The Problem Isn’t “Out There”

Across conservative evangelicalism, it was not uncommon for allegations of assault to be met with skepticism or otherwise covered up or dismissed.

Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Kobes Du Mez*

We have a problem in the modern Church. And the problem is… some of the people within the modern Church.

One constant that we’ve seen through the decades is people taking advantage of other people, and attempting to justify it by hiding behind their supposed faith. There are entire church subcultures that are built around men (and it’s almost always men), who are abusive by their words, their actions, their theology and their leadership.

We have seen a steady, if not sharp at times, decline in church participation and identification, especially as more of these subcultures have come to light. And rightfully so.

I’ve seen countless videos and read countless articles about people who are stepping away from the church, and more often than not, it has something to do with people who were hurt in some way by these awful experiences and leaders.

Many times, in the cesspool of the internet known as the comments section, you get other Christians who decide to throw salt on the whole thing. “If you are allowing your faith to be destroyed by the actions of man, then you didn’t have that much faith in the first place.” “People are always trying to tear down Christians.” “I’ve never seen anything like this before. I think they’re making it up.“

Instead of taking responsibility and stepping up accountability measures, especially for those in leadership, people try to defend the indefensible. The Southern Baptist report that came out a few months ago is horrible. The fact that there are that many pastors who took advantage of those under their care is abhorrent. The fact that some of them simply moved to a new church is even worse.

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but not all pastors are in it for the right reasons. Some simply see the church as an easy target. They are abusive. They are awful people. And, yet, because they say a few good things related to Jesus, people let them get away with it.

There’s absolutely no reason why some of these people should be allowed to lead a church ever again. Yet, there they are.

Friends, we have a major problem in the church. At its core, it has nothing to do with theology, and everything to do with people seeking power.

If you have experienced this kind of toxic environment, please hear my heart when I say this: I’m sorry. I don’t deny that it happened. I’m simply sorry that has been your experience. I’m not going to try to tell you to find a new place to worship because I get that the damage has been done. But I do hope you find healing, and that some day you will be surrounded by a true community of faith, whatever that may look like.

*Amazon affiliate link. To call this a fantastic read seems strange, given the content and journey one takes while reading it. However, it is one of the most important books about modern evangelicalism out there, and you need to read it.