How do you respond when spiritual leaders fail you?

What if you heard something about someone you truly admire and it’s not pleasant, what would you do?

Have you ever asked someone or have you ever been asked this question?

I personally haven’t experienced being asked but I would always question myself what would I do if such a case presents itself.

But first, why did I decide to write something about this?

I’m not a wide reader but everytime I get to read, I dabble on articles about Self-Help and Christianity. They’re my go-to reads, and quite honestly, these are the contents that I am interested in the most.

I’ve been following this certain Christian apologetic leader that really has helped me deepen my understanding and faith in God. He has well-taught and flawless theologies, a spot-on reasoning on the Divinity of God, the Scriptures and how we can relate and understand and live our lives as believers. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that he is an exceptional apologist, and probably, the greatest one I have ever read or known as of this generation.

If you all know who I am talking about, then yes, he is the late Dr. Ravi Zacharias.

I was shocked to know that he had a terrible and rare cancer this past 2020 that ultimately end his life, but I am more perplexed with the news thereafter that his ministry, RZIM, has released. I wouldn’t discuss it here but I’ll link you up to it just in case your curious.

https://www.rzim.org/read/rzim-updates/board-statement

As bad as it bothered me for days, I would pray and seek God because I couldn’t find answers to my questions. I’ve looked up to this man so much that I guess it shook me a bit when the news broke. There is a lot of confusion going on in my head even as I write this, and as of today, it is my 3rd day of questioning God why did He allow such a thing to take place. But neither I nor anyone is in the place to judge his life and ministry but just deeply saddened to hear about it. I sometimes wish it still isn’t true.

I guess for my fellow believers, the questions are becoming an endless pile but even with it, I was deeply rebuked and confronted on the truths that I missed.

• We do not put our trust in men, but ONLY in God alone.
  • Easier said than done. In my years in a spiritual community, I’ve noticed that a lot of people (myself, included!) are still putting their trust in people — that may be pastors and spiritual mentors. That is also the same in a non-Christian environment. People are so quick to put their faith on other people but discounting God in their lives. We must also consider the fact that not everyone we look up to will deliver/perform/live up with our expectations. That doesn’t mean avoiding meaningful relationships with them but it’s more on which are we leaning more to trust our lives with.

• “It is possible to know all about doctrine and yet not know Jesus. The soul is in danger when knowledge of doctrine outsteps intimate touch with Jesus.” ~ Oswald Chambers
  • And I further quote Oswald Chambers on this — “The one sign of discipleship is intimate connection with Him, a knowledge of Jesus Christ nothing can shake.” I admit that even with the years of exposure in a spiritual community, I have yet to learn so much about Jesus Christ. It is in fact the very reason why I decided to join this batch of Leadership 113 class in our church, not so I can boast all the things I may gain from this, but to be able to understand how to build a spirtual discipline and interpret scriptures for my daily commune with God.

• Even the wisest man, Solomon, turned away from God at the end of his life.
  • What I took away from this horrible news about Dr. Ravi is that even Solomon, who was the wisest man at his time, turned away from God after years of serving him. The walking contradiction of Wisdom and Folly. We can never present ourselves to God in a proud state because we fail him everyday, and so do these men in the Bible.

• We can never really know a heart of a person. That’s why we need God to bring us the right people in our lives.
  • After hearing all of that bad news about Dr. Ravi, I had a lot of questions specifically to the heart of his ministry. Were they lenient about it even if they know something? Did Dr. Ravi truly know and lived what he preached? Was this maybe a thorn in the flesh he was dealing with? Is it the price of this great knowledge about God? But even if these questions may get answered, we can never really get to the bottom of one’s heart and motives. This is the reason why I believe we always need to seek God in every situation in our life.

• Pray heavily and consistently that God cleanses you from any known or unknown sins you may have brought in your life.
  • Whether Dr. Ravi truly died innocent on his deathbed or not, we must pray always that God cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Former and new. While we do it, if possible, we should also seek horizontal repentance to those we wronged but we must not forget that salvation could only come in a vertical position, from Jesus Christ.

and last but definitely, not the least…

Avoid judging others for their mistakes. I guess this one’s a bit self-explanatory.

I pray that we all do not shake and fall out of our faith just because our spiritual mentors failed us and may we cling all the more to the one Source of Truth, that is in Jesus Christ.

Happy Friday!