Questions Raised by the Ravi Zacharias Scandal
This video is not meant to be an examination of the findings surrounding Ravi Zacharias’s
practice. Plenty of other people have covered those subjects in detail already. I also want
to say that my comments are not intended in any way to cast aspersions on the family members
he is survived by. My prayer is that his family would be comforted by the mercies of God in
their grieving and that the victims of his behavior would find divine healing and justice
as the truth continues to come to light.
Like many others, Ravi Zacharias did have an influence on my own life and ministry as
I matured in Christ. I did not follow him or RZIM as much as some, but as I began to
develop a burden for teaching and apologetics, he was certainly someone who I would listen
to in passing.
With that being said, I was as shocked and dismayed as everyone else to learn of what
he had been doing in secret. Without question, what Ravi did was wrong – abhorrently wrong.
Because of the severity of his sins, many Christians have been forced to confront some
very important questions of faith.
How could a follower of Christ do such terrible things? What of the people who came to faith
as a result of Ravi’s ministry? Did he lose his salvation or was he ever saved to begin
with?
Suffice it to say that the Bible has plenty to say in regard to each of these questions.
In our everyday walk however, even mature believers are not always asked to wrestle
with these topics. The result is that we can feel blindsided when a situation like that
of Ravi Zacharias appears for us to answer.
I hope that, for those who may still be feeling confused or deceived by what Ravi did, this
video serves as a resource for you to pursue further reflection on the witness of scripture
in these areas.
First, how could someone who appeared to be such a mature follower of Christ as Ravi Zacharias
had seemed commit such heinous actions?
As much as we are grieved in asking this question, the consistent testimony of the Bible is that,
“all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). I realize
though that this can seem like a trite answer in light of how much hurt has been caused
by Ravi’s behavior. Certainly most Christians are prepared to admit sins of the heart such
as pride, lust and selfishness, but shouldn’t an intimate understanding of God prevent someone
from hurting other people in the way that Ravi did?
The answer to this question must account for what the Bible presents to us about people
who have been called by God. King David, for example, is someone over whom there is little
dispute about the nature of his faith. Still, it was this same King David who was found
guilty of adultery and murder, even as he was in relationship with the Lord:
“Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the
king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful
in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not
Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent messengers
and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself
from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and
told David, and said, "I am pregnant.” (2 Samuel 11:2-5)
While her husband Uriah was away in battle, David’s lust led to his taking of Uriah’s
wife Bathsheba. As a result…
“…David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He had written in
the letter, saying, "Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from
him, so that he may be struck down and die.” So it was as Joab kept watch on the city,
that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. The men of the city
went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David's servants fell;
and Uriah the Hittite also died. (26) Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her
husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. When the time of mourning was over, David
sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son.
But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.” (2 Samuel 11:14-17,
26-27).
At this point in his life, many would point to David’s intimacy with God; how God has
chosen him in defeating Goliath and protected him while he was being persecuted by Saul.
David was a revered man in Israel, yet he stumbled in such a terrible way, blinded by
his own sinful desires.
This is the power of sin’s presence in our lives that we must be aware of as followers
of Christ – He Himself having said, “…everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin,” (John
8:34). Our status as Christians should never lead to us being so arrogant as to think that
we are exempted from the devastating influence of sin. We must always be humble to acknowledge
our shortcomings, no matter how reputable a platform the Lord may give us to proclaim
His Name.
With David being a more overt example, he is certainly not the only one. In fact, every
hero of faith the Bible presents is a fallen, broken man or woman. Abraham didn’t trust
God and laid with Hagar. Moses did not honor the Lord and was kept out of the promised
land. Solomon possessed a lustful appetite for women. Peter denied his faith three times
while being accused. Paul wrote of himself as, “…doing the very thing I hate,”
(Romans 7:15).
The only One who has ever been without sin is Christ. Everyone else, even those who are
revered in the Church are as woefully dependent on His grace as you or I. The horrendous stain
of sin effects us all; we are never to excuse it, even if it is found within someone otherwise
well-respected. It is for this reason that we acknowledge Christ and Christ alone as
our standard bearer. It is to our regret and ignorance if we put our faith in anyone else
apart from Him.
This leads us to the question of the people who found faith as a result of Ravi Zacharias.
That sad reality is that there will always be people who will turn away from God because
of the failure of one of His people. I have no doubt that there were people who pointed
to the shortcomings of Moses, David, Solomon, Peter and Paul to justify their unbelief and
apostasy. There is not much we can do, other than to
pray for the Lord’s mercy on the hearts of these individuals and proclaim Him as the
Holy and Righteous Judge over the sins of us all.
If someone trips over the stumbling block of Christ, so be it. But, if we prove to be
the stumbling block in a person’s life rather than Christ, it is to our shame and judgment.
This is why it is so important that we pursue a life of obedience and holiness as Christians
and, when we do sin, to be quick to confess those sins and embrace repentance. Hiding
our sins in secret only leads to them becoming more powerful and deadly over time. When they
are found out, they serve to alienate, not only us from God, but also potentially those
who have attempted to follow us as well.
With that being said, the faith of any individual, if it is genuine, is not contingent upon any
other person than Christ. The reality is that the only people God has ever used to lead
people to Himself are sinners – because we are all sinners. God is powerful to draw
a straight line with a crooked stick, even if that stick is disgustingly crooked. For
all of the people who will use Ravi as a justification to abandon their profession of faith, there
will also be those who will cling to God in spite of everything Ravi did. We must pray
for God’s mercy to preserve the faith of those who found Him as a result of Ravi’s
ministry.
Perhaps the biggest question though is whether or not Ravi lost his salvation or if he was
ever even a believer in the first place.
As Christians, we must acknowledge that the ultimate answer to this question lies within
the secret wisdom and counsel of God. We cannot look into someone’s heart – we can only
look at the fruit of someone’s life.
I realize that this question does have a dependance on your theology. I don’t intend to raise
a debate here over eternal security.
From my own perspective though, an examination of the fruit of Ravi’s life leads me, at
the very least, to say that someone who I would have at one point considered saved without
question I am now very much in doubt and confusion over regarding their salvation.
Returning to the example of David, it is safe to say that David’s sins with Bathsheba
are just as egregious a fruit as anything that Ravi did. However, I and everyone else
in the Christian faith has no doubt over the status of David’s salvation. Why? Because
David found repentance.
“Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David,
"The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Samuel 12:13)
The result of David’s repentant attitude was his writing of the 51st Psalm – a desperate
plea for God to redeem him from from his sin.
The most important fruit we can look for in attempting to know one’s relationship with
God is repentance – a change of attitude about what one has done, considering now wrong
what was once considered right.
The point of fearful concern that I have regarding Ravi Zacharias is that he took the knowledge
of his sin with him to the grave in secret. For as much doubt as this raises to me about
his salvation, I don’t know what he did or did not do in silence as his body began
to fail. It is possible that as he prepared to die that he finally confronted his sin
before God, but did not have the opportunity to tell anyone.
None of this is to in any way condone or excuse what he did. Again, Ravi’s actions were
terribly sinful. Those actions will be brought to justice before God. The question is whether
God’s justice will be satisfied in Ravi’s eternal judgment or if it will be satisfied
in the cross of Christ. As long as someone is breathing, there is not a moment too far
gone that someone can’t find redemption in Christ.
If Ravi died having refused to acknowledge his sins before God, he will come under judgment.
If, however, he died in acknowledgment of his sins and desperately asked for forgiveness,
even if in silence, we must recognize the possibility that he found Christ to be a perfect
Savior as we have.
There is no amount of sin that Christ can not save any of us from. If Ravi has been
saved, it is to the glory and praise of God’s grace alone. If he is condemned, it is to
the glory and praise of God’s justice alone.
The life and ministry of Ravi Zacharias serves as a warning to all followers of Christ to
be radically repentant and accountable for our sin – no matter how prestigious any
one of us may be. Our sole aim as His people is to point others to Him. If we retain any
accolades for ourselves, we become a blot in the light of God in this world. Let us
always be humble, broken and dependent on God alone for our standing and proclamation.