Most of the world has a lot more sense than to be interested in the going’s on in “Ravi Zacharias International Ministries” (RZIM for short). We are, after all, living through a global pandemic. And before going further it is also worth noting that there are a number of people who have been seriously damaged by what has been going on, including a number of victims of sexual abuse and exploitation; I have no desire to add to their suffering. That all said, the horrible tale of what we might call the RZIM scandal raises questions that are worth asking and contain lessons that are worth learning.
Ravi Zacharias was well known in the evangelical world (whatever that now is) and beyond as a teacher, author and apologist. After he died in 2020, accusations about his lifestyle and conduct led to an independent investigation. The investigation report was made public last week, and has been widely reported in both the secular (eg here or here) and Christian press (here) and in the blogosphere (eg here). To cut a long story short, what emerges is a picture of a clever and powerful man, who controlled a large and relatively wealthy organization, which he used, along with other means, to exploit individuals for his sexual gratification over a long period. He also used his power to make sure that his reputation was protected, even when this meant further vilification of, and damage to, his victims. He’s not the first prominent Christian to fall spectacularly, and sadly he probably won’t be the last. There are already articles discussing what went wrong and how it can be avoided in the future and no doubt there will be more. I confess I never heard the man speak, and have never read any of his books. But there is an aspect of this affair that caught my attention, and so here’s my tuppence worth.
Early out of
the blocks was an article which appeared on The Gospel Coalition site, much of
which I agree with. However, it referred to ‘the false assumption that the
problem is “celebrity Christianity”'. To be fair the article also recognised that with celebrity came dangers even if that was not what it considered to be the main problem in the RZIM affair. Now, I am emphatically not assuming that "celebrity Christianity" is the problem that lies at the heart of this scandal, but I emphatically
am stating that it is a problem, and a big one. And I am definitely asserting that it goes much wider and deeper than one man and
one ministry. Here’s a starter for why 'celebrity Christianity' has to be a problem. Not
all sinners are celebrities, but all celebrities are sinners, even if some of
them have been transformed by the Gospel of grace, and are seeking to help out
their fellow sinners in some way or another. This means that like every single
one of us they are flawed, and prone to temptation and failure. But of course with celebrity
comes a whole heap of new temptations and pressures. And the fall, if and when
it comes, damages a lot of people (as it has in this case), and undermines the credibility
of the Gospel in the minds of some (although mainly in the minds of those who
don’t understand the Gospel). It is also worth pointing out that the scale of
the celebrity is not a key issue (although big celebrity can mean big damage).
Some people have international celebrity, and for others it's on a much more
local scale. The height of the pedestal is not the issue. It’s the fact of the
pedestal and who is occupying it. When it is a human being who’s hoisted up there, the
results are rarely good.
The central reason this is not a good situation is that Christianity is not about any human being, it’s about a single unique person who is both God and man. You’ll find various characters in the Bible who at different times and in different circumstances became objects of celebrity, or in slightly different terms, worship. It happened to Paul and Barnabas in a town called Lystra (you’ll find the story in Acts 14), but they were quick to correct those who had pedestalized them. In a very different context, John records in Revelation 19 directing his worship at an (undoubtedly impressive) angel, only to be instantly corrected. The point being that neither men (even famous men) nor angels are suitable objects of worship. However, even in His humanity Jesus was different. He accepted worship (most famously perhaps as recorded in John 20:28), because it was (and is) appropriate. And this gets to the point. Respect and honour are fine (as is also argued in the TGC article referenced above). But to a large extent celebrity involves crossing a line. And in some cases it would seem that it reaches the level of idolatry, where in the minds of some a human being usurps the position of God. The thinking of those who do this is flat wrong. And any human being in such a position is also in trouble.
The reason this is so pernicious, is that it taps into the problem right at the heart
of the human condition. The big lie is that there
are appropriate recipients for our worship other than the God who made us and
who sustains us. Paul lays all of this out in Romans 1. By nature we are all wired up to identify and fixate on God replacements. And it is this that celebrity culture plays into, fuelled and amplified these days by social media.. None of this should be particularly controversial among
Christians, particularly those who take their Bible seriously. In part the Gospel rescues us from this, and puts our focus back where it should be. This is one reason why occurrences
like the RZIM affair, which occur within a Christian context, are so appalling and damaging – we of all people should all know better.
But apparently we don’t. Some years ago, another Christian celebrity created a ruckus. Mark Driscoll, who at the time was the Pastor of a large church in Seattle called “Mars Hill”, was quoted in an interview as saying: “Let’s just say this: right now, name for me the one young, good Bible teacher that is known across Great Britain. You don’t have one – that’s the problem. There are a bunch of cowards who aren’t telling the truth.” To be fair, he later claimed he had been misquoted, or at least misunderstood, and rowed back slightly from what he had said. It was perhaps the “cowards” bit that caused most offence at the time. But underlying this is the claim that on this side of the pond we didn’t have a crop of celebrity (‘known across Great Britain’) Bible teachers, similar to those so beloved (so it seemed) of Evangelicals in the US. In other words, more folk here, like him there. This is not entirely accurate of course. There are well known Bible teachers in the UK, it's just that they're not well known by Mark Driscoll, or the media. But that's not the point I want to make. The quote emerged in 2012. In 2014 Mark Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill, over a slew of allegations (some of which ended up in legal action). Shortly thereafter, Mars Hill Seattle was dissolved. Considerable damage was done to many lives.
Celebrity in the Church is a problem because it turns Jesus’ teaching on its head, essentially doing to
Him what He explicitly sought to do to celebrity among His followers (eg see
Mark 10:43 and the surrounding context). Although He was (and is) the proper object of worship, He set the pace among those initial followers when it came to humility. And with
His impending death very much on His mind, He modelled exactly what He expected
of them (and us if we claim to follow Him) by putting a towel round His waist
and washing twelve stinking pairs of feet, including the feet of the one who would
shortly betray Him (John 13). He was quite explicit that in doing this He was modelling both an attitude and actions that should mark those who follow Him. It was no pedestal he found
Himself on within hours of this incident , it was a cross. His example is the antithesis of celebrity culture
and all that goes with it.
As someone
once said, the best of men are at best men. So don’t follow men, follow Jesus. Pastors and under-shepherds, don't seek celebrity, seek to follow the example and model of the Great Shepherd.
