Bestselling author and pastor Tim Keller recently shared an update on his battle with pancreatic cancer. As a result of the prayers of many and his chemotherapy treatments, he has seen a “significant decrease in [the] size and number of tumors.” He stated, “I still have cancer, but this is excellent news,” and added, “What the future holds I do not know, but we will continue to trust his plan and allow him to shepherd us along his chosen path.”

Keller especially learned to trust God in hard places when he was battling thyroid cancer a few years ago. He explained, “It was both an intellectual and emotional experience: You’re facing death, you’re not sure you’re going to get over the cancer. And the rigorous intellectual process of going through all the alternative explanations for how the Christian Church started. Except the resurrection, none of them are even tenable. It was quite an experience.”

That experience inspired his bestseller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, enabling millions of people to profit from his pain and make his hope their own.

Beware “contempt for misfortune” 

We can learn from the pain of others, or we can ignore it to our loss.

Following former President Trump’s impeachment by the House and acquittal by the Senate, 58 percent of Americans say he should have been convicted. This number reflects the sharp partisan divide in our nation: 88 percent of Democrats agreed, as did only 14 percent of Republicans.

People in other countries probably watched news of the proceedings with the same detachment Americans watch the political travails of other countries. Brexit, for instance, was of passing interest to me but compellingly urgent to the British. By contrast, the below-zero temperatures we are battling in Texas are undoubtedly more urgent for me than for those in the UK.

It is human nature to care less about problems that don’t affect us than those that do. In reading through the book of Job, I recently found this remarkable observation: “In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune” (Job 12:5a). This is true of us all.

 

A lesson for every church and ministry 

However, if we fail to learn from the challenges of others, we are far more likely to fail when we meet similar challenges ourselves. The verse we just cited continues to warn us that misfortune “is ready for those whose feet slip” (v. 5b). No exceptions or qualifications are noted.

This fact is especially relevant in light of the unfolding scandal involving Ravi Zacharias and the ministry he founded. Yesterday, we identified three ways we should respond personally to disclosures that the world-famous apologist engaged in horrific acts of sexual abuse.

Today, let’s focus on a key lesson we need to learn for the sake of our churches, ministries, and cultural influence: we must respond immediately and objectively to claims of impropriety. 

David French’s article on Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) and its response to allegations against their founder is heartbreaking. It describes a pattern of denial on the part of the board and other ministry leaders. At times, those who sought to investigate charges against Zacharias were reportedly ostracized and marginalized.

Tragically, such a response is unsurprising. Zacharias had built an international reputation for brilliance and integrity. Those who felt they knew him best deceived themselves into believing that they knew him better than those who brought allegations against him. We have seen the same pattern repeated in churches and ministries across denominational lines and around the world.

How Jesus taught us to handle conflict 

This is why Jesus’ four-stage prescription for resolving conflict is so vital.

First, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). We are not permitted to speak about people before we speak to them. When we become aware of an issue, we are to go directly to the person. (In instances of abuse, a person may not feel safe confronting their abuser. If you have suffered abuse, please report it to a counselor or other trusted professional.)

Second, “If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses” (v. 16). This step requires investigation by objective parties and must be thorough.

Third, “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church” (v. 17a). This step requires public exposure of the issue and a call for repentance and resolution.

Fourth, “If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (v. 17b). This step requires excluding the person from the church or ministry.

 

Practical questions we must answer now 

Let’s apply Jesus’ prescription by asking some practical questions:

• Does your church or ministry have a system whereby employees and others can safely report allegations of abuse or other improprieties?
• Are the electronic devices of your leaders and employees open to screening at any time? (This was a major problem with RZIM.) I recommend Covenant Eyesfor technology accountability; it is important that your church or ministry utilizes a system for transparency.
• What commitments to personal integrity do you require of your leaders? For example, are they permitted to be alone with a person who is not their spouse or family? Are their calendars accountable to others?
• Is someone in your church or ministry holding leaders accountable for personal integrity? As the great Howard Hendricks warned, sin thrives in isolation. Mark Turman, our senior fellow for leadership, recommends giving the leaders of your church permission to interview the pastor’s spouse two to three times a year regarding the pastor’s health. These and other regular steps are vital for leaders and those they lead.
• Are your leaders accountable and transparent with regard to their use of ministry funds? Travel? Personal finances?
• Are your church or ministry members praying regularly for the spiritual health of their leaders?

I often note that God redeems all he allows. One way he wants to redeem the Ravi Zacharias scandal is by using it to lead churches and ministries around the world to greater accountability and integrity.

But the time to act is now. Once a scandal erupts, it will be too late to prevent it.

Let’s close with this declaration by the psalmist to the king of his day: “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” (Psalm 45:7).

May Christians everywhere be able to say the same of their leaders, to the glory of God.

 

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FILE – In this May 29, 2020 file photo, images of Ravi Zacharias are displayed in the Passion City Church during a memorial service for him in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Note: The impeachment and acquittal of former President Trump by the Senate raise vital questions for our culture and our future. However, given the urgency of today’s topic, I will postpone my response to the impeachment proceedings until tomorrow’s Daily Article.

Witnessing the fall of someone we greatly admire elicits deep, painful emotions. We feel betrayed by them and embarrassed that we trusted them. The more public our faith in them, the more public our shame and the deeper our anger. We wonder if there is anyone we can truly trust. If they were part of a larger movement, that movement’s reputation is disgraced along with them.

These emotions describe the way many of us have felt since allegations of sexual abuse first began surfacing against Ravi Zacharias, one of the best-known and most admired evangelicals of our generation. I wrote at his death of my gratitude for his life and legacy. Then horrendously sinful personal stories began to surface.

Last Friday, the report of the law firm hired by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries to investigate these stories was made public. The scathing twelve-page document is heartbreaking. I will not describe here what it describes, but it includes evidence of rape, other acts of sexual abuse, and numerous extramarital relationships.

Christianity Today and others are reporting on the details of this scandal. My purpose today is to consider it in the context of spiritual warfare and to identify three biblical lessons we must each learn today, before this story becomes our story tomorrow.

One: Grieve for the victims 

Jesus warned us that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning” and “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Our Savior also told us that “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Whenever we find death, lies, theft, and destruction, we know that our spiritual enemy has been at work.

This is what happened to the victims of Ravi Zacharias’ sins. Each person he abused is someone made in God’s image and beloved by our Father. How I would feel if this happened to my wife is how we should all feel today.

We are told to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Try to imagine how these victims have felt over these years. Then pray for their healing and for the body of Christ to demonstrate his compassion and grace to them.

And remember that sin always affects the innocent. Satan loves to use one sin to destroy as many lives as he can. The next time you are tempted with “private” sin, remember the victims of Ravi Zacharias’ sins. The women he abused will never forget their pain, and his family and colleagues are shamed and grieving as well.

 

Two: Expect private sin to become public 

Here is how Satan’s strategy with so-called “private” sin works: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14–15).

Is tempted is in the present tense, showing that temptation is an ever-present reality for us all. Lured means to be “dragged away.” Enticed means to catch by use of bait, as in trapping an animal or catching a fish.

The Greek syntax of sin when it is fully grown indicates that this result is not inevitable; we can stop sin before it reaches this stage. However, we must confess our sin immediately (1 John 1:8–10) because sin begins to metastasize immediately. Otherwise, the result is physical and spiritual death (Luke 15:32; Ephesians 2:1; Revelation 20:14). The Bible consistently warns us that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23; cf. Ezekiel 18:20).

The next time you are tempted by “private” sin, see this temptation as bait in a cage. And know that its consequences will be far worse than its rewards, for you and everyone who knows you. I will repeat a statement I have made often over the years: sin will always take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay. Always.

Three: Repent now 

The Bible reveals: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). We includes every Christian. What Satan did to Ravi Zacharias, he wants to do to you and to me today.

If you are harboring “secret” sin that has not yet been exposed, don’t believe Satan’s lie that you will be the one person who will get away with it. Your Enemy is waiting until you climb even further up the ladder so that your fall will be even more devastating to you and all those you hurt on the way down.

If this could happen to Ravi Zacharias, it can happen to any of us.

I have known several “fallen” ministers over the years. The ways their private sins were made public were so unusual and unpredictable that none could have imagined being found out as they were.

If you are living in unrepented sin, you are climbing a ladder that will collapse under you when Satan chooses. Get off it now with confession, repentance, and contrition. Read 1 John 1:9, then claim its truth as God’s promise for your soul.

 

What to do if you’re walking on ice 

I am writing this morning in the midst of the worst winter weather we have seen in the Dallas area for decades. The storm began last Thursday, leading to a 135-vehicle wreck in Ft. Worth that killed six people and injured dozens more. Transportation in our region is largely shut down today.

One reason is that ice fell before the snow began, coating our bridges and roads. As a result, under the snow we can see is a sheet of ice we cannot see. When we walk or drive on the snow, the ice it is hiding can be dangerous and even deadly.

When ice is under your feet, the safest thing you can do is get on your knees and crawl to safety.

Do it now.

 

 

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This Week in The Daily Article

The underlying question of this week’s reported news at Denison Forum is one I want you to ask yourself right now: Where are you truly placing your hope?

We awoke Monday morning to Tom Brady having won yet another Super Bowl, only to see Tuesday bring yet another impeachment trial for former president Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, we learned that a divided Senate had voted fifty-six to forty-four, ruling that the trial is constitutional.

Then, on Thursday, we heard that PepsiCo had announced it was changing the Aunt Jemima brand to Pearl Milling Company and had pledged $5 million to support the Black community.

Finally, on Friday we learned that the Washington National Cathedral came under fire for inviting evangelical pastor and author Max Lucado to speak. The reason: his biblical views on marriage.

Whether the news is good or bad, the question remains the same: Where are you placing your hope?

The answer makes all the difference in the world.

Hear Dr. Denison

As a cultural apologist, Dr. Jim Denison is often asked to speak on the day’s news for various radio and podcast programs.

On Wednesday, he answered “What does the Bible say about Valentine’s Day?” on Bill Martinez Live.

Dr. Denison talked about the true meaning of love on Mornings with Tom and Tabi.

And he further discussed Valentine’s Day on The Bottom Line with Roger Marsh.

You can always find Dr. Denison’s latest interviews here.

 

What you may have missed

Have you heard of Emmanuel Acho’s book, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man? Steve Yount provides a short review of Acho’s purposefully discomforting book.

Or did you see the news story about the drug treatment clinic owner arrested for drug trafficking? This unfortunate event led Ryan Denison to challenge us as Christians the next time someone calls us out.

Lastly, this story will encourage you to seek God’s goodness: Minni Elkins wrote of the first time she tried—and hated—a pomegranate. But she learned to love its taste once someone showed her the correct way to eat it. And that led her to consider just what it means to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Notable Quotables

With a tip of our hat to the late Alex Trebek and the well-known Jeopardy! Category of “Notable Quotables,” here are three recent quotes from our website for you to ponder:

• “When we focus on the eternal in the midst of the temporal, we find hope in the former to face our gravest challenges in the latter. Such hope is a powerful witness to a watching and hurting world.” — Jim Denison
• “This side of heaven, we will never live up to the standards of perfection to which we are called. But when we respond to our mistakes with humility and welcome accountability, God can redeem even our shortcomings to bring others to himself.” —Ryan Denison
• “Followers of Jesus are to be bold in declaring and defending unpopular truth, gracious with those who disagree, and humble in dependence on our Lord. In other words, we are to be like Jesus.” — Jim Denison

What you’re saying

Our readers email us, leave feedback on our website, and share their thoughts on our social media sites. Here’s what you’ve been saying lately:

• “Jim Denison’s carefully supported and reasoned arguments using not only scripture but also contemporary research links provide me with the guidance needed to start my day. While conspiracy theories are rampant among the uninformed, I trust The Denison Forum to provide me with truth needed to walk with Christ daily and to respond to those who are confused and uninformed with Grace and love.” —Judy

Parting thought

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.

Hopefully, that’s not surprising news.

What may be surprising is the origin of the day—and how much God truly loves you.

 

Denison Forum

 

The Washington National Cathedral recently came under fire for inviting evangelical pastor and author Max Lucado to speak. The reason: his biblical views on marriage.

A petition that amassed more than sixteen hundred signatures claimed, “Lucado’s teachings and preaching inflicts active harm on LGBTQ people.” While the cathedral’s dean allowed Lucado to speak, he assured critics that the church’s commitment to the LGBTQ community is “unshakable and unchanged.”

Yesterday I noted that one evangelical response to cultural opposition is to defend our religious liberty, a valuable and urgent task being performed by some of the finest Christian legal organizations in America. However, to our critics, we are merely seeking the “right to be wrong.” As a result, we must also persuade our skeptical culture that we seek the “right to be right.”

This battle begins at home.

A radical cultural reversal 

A few decades ago, it was conventional wisdom that sex was reserved for monogamous marriage between a man and a woman. Few were familiar with bisexual, transgender, or “queer” issues.

However, no movement in my lifetime has achieved such a radical cultural reversal as the LGBTQ revolution.

In 1999, 35 percent of Americans approved of same-sex marriage, while 62 percent disapproved. By 2020, the numbers had more than flipped: 67 percent approved, while 31 percent disapproved. Millennials are more than twice as likely to favor same-sex marriage as their grandparents.

It is conventional wisdom today that LGBTQ rights are human rights. Love is love. Your sexual orientation and/or gender identity is your business, not mine. No one, including evangelical Christians, has the right to impose their beliefs on you.

At most, evangelicals can claim the First Amendment protection of religious freedom and free speech, but many in our culture view this as merely the right to be wrong.

Is this “science against superstition”? 

Before we can convince our secularized culture that we are right on sexual morality, we must first be convinced ourselves.

It is difficult to be countercultural. The louder the cry for so-called “equality,” the harder it is to stand for so-called “inequality.” As a result, it is vital that Christians never concede the high ground of truth and science in this cultural contest.

Ryan T. Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is right: “The left would love to frame these issues as if they pitted reason and science against superstition. But on all of these issues social conservatives are on the side of the biological facts.”

He adds: “The scientific point of view confirms the biblical teaching that humans are created male and female. It requires no faith to know that a boy who ‘identifies’ as a girl isn’t one and shouldn’t be allowed into private female spaces.”

As a result, he states, “We’ll have the best shot at winning fights over abortion restrictions or child sex-change procedures when conservatives are willing to assert that their beliefs are true, not merely protected in law.”

Female athlete calls transgender policy “heartbreaking” 

In support of biblical morality, I can cite far more factual, nonreligious illustrations than space permits today. Just a few recent examples:

The ACLU recently claimed that “trans athletes do not have an unfair advantage in sports.” However, a study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine reported that transgender men have an athletic advantage over biological females even after a year on hormone therapy.

One female athlete called the Biden administration’s insistence on transgender athletes’ participation in female sports “heartbreaking.” She explained: “Girls like me lose championships, podium spots, advancement opportunities, and the recognition we deserve because we’re forced to compete against biological males in our races. Women fought long and hard for athletic opportunities, and I want to preserve those opportunities for the next generation of female athletes.”

New research shows that puberty-suppressing drugs given to children considering a gender transition weakened their bones both in height and strength. An endocrinologist previously found that children treated with gender identity medications reported greater self-harm, while girls exhibited greater emotional problems and dissatisfaction with their bodies.

The gift of transforming truth 

Thousands of books and articles have been written documenting the scientific, biological, and factual evidence for biblical sexual morality. My point today is simply to remind you that our Creator knows us better than we do and wants only our best. He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15).

Since neither divine nor human nature changes, God’s word is just as relevant today as when it was first inspired (cf. Hebrews 4:12). It is still “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). When it addresses sexual morality or any other subject, it is still true. When we declare and defend biblical truth, we are not imposing our personal beliefs but giving others transforming truth that can lead them to God’s very best for their lives.

St. Augustine, one of the most brilliant people who ever lived, testified, “Where I found truth, there I found my God, who is the truth itself.”

Let’s join him.

 

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