Scripture does say that those ‘who teach will be judged more strictly’, and now we’re seeing that process in action.
If you want to be a moral leader, you need to be held to a higher moral standard. That’s the basic premise. And because none of us is so perfect that we are absolutely beyond the reach of any moral failing, leaders need to be especially on their guard (like Pence has been with his policy) and to be held to account if they stumble morally.
Holding people to account is sometimes easier said than done. It’s unpopular and requires moral courage. The excuses presented for ignoring real instances of wrongdoing are as varied as the people who make them.
But the Southern Baptists are taking a moral stand on this issue where it exists in their midst.
It has acknowledged that some leaders in their (recent) have handled so-called ‘MeToo’ situations wrongly.
At its annual meeting next week in Dallas, delegates called “messengers” will decide whether to approve a resolution acknowledging that, throughout the church’s history, male leaders and members of the church “wronged women, abused women, silenced women, objectified women.”
“The #MeToo moment has come to American evangelicals,” Albert Mohler, president of the flagship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote last month. “And I am called to deal with it as a Christian, as a minister of the Gospel, as a seminary and college president, and as a public leader.”
The convention is meeting in the wake of several widely publicized scandals in which prominent Southern Baptist leaders have been accused of or have admitted inappropriate behavior toward women.
Source: NBC
Examples included an instance of one Seminary leader counseling a victim not to report a rape, as well as Andy Savage, who 20 years earlier and serving as a youth leader, had an unspecified ‘sexual incident’ with an underage High School student.
Cheryl Summers, one of the rally’s organizers, said the demonstration would push for “reform of culture and for training of pastors and church leaders.”
“We follow Christ’s example, who treated women with dignity and honor as equal, valuable members of his church when the culture of his day did not,” she said.
As the convention gathers against that backdrop to elect a new president, it will also consider the resolution to denounce sexual impropriety and abuse, as well as “anyone who would facilitate or knowingly cover up such acts.” The resolution was written by Jason K. Allen, president of the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and it was signed by Steve Gaines, the convention’s outgoing president; seven other former convention presidents; and both nominees for convention president during next week’s election.
It asks the convention to confess that throughout the church’s history, men have “wronged women, abused women, silenced women, objectified women by ungodly comments and ungodly acts, preyed on women, left women unprotected, failed to report injustices and evils committed against women to civil authorities established by God and failed to act out of the overflow of the image of Christ.”
Source: NBC
If the Church wants to be a clear moral voice to the world… it’s important that it cleans house, first.
a
Here’s a brand new book on how to be a Warrior Chick by Regis Giles — daughter of our very own Doug Giles:
From the book:
Do I want this to be happening? Why is his hand on my waist? Is he really fondling my breasts? What do I do? Why is he in a bathrobe? Why is he taking off the bathrobe? God, I need to get out of here! I thought this was going to be professional.
No one, unless they’ve been in the same situation, can ever really understand the stress and self-doubt one goes through when sexual harassment occurs.
Regis Giles’ new book will teach you how to escape the world of #MeToo victim and become the #WarriorChick you were meant to be!
Think Miss Giles knows a thing or two about taking care of herself? You’d better believe it.
She and her sister Hannah were the very first two female Valente Bros black Belts. That’s a feather in your cap, for sure.
She’s got a website ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Guns‘ and she had it LONG before it was ‘trendy’ to talk about #MeToo.
She’s also a world-class huntress.
Get your copy of How to not be a #MeToo Victim, but a #WarriorChick today!
