The ORU Lawsuit

A lot of people have predicted for a long time that something like this would happen. However, the fact that it has should not be an excuse for schadenfreude on the part of either unbelievers who cheer when a Christian ministry is brought into disrepute or for the blood thirsty mob of wrong headed believers who cheer every time a high profile spiritual leader is brought down. Rather this should be a time for quiet introspection into our own lives to make sure that we have removed the beam from our own eyes before we begin working on the splinters in others. Most of us don’t own red Mercedes convertibles or large private jets but we can sin just as easily in our dowdy little sedans and coach seats if our hearts aren’t in the right place.

If the allegations against the Roberts’ are proven true, they are devastating. The fact that they have been filed in a lawsuit means nothing. All that means is that there is enough possible evidence to prevent the filing attorney from facing a Rule Eleven charge. This is a very low standard. We should all take a deep breath and remember that in America, even in civil court, the accused is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. By law, the Robert’s enjoy the benefit of the doubt at this stage of the proceedings.

I have an opinion about the allegations based upon my own observations over the years but I am keeping it to myself. I am not a member of the ORU Board of Regents, an attorney on the case or a member of one of the investigating organizations. So, I am in no place scripturally to hear or repeat an accusation against this particular elder. Further, even if this were not the case, for the sake of the many good people connected with the Roberts family, ORU and the Roberts Ministries, I will not add to their problems during this terrible time by repeating rumor, gossip and speculation.

It is a shame that this matter had to be resolved in the courts. Over the years, during my service in the local Christian community, I have had occasion to try to bring serious Christian misbehavior to the attention of a person’s pastor, church elders or other spiritual overseer ... everything from the garden variety slander that is common among Christian busybodies right up through child snatching, perjury and abuse of legal process. Trying to invoke church discipline to resolve matters of this magnitude is an exercise in futility. As one high profile local pastor recently observed, the Old Testament required that priests not have damaged stones. He continued that the problem today is that many pastors stones aren’t damaged, they just don’t have a set at all.

And that, in the end, is the real problem. The scriptures tell us to handle these things privately and to make them public only if all else fails. The real failure here may not be on the part of the Roberts who are taking the heat right now but rather on the part of the Regents and the high profile spiritual leaders who could and should have reigned them in quietly in a scriptural manner and did not.

It is very possible that judgment day is coming to 7777 S. Lewis Ave. in the near future. But, we should all be fearfully reverent if it does, because when God’s judgment falls, He will be just and He may well settle accounts with a lot of people, not just the Roberts. And, whether the allegations are true or not, we should not allow ourselves to sin in this matter by gossiping, carrying tales, railing, and improperly judging, thus bringing the gospel into further disrepute.

******