Delivering Ourselves from Evil

[ladylovesJesus]

Delivering Ourselves from Evil
Dr. James Emery White


One of the more disturbing films of late is Deliver Us from Evil, a 2006 documentary on pedophile priest Oliver O'Grady who was moved from parish to parish in Northern California during the 1970's. Church hierarchy, with knowledge of his attraction to children and evidence of actual misconduct, harbored him for thirty years, allowing him to abuse countless numbers of children. Even more gripping than the interviews of some of the abused children, now adults, is the extended interview with O'Grady himself as he chillingly recounts his predatory past.
From this and other scandals, the Catholic Church - and Christianity in general -- has a tarnished reputation for basic integrity. Not simply as a result of priests or ministers acting in very unchristian ways, but from the response given to the misconduct.

Or more to the point, the lack of response.

I watched this film with a graduate level class on cultural apologetics. Specifically, I wanted them to see what we must grapple with in terms of the church's tarnished reputation, and the impressions many have regarding church leadership and scandal.

Most, if not all, of my students had no idea how best to react to such evil, much less the world's keen awareness of it.

All the more reason to take note of the most recent scandal involving Joe Barron, a minister of adults at Prestonwood Baptist Church, a megachurch in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas. Barron was arrested in a police sting operation as he attempted to solicit sex from an officer posing online as a 13-year-old girl.

Within two days of learning of the arrest, Jack Graham -- senior pastor of Prestonwood -- addressed the scandal from the pulpit.

As an editorial in the Dallas Morning News noted, he did not defend the disgraced minister; he did not speak of all the good things Rev. Barron had done in his ministry; he did not call for forgiveness; he did not say that the pastor was going off for counseling and would be back in ministry soon as a "wounded healer"'; he did not blame pop culture for Barron's fall; he did not lash out at the news media.

In his address, he simply said that the facts had been weighed, and the accused pastor had been asked to resign and had done so. He acknowledged the hurt and pain but thanked God for purifying the church. He challenged his listeners to uphold Christian standards of morality. He even thanked reporters for their coverage.

As the editorial marveled, "No excuses. No cheap grace. No breast-beating. Just clear, firm, sober action."

And what else?

"Because of this, it's probably safe to say that the Prestonwood congregation has a lot more faith in its clergy today than it might have otherwise."

As the editorial concluded, "In the end, the real scandal in cases like this comes not from the sins and crimes of sexual offenders. No church will ever be free of that. The truly damaging scandals arise when church leaders mishandle these crises by failing to treat them with the gravity they deserve. Many in church authority have failed their calling and their congregations under similar conditions, through defensiveness, dissimulation and deferring hard decisions."

Not this time.

And the world watched.

And instead of ridicule, gained respect.

James Emery White

 

[ushalk]

lady loves jesus, i agree that many authority figures in the churches these days are not truly put there by god but by man. i realize that this is not what you directly said but it is said and it is the truth. the people in authority in most churches are there with doctrines taught by man through theology schools. or they are put there by popularity with man.

unfortunately neither of these are of god nor are they in his word. what we call leaders today and what leaders are throughout the bible are 2 totally different leaders.

the saddest part of all this is it would have never gotten this far if man would have stuck to the gospel of christ, rather than making the church a buissness. but even worse because of these things all christians are looked down on and the world hates us all for these people that are doing these things. as if it is not enough that they hate us for our faith in christ.

the churches in america are weak and many false all for the sake of money. sure many are putting their funds into something but when we really stop to think about it, how many are putting their money into truly saving souls and preaching the gospel of christ? at a deeper look at what churches are truly doing with alot of the money they are receiving it is for worldly activities that attract people for population. how many times do we hear in the churches about sin and that it kills us. it is just as the word of god states, people will no longer fear the lord or have any fear of him. well this is how it is today. and how can they fear a god when the sermons they hear are about money, our own positive thinking and let us not talk to the homosexuals about what the bible truly states about being a homosexual. they may get offended and tell someone causing us to lose that mighty dollar bill we receive from our 501c3 plan.


i will write more later.

 

[stephen]

The heart breaks to read and to hear of matters such as these within the Established Church. The atrocities, heinous crimes that have been committed in secret by those purporting to represent the Christian Church, makes the blood run cold.
Furthermore we have the incumbents who having received recognition (status), within a denomination then proceed to drive away the flock with their unpastoral and careless attitude.

Only God can help us as we pray. Perhaps we need to repent before the Lord, fall upon our face in repentance for our brothers and sisters who have fallen so low. Asking God to forgive and to heal His church

I am an optimist in this matter, for I read that God is going to present "to Himself a glorious Church, having neither spot or wrinkle" I am expecting God to intervene and cleanse his church......

My thoughts...... off the cuff