Ravi Zacharias Guilty Of Sexual Misconduct! What Do We Do With His Books, Sermons, And Open Forums?

        On December 23, 2020, the RZIM Board deemed their founder Ravi Zacharias as guilty of sexual misconduct:¹

In August 2020, allegations of sexual misconduct were made against our Founder, Ravi Zacharias. Unfortunately, Ravi had died several months before we first learned of these allegations, so we were unable to explore them with him directly. We engaged Miller & Martin PLLC to investigate these allegations, while also giving them wide latitude to go wherever their investigation might lead them...

However, while the investigation remains ongoing and is not expected to be completed until January or February, yesterday we received a brief interim update on the investigation we felt we needed to share...Sadly, the interim investigation update indicates this assessment of Ravi’s behavior to be true—that he did indeed engage in sexual misconduct.

            Quite a few sincere Christians wonder what to do with the many books, sermons, and open forums of Ravi Zacharias? They wonder if they should follow (take seriously) what a deliberately-sinning-servant-of-God wrote and preached or discard his work altogether. Some may even wonder whether they should continue supporting RZIM or not.

            Quite a dilemma indeed!

            Personally, I have listened to and read much of Ravi’s work. I also believe that God used Ravi Zacharias as a very valuable means to my growth in Christ.

            Now that Ravi has been proved as sexually depraved, can I undo that which I have learned about God from Ravi?

            That’s quite impossible.

            Do I now feel guilty for reading and listening to Ravi’s work?

            Ravi preached about God. God’s the source of all Ravi’s work. Ravi was a conduit. The conduit may have been flawed, but the source (God) is pure and perfect.

            Let’s consider this from another vantage point.

            The Bible teaches that all of us, which includes all the great apologists, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc, are sinners (1 John 1:8-10).

            Everybody is a sinner. If one is sexually immoral the other may be suffering from greed or lusting for wealth etc. If not for that there may be spiritual pride in them, which is also a serious sin. The Bible also teaches that lusting after a man or a woman (who is not the spouse) in one’s heart is also a sin (Matthew 5:28).

            So while Ravi possibly was guilty of sexual immorality, other apologists and evangelists cannot deem themselves as sinless.

            There is not even one person who is righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10)!

            So every apologist, every preacher, every teacher, every evangelist is a sinner before God. If we decide to not learn from a sinful preacher or a teacher or a pastor or an apologist, then we cannot learn from anyone.

            Significantly, let us not forget the fact that it was God who gave Ravi the gifts of preaching, teaching, and writing.

            Ravi was such a celebrated writer and speaker. Somewhere down the line, he sinned against God and probably continued sinning. But God did not take away the gifts from Ravi.

            HE allowed Ravi to serve HIM.

            If God allowed Ravi to serve HIM while he was deliberately sinning, why can’t you and I continue learning from the work of Ravi Zacharias?

            If God found Ravi worthy of these gifts knowing full well that this servant of God would grievously sin against HIM, then we should continue learning from Ravi’s ministry. 

            Does this mean that God’s servants can sin intentionally and get away with it?

            No, a servant of God must not sin intentionally. However, a servant of God cannot be sinless and perfect.

            Every human being is flawed. We know it and God knows it. We constantly strive to resist temptation, but when we sin, we confess and repent and strive earnestly to not sin again.

            Although we resonate with Apostle Paul’s thoughts in Romans 7: 14-25 our life is excellently summarized in Romans 8:13-14 that says, “(for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.”

            Unfortunately, Ravi is being clobbered by quite a few Christian leaders. Should we also find fault with Ravi?

            Thank God, Ravi was not a false teacher. HE preached Christ-crucified. However, he sinned grievously.

            But that does not authorize anyone to slander Ravi.

            This is not an occasion to be angry. This is an occasion to feel sad for Ravi, his family, and his ministry. This is an occasion to pray for Ravi’s family and his victims.

            On a side note: I do not for a moment think Ravi is in hell. I am confident he would be in heaven because he would have confessed and repented of his sins and God would have forgiven him. (News snippets about Ravi in the social media during his last days indicate this.)

            To me, Ravi will always be the gifted servant of God – albeit flawed.

            The Bible teaches that all of us are flawed one way or another – from the great Billy Graham to everyone else.

            I will use Ravi’s life as an example to understand that even the so-called most gifted preachers, teachers, pastors, and apologists may not be as what they appear to be. While I will always thank and pray to God for all HIS servants – the preachers, teachers, pastors, and apologists, my loyalty and my worship will only be Godward.

            The pot should never call the kettle black!

Endnotes:

¹https://www.rzim.org/page/update-from-rzim-board-allegations-against-ravi-zacharias

Website last accessed on 29^th December 2020.