I caught myself about to do something cowardly today. I was going through my audible library hunting for my next listen and I found myself contemplating returning a book from Ravi Zacharias. The conflict was fully internal. I have zero fear of what other people think of the books I read. My cowardice was purely a reluctance to face my own inner conflict–a conflict over how to view Ravi and the sordid details of his life that have come to light.

More precisely, the conflict inside me is because I hold the people around me in contempt when they judge other people–especially people like Ravi–for their sins. (Yes, you read that correctly. I almost returned a book because I didn’t want to have to think about my own contempt for the people around me who judge the author of that book for his sins. And no, the irony is not lost on me.)

At this point, there’s a dead even chance that if you’re reading this you’re already contemptuous of ME because I would judge YOU for judging Ravi for his sins. Appreciate the irony of THAT for a moment with me…

Justified

Over the past few days, I’ve seen friends and acquaintances mocking Ravi on social media. I’ve seen them say how they wish he was alive to face punishment for what he’s done.

On its face, that attitude almost seems understandable. It’s natural, isn’t it, to call down justice upon people who put on a face of goodness but hide evil from the world?

Of course it’s natural and people feel justified in that attitude. …But it’s not Christian.

Depraved

The first thing any Christian knows is his own depravity.

In actually starting to draw near to a holy God, we all start to see the parts of ourselves that are truly disgusting. So why do we have such double standards for other people who commit similar or worse offenses?

In Ravi’s case, anyone who has ever read his writings or listened to his talks can immediately see a man who makes no claims about his own goodness, tries to do right as best he is able, praying for strength not to fall into temptations, and takes exquisite care not to cast judgment on those around him.

It was that juxtaposition–of a man who refuses to cast judgments with the crowd of people who instantly leap to judgment about him–that almost made me turn away.

Frankly, I’m sad to learn about the things Ravi has done that were wrong.

I’m heart-broken and devastated to see how little grace people give to a man who spent his life trying to give grace to a world around him that was hurting so badly.

It’s about you.

If you’ve made it this far, then take a good hard look at yourself.

If you can see yourself as a good person, then you are most certainly not a Christian.

If you can judge another Christian for his own obvious sins and the outworking of his own depravity, then you put yourself in the position of the debtor who is released from prison and obligation by his master and turns to demand full payment of a much lesser debt from his neighbor.

That is an evil that God has specifically called out as liable for judgment by Himself.

Remember, none but God is good. Not one.

If you instantly fall to judging people for sins they commit that aren’t even against you, how wretched must you be when you stand before the Master?

Remember, we all answer to God in the end, Ravi no less than you or me. Is God so incapable of holding Ravi accountable that we must do it for Him?