The Evangelical church is a closed system that values its own governance over the American judicial system. In fact, the church, structured by the laws of God, often finds itself at odds with “the laws of man.†These conflicts are reconciled through a practice referred to as church governance, where many churches espouse a system found in the Bible in Matthew 18. The offended Christian is to first approach his “brother†with the fault in private. If there is no resolution, then the offended party should approach again with witnesses. Ultimately, he should tell the church. While instances of church governance are on the decline, many mainstream pastors defend the practice. In a 2014 article, John Ortberg, influential pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, noted that church discipline can be effective if practiced correctly. But all too often church governance puts itself in between abusers and the law.
This is nothing new to anyone who has been involved in a church. Growing up in a slew of Evangelical churches, I saw this system of governance deployed to handle anything from adultery to domestic violence to pedophilia. And in each instance, this system has failed to stop abusers or protect victims. There are no repercussions, because all an abuser has to do is ask for forgiveness from the victim and God. In 2013, Sovereign Grace Ministries was accused of covering up a pedophilia ring. Bill Gothard himself stepped down from his leadership position amid accusations of sexually harassing young women. Gothard cited the Matthew 18 directive for solving disputes among Christians, rather than the law that protects women from abusers. It’s a pattern of abuse, faith, and silence that, as Evangelicals love pointing out, has been seen before in the Catholic Church. But it seems that the pattern of using faith and fear to silence victims is a trait that many faiths share.
