This is an 11K scan of a Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer frame in 70 mm IMAX film in 1:43:1 format (the file is 500 MB for 85 Megapixels )
https://t.co/0RqkCI8Lzt
If a person in public, Christian ministry is involved in an affair, or any level of sexual harassment, sexual assault, touching, petting, etc. of someone who is not their spouse, they are done for good. They can be forgiven and restored to God as an individual but their public ministry is over. Period.
This would not have even been controversial for almost 2,000 years of Church history. No amount of Christianese, pseudo-spiritual language about "restoration," "biblical process," etc. can change that. As a matter of fact, that language itself is a form of manipulation and taking God's name in vain.
Furthermore, even though some may regard this as overly strict (even though it's not), it is 100% necessary to protect the integrity of the Gospel, the Church, Christ himself, and last but not least, potential victims and the vulnerable.
The last thing we need is for our witness to be tainted by this behavior, and for the world to be able to latch on to yet another scandal that brings reproach to the name of Christ.
Also, the last thing we need is to create cultures where abusers and creepers feel empowered bc they know they will be able to find cover (even within the Church!) behind lawfare, carefully-worded letters, and Christianese language that takes biblical passages and concepts out of context, while, I might add, ignoring many other biblical passages about God's judgment upon evil leaders, the fact that leaders/teachers are held to a higher standard, and the need to be above reproach as a leader of God's household.
So you see, this is not just about one person or one incident.
Because I get it, due to the fact that the @DrMichaelLBrown situation isn't as bad on the surface as the Mike Bickle situation, or the Robert Morris situation, or the Ravi Zecharias situation, many people will want to dismiss it as not that serious.
But this is wrong. because as Paul says, "a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough." And that's an important dynamic of reality to understand.
You can't just have these little peccadilloes festering in the Church leadership and think there won't be larger and worse consequences down the line, such as we see now. You can't just write all this off bc you want to be gracious and forgiving and non-judgmental.
I want those things too, but I also understand the way reality works, and anyone who has engaged in any such behavior while serving in public ministry has disqualified themselves. This is not complicated, and I will be held to the same standard if I ever do anything similar, so I'm not speaking from a place of being "holier than thou" here.
This is about the broader implications and the cultures we have created that have ripple effects across the entire Body of Christ.
Enough is enough.
Good God help us all. Myself included.