Ravi Zacharias: Another of the Mighty Has Fallen!

As part of a consulting ministry that works to heal churches from devastating internal crises, the moral failure of a Christian leader is, sadly, a familiar scenario. While I’ve written on this topic before, the gut-wrenching revelations around Ravi Zacharias and RZIM hit close to home and demand another look at a way-too-common occurrence.

First a little background: Ravi and I were both ordained by the same denomination. He regularly came to the college I attended, speaking in chapel and at my graduation. He frequently spoke at annual denominational assemblies, bringing a prophetic voice to our aging denomination. He was a familiar, reliable, and beloved evangelist. Many saw him as the next Billy Graham.

His vast giftedness and the personal connection many felt to him made the news of his fall more devastating. When I first heard about it, a phrase from Scripture came to mind, “How the mighty have fallen!” David exclaimed this upon hearing the news of Saul’s death in battle. (We have seen many fall in the last decade, to our great grief.)

If David grieved over Saul, who had spent years trying to kill him, perhaps we should ponder our response to the fall of Ravi Zacharias. Rather than pointing fingers or posthumously defrocking a favored son, maybe we should clothe ourselves in burlap and cry out to God in grief, “How the mighty have fallen!” But Saul offers us a picture of how it often happens and his story challenges us to search our hearts for signs of the same vulnerability.

Saul: A Case Study on Fallen Leadership

Consider these 9 observations taken from the book of 1 Samuel:

• Like many superbly gifted Christian leaders, Saul was anointed by the Holy Spirit and called to God’s purposes at a relatively young age (1 Samuel 10:6-7; 11:6). His youth, though, made him vulnerable to pride (1 Tim. 3:6).
• Though Saul was tall and handsome, he was small in his own eyes at first and struggled with insecurity (1 Sam. 9:2,21;10:22). Even impressive Christian leaders today can carry insecurities that can trip them up.
• Saul drew other leaders to him like a magnet just as highly gifted Christian leaders do. (1 Sam. 10:26; 11:6-7). Such a leadership team makes people believe that they never need help or support.
• The Bible makes clear that God was with Saul at first. God was the source of Saul’s success and renown in the same way that we hope He is with leaders in the church (1 Sam 11:11; 13:4; 14:47-48). But success is dangerous, inflating the opinion of our importance as leaders.
• In Saul’s case, success also amplified his insecurities. Instead of driving him into deeper dependence on God, Saul exhibits narcissistic behaviors (13:11-13; 14:24-46; 15:20-31). Christian leaders often overlook the insecurities that set them up for a fall in the same way.
• Because God is not willing to overlook what we choose to ignore, He sends disciplinary pain into Saul’s life. He does the same with us (Heb. 12:5-10). At this point God gives us a choice: respond to the discipline by turning to Him or go further down the wrong path as Saul does (18:10; 19:9: 20:33).
• Saul began to view his close associates with suspicion and jealousy, and sought to punish those he perceived as being disloyal. In the same way, guilty Christian leaders become defensive, paranoid, and demand deeper loyalty when accusations arise. (See 1 Sam. 18-26).
• Saul wanted to be seen as spiritual, even in the midst of his disobedience and evil. Christian leaders in the late stages of a moral cancer still want to be seen as spiritual too (24:17; 26:21).
• Some of Saul’s final acts were simply unthinkable (28:1-25). When the corrupt, secret lives of fallen Christian leaders come to light, we are likewise shocked at the details that surface.

How Shall We Respond?

The pattern of Saul’s fall can be traced through the lives of fallen Christian leaders like Ravi Zacharias and many others. We should ask ourselves a few crucial questions in the light of it:

• What is God saying to us as the North American Church through the many moral failures among leadership which we have witnessed since the 1970’s? How should all Evangelicals respond to that message?
• What is God saying to a denomination which, not only lost a favored son, but lost its most significant voice in a generation? How should they as a denomination respond to Christ’s message in Ravi’s fall?
• What might God be trying to tell you and me as Christian leaders and church members? If one such as Ravi fell, do we really think it cannot happen to us or present leaders we love? What insecurities might we/they be carrying that make us vulnerable to the kind of fall Saul and Ravi experienced?

One of the most astounding things about David’s exclamation, “How the mighty have fallen!” is that David still honored Saul in his death. I am convinced it was because of the office Saul held and not because of the behavior Saul exhibited while he held it. The greatest honor we can give to the unique office which Ravi held is to ponder the messages contained in his fall and heed their prophetic warning. I believe God would want us to do that. I have to believe, in his heart of hearts, Ravi would want us to do that too.

Mark Barnard serves with Blessing Point Ministries. He is coauthor of The Dance of the Gifts: How Church Leaders Can Discern God’s Will and The Path of Revival: Restoring Our Nation One Church at a Time.