When the unbelieving world acts in an immoral manner, it is no less horrible to its victims, but this is tragically to act according to their worldview. When Christians do the same, it is an abomination. After all, God doesn’t simply call us to be no worse than the world: He calls us to be set apart, faithful to His standards. 

This past Sunday, a devastating report was released about America’s largest Protestant denomination. According to the Guidepost Solutions’ Report of the Independent Investigation on the Southern Baptist Convention, not only has sexual abuse been a scourge within the denomination, but leading members actively obstructed efforts to expose the guilty, hindered attempts by victims to report the crimes, and worked to maintain the public image of the Convention at the expense of the truth. 

What the victims have been forced to endure for so long is sickening and heartbreaking. Lives will be forever marred by the level of evil and corruption described in the report.  

These days, it seems as if some new revelation of sexual misconduct, abuse, or criminal behavior within the Church hits the news every few months, but it’s important to remember that, in God’s economy, the day after evil is exposed is better than the day before. Whenever evil is allowed to remain hidden, it flourishes. When it is exposed, both victims and perpetrators are in a better position to find grace, healing, and forgiveness. 

Of course, we can expect the world to be wagging its fingers at each new revelation of Christian hypocrisy. In response, it is more than a little tempting to point right back. After all, Hollywood’s infamous “casting couches” long ago raised such lechery to an abhorrent art form. Even Shirley Temple, the Golden Girl of classic cinema, was chased around an office by one of the top movie moguls of her day. Yet, he kept his post despite this and other crimes. 

More recently, after headlining everything from dramas to comedies to action flicks through the 90s and early 2000s, Brendan Fraser found himself cast from favor after refusing the very aggressive advances of a (male) movie executive. Five years ago, Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey was blacklisted as stories broke of his habitual abuse of young actors. Most notorious of all, Harvey Weinstein was one of the most powerful men in the film industry until the rising #MeToo movement gained enough momentum to bring him down for his systemic abuse of young women and threats against any who dared speak out about it. And that’s just Hollywood. We could also talk at length of public schools, congressional leaders, and corporate executives. 

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