.” She called it rape. She said Zacharias “made her pray with him to thank God for the ‘opportunity’ they both received” and, as with other victims, “called her his ‘reward’ for living a life of service to God,” the report says. Zacharias warned the woman—a fellow believer—if she ever spoke out against him, she would be responsible for millions of souls lost when his reputation was damaged.
Bingo. Clearly, salvation by church membership. The reputation of the church must be protected at all cost to prevent millions of people from going to hell. This is the same theme I heard constantly while reporting on the ABWE scandal. If ABWE, a missionary society, folded because of the scandal, millions of people would go to hell. In this way, the cover-up was blatantly condoned.
Church has sold itself as God’s institution on earth to oversee and implement salvation, and most people have bought into that hook, line, and sinker.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Ravi has more or less committed criminal offences, as well as all the unethical stuff. Not all of it is new information either. I am tired of reading the “what lessons do we learn from Ravi” blog titles.” That is followed by the usual show of self-deprecation, which is to overstate our own ‘evil’ and understate his. I can’t believe how much I have been a part of this game in my life.
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And Ravi was the “intellectual Christian” teacher. All the rage with SBTS students at one time.
If there is one bright spot from covid it is that more people are waking up to just how desperate churches can act when the bottoms are not in the seats so the money isn’t rolling in. And worse, they don’t dare lay off staff as has happened to so many of the people sitting in the pews, they just focus on their financial needs to run at capacity when there is no capacity in the building. They look more and more like the federal government all the time. ” We will decide FOR you what to think, what you need or don’t need”
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Yes, I am grateful for the perspective I have been able to gain from the likes of John Immel and Paul. I can see this stuff play out in advance. I am now not surprised how churches in the US are accepting loans and then lecturing people in passive voice how to think. The problem is an intrinsic philosophical one. If you humans are ultimately hopeless and evil, they need to be reigned in – so I have friends surprised by the ‘church’ going along with the flow – but I am starting to see they are acting consistently in all this and are operating out of self-preservation, which flows out of the additional problem of institutionalisation.
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