Shocking
Last May, in the tenth entry of my pastoral reflection, I wrote a tribute to one of my heroes of the faith, Ravi Zacharias. I included an article written about him during his battle with cancer. And I concluded the blog post with this paragraph:
“The Lord has given a call to each of His children. It is the call of mission whatever vocation the Lord has placed before us. May we be reminded of the brevity of life and encouraged by the model that Ravi lived out before us. My prayer is that we might all finish well. All for the glory of the Lord, alone!”
How wrong I was! With all of the news that has come forth, Ravi did not finish well. He did not even live well. He was far from a good model of the Christian life! I was in shock at the initial news. I’m so disappointed. I’m still grieving.
I love listening to sermons/lectures/talks and would often listen to him since my college days. His voice was familiar as a dear friend. I have personally attended about ten of his talks and most times waited in line to share a word of encouragement and shake his hand. I have read a number of his books.
I remember when I first heard the news. After a busy Sunday of ministry and spending time with my family, I put on some earphones and listened to one of his talks. And then I read an article exposing his duplicity. I haven’t listened to him since.
Someone asked me if this detracts from the truth of Christianity. Of course not. One of the principles Ravi would appeal to during his Q&A sessions is that one should not judge a worldview by its abuse. And he abused the Christian worldview. The way he lived was contrary to the way of Jesus. And the very institutional aspect of his ministry failed in the stewardship of their leadership in keeping him accountable. In fact, they tried to cover up what was true. So his duplicitous life was an abuse of Christianity. But it does not detract from its truth. Rather, it further propounds what Scripture teaches about sin, deception, pride and our need for Jesus.
I’ve been meditating upon Hebrews 12:2, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” We need to fix our eyes upon Jesus who was never duplicitous. While on this earth He exhibited perfect integrity. How easy our gaze can turn to people! Yes, we are to look at them to learn from and to serve. But our foundational view should be on our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus and follow Him!