BishopAccountability.org

How do we deal with scandal in the church?

By Jeff Horejsi
Crow River Media
March 6, 2019

https://bit.ly/2NLb82h

Some of us are more affected by the scandal of the many allegations of sexual abuse of children by clergy, but even if this scandal seems more distant from our church or our lives, it still affects us. Our church leaders (bishops) have apologized for the crimes that were committed in the past but continue to cause chaos in the lives of victims and survivors. Saying, “I’m sorry” is a beginning, but justice will be needed in the settling of the many lawsuits that are in the court system.

Since the news of these crimes against children has been with us for several years, we have had time to reason that the offending clergy members were flawed human beings who sinned grievously and, in many cases, repeatedly. At least as concerning to us is the fact that in most cases bishops were aware of the abuse but failed to stop it. We might say that these bishops sinned against the church in failing to protect children and that this sin has certainly affected all in the church.

While not condoning the sinful and criminal behavior, moving forward and healing requires forgiveness. In the Gospels, Jesus teaches us that we must forgive those who sin against us. If we hope to have forgiveness of our sins, we must forgive those who sin against us. This is what we pray again and again in the Lord’s Prayer, sometimes called the Our Father.

Perhaps even harder than forgiving those who abused children or failed to stop that abuse is knowing what to say to those who dismiss the church altogether. We might be asked, “How can you continue to support a church that has failed so gravely?”

One possible way to respond is to remind the questioner of Jesus’ response to the Apostle Peter’s stunning failure in denying Jesus three times the night before he was crucified. On the shore the Risen Jesus gently invited Peter to profess his love for him three times. Despite his denial of Jesus, Peter received forgiveness from Jesus and became a powerful and effective leader in the church. The Apostle Paul actively persecuted the church before being converted to the faith, and he also became a powerful and effective leader in the church.

Today we thank God that the people of the time of Peter and Paul did not dismiss the church as a fraud because of the failures of its leaders. They were able to make the distinction between the failures of the members of the church and the church itself. So should we.




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