Sterling Terrell

smart ideas from books (mostly)

The Shame Of Ravi Zacharias

The Shame Of Ravi Zacharias

Ok, I have been dragging my feet on this post for months now.

But Zacharias’s memoir (Walking From East To West) is up next in my queue and I don’t feel like I can keep posting about him (without at least addressing some of this).

So here we go, The Shame of Ravi Zacharias, guaranteed to make 50% of you mad.

I mean, do you have any idea how deflating it is to find out that your favorite theologian was living a life in the shadows doing the exact opposite of what he preached in public?

I have literally referred to his books and quotes hundreds of times on this blog.

I eulogized him here.

Ugh. Barf. Ugh, again.

The long and short of it is that while Ravi was one of the greatest Christian apologist of a generation – he was also a womanizer.

He was unfaithful to his wife across time and place and he did everything he could to silence people that tried to bring the truth to light.

See the full internal report by RVIM below.

Report of Independent Investigation into
Sexual Misconduct of Ravi Zacharias:Download

Now then.

I do not understand the reaction of his organization Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM).

They have deleted all content on every platform that came from Ravi. They have shuttered their apologetics ministry. They will be a grant-making entity only.

I mean, I kind of get it. It’s a shameful thing. Everyone involved just wants no association with it. (Association is a powerful thing.)

But taking all the content down?

Let me say it with a few questions.

  • Did Ravi’s actions turn everything he ever said into false statements?
  • Is everything King David ever said irrelevant because he committed murder and adultry?
  • Should the apostle Paul’s entire ministry be forgotten because he can’t quit sinning? (Romans 7)
  • Again: Is the truth of a statement – of a life – made false by evil action?

Of course, the answer is no.

The truth of it is that: The sins that you and I choose are just easier to hide.

But that’s the gospel in a nutshell, isn’t it?

We all choose sin over God every single day. There is nothing you or I can do to deserve forgiveness. But we are saved, by grace, through faith. Despite ourselves.

Let’s take comfort in that.

As for questioning the soul of Razi Zacharias – I have nothing to say.

One of my best friends said all that needs to be said here:

Time Cancels Sin?

Time Cancels Sin?

Should time cancel sin?

Should time wash away the worst atrocities of the world?

If not that, maybe it should at least clear us of our more minor infractions?

Ok, how about this one then?

If I steal your bike, and never give it back, is that wrong made right with the passage of a week? A month? A year? 50 years?

A change of heart, forgiveness, and reconciliation (or consequence) seems to be the only way through.

Of course, this has other implications in the context of religion.

Thank goodness that grace is there every day (from those that love us) when we choose wrong.

We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present speaker’s, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin.

-C.S. Lewis, The Problem Of Pain (Amazon)

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