SBC must act in aftermath of abuse scandal

A church is expected to be a place of sanctuary and hope, populated with leaders who represent God, but sadly a recent joint investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News found a number of disturbing instances where this was not the case.

The newspapers discovered hundreds of Southern Baptist church leaders and workers had been accused of sexual misconduct over the past two decades, leaving a trail of human brokenness in the wake of another church scandal. In all, per an Associated Press story, more than 700 victims, some as young as 3, have had their lives forever impacted by 380 people in positions of trust at SBC-affiliated churches.

First, one abuse victim in any setting is one too many. One abuser in any position of trust is one too many. Instances where other church officials either ignored what was going on, refused to respond to victims’ cries for help or who enabled this reprehensible behavior to continue are a sad commentary and injure the credibility and mission of the church in the world. That, in some cases, victims and their families were also shunned by churches when they needed compassion is an unimaginably painful scenario.

There are a number of theories as to why churches can be especially susceptible to scandals such as this. Church leaders should be above reproach and often are seen that way by the people they serve, creating an aura of absolute trust, but, as is obvious from this investigation, church leaders are human and fallible. All churches should see these scandals as a call to tighten background checks, accountability standards and measures to protect the vulnerable from anyone entrusted with leadership responsibilities in a church.

A second reason might be the very nature of churches, which, for the most part, work to create an atmosphere of acceptance and might be tempted to look past terrible behavior out of some misunderstanding of grace. Everyone needs grace, but churches and those leading them have a sacred duty to look out for those in their charge. Sadly, some count on churches providing second chances so they might move on to another church and continue abusing the vulnerable. The newspapers’ story indicated almost three dozen “church leaders who exhibited predatory behavior were still able to find jobs at churches.”

The Southern Baptist Convention has its work cut out for it and would be well-advised to bring in a third party to fully investigate the tragic situation regardless of associated pain and cost. An internal investigation might be thorough, but will be viewed with skepticism, especially by those who have been calling on the SBC to act for some time. Churches must be proactive in not just removing abusers but also reporting them to law enforcement. They must also minister to victims, providing compassion that reflects the love of God as well as resources and support to help them deal with the trauma they have experienced.

“We leaders in the SBC should have listened to the warnings of those who tried to call attention to this,” the Rev. J.D. Greear, president of the SBC, said on Twitter. “I am committed to doing everything possible to ensure we never make these mistakes again.”

That is an admirable sentiment, however, this is not a time to merely say something must be done; it is time to do something – in the name of the vulnerable and in the name of God.