There is an ongoing discussion raging in many Christian circles concerning what to do with ministers, pastors, and other leaders who are accused of abuse, assault, and other harmful activities. The discussion is not about whether or not these individuals should be disciplined, everyone agrees that they should be, but rather what comes next. At what point does a leader who has been abusive in the past become eligible to lead again?
Some believe that those who have been proven to be predatory and abusive as leaders should be disqualified from church leadership for the rest of their lives. They should be forgiven, but what they did should not be forgotten. Others feel uncomfortable with this. They believe that Christianity is a religion of forgiveness and that it would be wrong to permanently bar someone from leadership if they have reformed. These leaders should be forgiven and their past sins blotted out.
The tricky thing here is that both sides of this advocate for forgiveness towards those who have trespassed against their people. Neither side wants to harbor hatred and seek out vengeance. The difference is how each side works out the relationship between forgiveness and justice.
Justice to many seems like the opposite of forgiveness. It calls to mind images of punishment and retribution. I think that we often see forgiveness as escaping the justice that we are due. We think that God's forgiveness protects or excludes us from the outpouring of his just wrath.
In the Bible justice is a far richer concept and is closely tied to forgiveness. Justice, in the biblical sense, is much less about punishing wrongdoing and is more focused on mending what is broken. The wicked are punished in the context of mending the communities they have broken by their evil. People are not merely to avoid evil but also should actively seek out righteousness, a term that has the same root as justice. This means not just avoiding sin but doing good works such as helping the poor and downtrodden.
Forgiveness is an act of justice because it mends that which is broken. When I forgive, and I mean truly forgive, someone who has wronged me that mends my soul by bringing myself closer to Jesus. True forgiveness also calls the person who has done wrong to repentance and transformation. It seeks to mend not only the victim but the victimizer.
This is where the debate gets tricky. Obviously those who who have done wrong and refuse repentance and change should not be allowed to lead. But what about those who profess to be grieved by their actions and have claimed to have repented? How are we supposed to respond? If they were a habitual liar, how can we ever know if their pleas are genuine?
When I say that forgiveness is tough I mean it in multiple ways. First, it is not an easy thing to do if you have been harmed. It is something that takes deep reflection, healing, and prayer. Second, it is hard to call those who have done harm to repentance and transformation in the Spirit. Whatever rightful punishments are dished out should ultimately be about the healing of their soul. Third, it is not so easy to balance forgiveness and justice. We want to forgive seventy times seven times, but we also know that Jesus stood up to abusive power structures.
In light of the many scandals rocking so many churches this is not just a theoretical discussion for a seminary classroom. We all have to work out, with much prayer and fasting, how we deal with those who have caused great harm. I have no concrete answers as this will vary from congregation to congregation. There are several things that, however, I do think we should all keep in mind.
1. "Forgive and Forget" is not biblical. Nowhere are we called to act like trauma, harm, and sin didn't happen. While we do recognize that people can legitimately change by God's grace, we must also recognize that usually that change is gradual, tough, and life long. Don't send a former alcoholic to minister at the bar, the sex offender to the nursery, or the abuser to the pulpit. While I firmly believe that people, by God's mercy, can be transformed we do them no favors by putting them in places of temptation.
2. Justice is about mending, not punishing. While punishment is often a part of that mending process, it is not a goal in and of itself. Too often I think we conflate justice and vengeance, which is not good. If a member of the church has committed a crime they should be subject to the penalties of the law. This is both for the good of the victims, who should always be first in our minds, and community but also the perpetrator. We want them to repent and receive God's mercy as well.
3. We need to be more proactive about who we elevate to leadership positions. This means actually using the standards of the Bible rather than the standards of the world to judge character. Just because a person is a smooth talker, charismatic, can draw a crowd, and is popular does not mean that they are loving, kind, gentle, self-controlled, not quarrelsome, hospitable, not a lover of money, or above reproach. Too often we let the culture and world set our standards.
4. We should strive to be faithful, not impactful. Church is not about drawing crowds, making a splash, or raking in money. It is about worshipping God in Christ, serving the least of these, and making disciples. Sure, it can be nice to have a big congregation with plenty of funds with a big presence both in the community and online. However, that isn't what we are called to be. Whether you attend a church of 5,000 or 5 the call is to be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to live in the Spirit.
Forgiveness is tough, but it is necessary. Let us all pursue the full biblical picture of what it means to forgive that includes justice, repentance, and transformation. Above all we should continue to pray fervently to Almighty God for mercy for everyone, because we all need it.
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