Ravi Zacharias. The name may be familiar to those who know Christian apologetics.
I’ve followed him for quite some time – even went to see him in Seoul some years back – and was quite sad to hear that he’d died of cancer last year. He was a brilliant apologist and debater.
But, like most Christians, I wasn’t aware of the controversy that followed him in the later years of his life. I’d stopped listening to his podcasts quite some time ago when they were getting into repeats. I had heard recently of issues with his academic credentials. But I didn’t pay much attention.
Regardless, his material has always been quite good. His philosophical arguments were logical and sound.
But now it seems that’s all they really were – philosophical arguments. I say that now because it seems that that may be all they were to Zacharias. It’s coming out now that, if the charges are true, Mr. Zacharias had a rather perverted view of sex that led him to proposition and pressure several women (that we know of) for sexual gratification. He solicited and sent nude photos. He manipulated and perverted relationships with people who trusted him. He was an absolute disaster as one who claimed the name of Christ. And he and anyone who knew of and condoned his activities should be treated as such; and if they were complicit, charged and punished appropriately.
Paul talks about this in a section of chapter two in his letter to the Roman church when addressing the Jewish leaders: “17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’”
And that’s sums it up: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
I’ve talked before about the Christian witness. Of how important it is to live well among people who do not know Christ so that, as Peter said in his first letter, “when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” They may hate you, but your actions should never be the reason. More from Peter: “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”
No, I’m not saying the problem is that Mr. Zacharias didn’t check the right boxes on his “I’m a Christian” checklist. I’m saying he willfully ignored those things which most clearly demonstrate the Christian life; that is, a life that honors Christ and loves others.
But here’s where I want to get a little controversial. Because there are calls now to expunge Zacharias and everything he did in his ministry, to include the writing. And as I said at the beginning of the article, Zacharias made many sound and logical philosophical arguments for Christianity. The fact that he so obviously did not (if the allegations are true) live as a Christian does not detract from the strength of those arguments. The validity of the arguments are irrelevant to who makes them except for in this: if one so blatantly disregards that which they are teaching to others, we can attach no more importance to their actual salvation as we can to any other man off the street who doesn’t really believe what he says. And this is where it hurts the most. If the very man who made these arguments for a system of faith cannot even live by that faith, then what can be said for the strength of those arguments? It might leave us wondering – is there something that the rest of us don’t know?
Fortunately, our faith does not rest in the man of Ravi Zacharias. They rest in the God who saved us. And that God has given us others who are gifted in apologetics who, unlike Mr. Zacharias it seems, have faith enough in the arguments they make to actually live the life of those who believe them.
So what can we do?
I can’t say much more for others, but for myself, if the allegations prove to be true — and it’s not looking good for him so far — I’m resolved to call Ravi Zacharias for what he is: a broken man who preyed upon others and brought shame and derision upon the name of Christ. A man who, if he had lived, should have been exposed and punished to the full extent of the law. But Christians should also know, what’s worse for Mr. Zacharias is this: if the things he taught about are indeed true (and I believe they are), he has already faced a more difficult fate than he ever could as he lived on earth. As James said in his letter to the church, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” As I write, he has already accounted for his actions (“it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 – my emphasis)), and there’s nothing to be done for him. But there is something sobering about it for we who believe. We should take to heart the passages I’ve talked about in this writing. We should reflect on our faith and ask ourselves if we are truly living in a way that won’t discredit our gospel witness.
We should learn, and move forward from this; rightly condemning the actions of a man who, at best, was deeply-flawed with a twisted sense of truth and right; or at worst, was an evil narcissist who left broken victims as well as the broken-hearted in his wake. The world can no longer judge him, but I assure you, God already has.