“Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must be that scandals come: but woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.” (Mt. 18:7)

Once again we must endure a period of shame in the Church, much to the pain of all believers. Our Lord had predicted the inevitability of scandals, so we should not be overly surprised by them, especially in this post-Christian culture that too frequently dismisses sin as some outdated ‘medieval’ concept. But this ‘denial’ only contributes further to that sense of shock for many when confronted with the damaging effects of sinful behavior by persons in positions of trust. And there are still prelates so imbued with a worldly zeitgeist that they do not seem to understand that all sins, even so-called ‘private sins,’ must produce severe consequences. The fact remains that as members of the Body of Christ whatever one member does, even behind closed doors, will surely affect the whole body.

I was poignantly reminded of that ‘cause and effect’ dynamic this past week at a prayer breakfast in Denver to raise money for the support of persecuted Christians around the world. I sense that there is a real spiritual correlation between the sex scandals rocking the Church in the West and the vicious persecution of her other members in places like Africa and Asia. Could God be using anti-Christian terror perpetrated by ISIS, Boko Haram, Hezbollah, Communists regimes, and others as instruments of purification for His Church? If so then it would seem that the sins of those fallen clergy are being expiated by the blood of countless martyrs around the globe. This would not be unusual in God’s economy of salvation. After all, there have always been victim souls in the Church whose job it is to satisfy divine justice precisely for the salvation of others. Continue reading →