Shouldn't sexual assault from the pulpit disqualify someone from ministry?

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I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you." -- 1Corinthians 5:9-13 (ESV)

https://www.charismanews.com/us/78597-andy-savage-reportedly-starting-new-church-abuse-victim-says-she-hopes-he-has-repented

The church at Corinth had many problems, as does the church today. In the fifth chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian Church, he addresses a very specific problem. It seems one of their congregants was sleeping with his father's wife and everyone knew about it. Yet the church not only tolerated it but did not even seem concerned. The key verses concludes Paul's teaching to them on this matter. He corrects their misunderstanding of Paul's previous command to not associate with sexually immoral people. It appears the church took that to mean people outside of the church. There are stark parallels to the church today that is also overly focused on the sins of the world through NAR dominionism while being overly protective of sinners within the fold. Paul's frustration is almost comical in verse ten where he correctly points out that if the instruction was meant for those in the world there would be literally no interaction with the world! They are all sinners apart from God's grace! Their judgment belongs to God. Paul concludes this portion by pointing out that it is our responsibility to judge those within the church and to cast out the evil person from among us. This ends the abuse of Matthew 7, where Christians love to scream "judge not" without understanding that Jesus was teaching on hypocrisy in those verses, not judgment. We are still commanded to remove the speck from our brother's eye beloved. The offender was cast out from the Corinthians church and was restored upon repentance. This is the concept we will discuss today in light of two recent stories in Christendom. The first story has been beaten to death and that is the John MacArthur-Beth Moore drama. Those that have advanced the disobedient cause of Christo-feminism have blown this story up so they can gin up faux outrage and further their position. We have seen wall to wall coverage of this nonsense for too long now. Sadly, at the same time we have seen the story of Andy Savage with barely any coverage. In fact, the above link is the only story I saw. So let's go through this together and see if it helps put in perspective what should matter to Christians. Should we be so up in arms about a heretic being told to go home or a pastor accused of sexual assault returning to the pulpit unapologetically?

'"Devastating news today," Jules Woodson tweeted over the weekend. "My abuser is back in the pulpit." Woodson was responding to news that Andy Savage, her former youth pastor, reportedly is planning to start a new church. Last year, Woodson drew attention to the problem of abuse in evangelical churches when she spoke out about being sexually abused by Savage when she was a member of the Texas youth group he led two decades ago. She was 17 at the time. He was a college student in his 20s. Under Texas law, sexual contact between clergy and someone for whom they are a "spiritual adviser" can be considered sexual assault.' -- Charisma News

This is not as cut and dried as the Tullian Tchividjian incident where he had an affair with a congregant and now has opened his own new church saying he did not thing wrong because both members in the incident were consenting adults. It is however quite similar because the victim was further victimized by the system. Now, we can expect such things in the world but is not the church supposed to be different? At the time of the assault, Woodson went to leadership and two male leaders essentially told her to not speak about the incident with anyone and asked questions about here willingness to participate in the assault. Both of those men are currently senior pastors to this day. This is not about being "woke" or "me too." This is about right and wrong. It is not about discarding the assaulter either. It is about ensuring that we properly understand restoration. Andy Savage and Tullian Tchividjian needed restoration in relation to their walk with Christ, not their ministry. They are no longer qualified to lead in God's church. While the call of God is not revoked by God, we can certainly remove ourselves from it. Unfortunately, the seeker friendly industrial complex protects its own first. It demands cult of personality preachers like Tullian and Andy. Their victims? Well we can just pray for them.

"Savage, who went on to become teaching pastor at a Memphis, Tennessee, megachurch, eventually confessed to "a sexual incident." His confession was met with applause from the congregation at Highpoint Church. He later resigned after a leave of absence and investigation. Now Savage reportedly is planning to start a new church in Memphis. And Woodson is worried about the message that sends to those who have experienced abuse-- and those who would abuse. "This has never been just about me. This is about all survivors," she told Religion News Service. "And it sets a dangerous precedent when you have someone who has admittedly committed a crime--broken moral, ethical, lawful qualifications--and here they are, 18 months (after resigning from Highpoint) later, starting a church."' -- Charisma News

Let us not lose sight of the trajectory of this story. The incident occurred over 20 years ago but Savage has hid it for that time. He only admitted it after Jules Woodson had sent him the following email:

"Do you remember that night that you were supposed to drive me home from church and instead drove me to a deserted back road and sexually assaulted me? Do you remember how you acted like you loved me and cared about me in order for me to cooperate in such acts, only to run out of the vehicle later and fall to your knees begging for forgiveness and for me not to tell anyone what had just happened? Well, I REMEMBER." -- Jules Woodson

Yes Andy Savage is only five years older than Jules Woodson but he was in a position of power emotionally and spiritually over her. He was her youth pastor. Instead of driving her home, he drove her to a secluded spot, took his pants down and told her to perform oral sex on him, although not in such a clinical manner. The 17 year old says she thought he must love her if he wanted to be this intimate with her and she went along. She also went along when he started molesting her as she performed. At some point he ran out of the car, fell on his knees and was begging her to take this to "her grave." Now, maybe this speaks to why a 22 year old should not be in a pastoral position of power. The bible speaks about qualifications and says the person should not be new in the Lord. That aside, the system stepped in at that point with one focus -- protect Andy Savage. After Jules broke her silence with her youth group, the church powers realized they had a major problem on their hands if Jules kept talking so they shipped Andy out of the church and allowed him to just say something vague, like he had made mistakes and needed to move on. This left Jules of course to have to deal with this for the rest of her life. Savage went on to be a leader at Highpoint Church until he stepped down in 2018 because of the covered up incident coming to light and said amongst other thing:

'"When Jules cried out for justice, I carelessly turned the topic to my own story of moral change, as if getting my own life in order should help to make up for what she went through and continues to go through," said Savage, who acknowledged for the first time that he took advantage of Woodson without her consent in what he called an "abuse of power." "I agree with Jules that, of all places, we as the Church should be getting this right," Savage said, adding: "After much prayer and counsel, I now believe it's appropriate for me to resign from my staff position at Highpoint Church and step away from ministry in order to do everything I can to right the wrongs of the past."' -- Andy Savage

Sounds so right but now just 18 months later, he is opening his own church? Is this right? Absolutely not! Look, if the truth was told 20 years ago and he spent that time as a penitent believer you could make an argument for a return to ministry but 18 months after being forced to admit what you did? I do not wish Andy Savage any ill. I had never even heard of him until this story. My hope however is in the restoration of his walk with the Lord, not his return to ministry. I stand with the sheep. I stand with the victim.

'Watch Keep, a blog advocating for abuse survivors in the church, posted audio Saturday (Oct. 26) of Savage reportedly speaking at an interest meeting for a new congregation in Memphis called Grace Valley Church. The website, gracevalleymemphis.org, links to a Google form that asks those who visit the site for their names, contact information and information about spouses or children. It also offers opportunities to volunteer or submit prayer requests. That form includes a note saying it was "created within andysavage.com," which is the former pastor's personal website. Savage could not be reached for comment. On the audio, a voice reportedly belonging to Savage says if that if he ever were to return to ministry, he wouldn't do what he did before: ignore people's struggles. He then delivers a message about how God's "grace flows down" into valleys and Christians ought not judge others. "I got my hands on the wrong things in my life for all the right reasons--looking for hope, looking for fulfillment, looking for a way to make my life better, trying to stay out of the valley," he said. "That's what we do. It's just the human condition, which is why we don't have to judge others."' -- Charisma News

God's grace does indeed flow to the lowest valley but not for ministerial reconciliation. This is what the church keeps getting wrong in this area. We are commanded to judge! Cast out the wicked person from among you! If they repent, we of course forgive as God forgave us and restore them to the fold but that does not mean they get to pastor a church! Elders will be judged with a harsher standard than others. The requirements are steep for a reason. I am sorry but you speak at an event to start a new congregation and preach about how we do not need to judge each other? I am not getting the sense that anything has been learned, let alone repented of.

"Woodson identified the voice as Savage's, according to The Commercial Appeal. The Memphis newspaper also reported the former pastor "had filed nonprofit information for Grace Valley Church with the state earlier this month." That news prompted heated discussion on social media. Some on Twitter contrasted reports of Savage's possible return to the pulpit with a viral video of a prominent evangelical pastor criticizing popular Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore and other women speakers, claiming the Bible bars them from the pulpit. "Pastors, where are you?" tweeted Rachael Denhollander, a leading advocate for abuse survivors in the Southern Baptist Church. "You who preach the requirements for pastors, where are you now? You who teach that if only women would submit and men lead, abuse would be solved, where are you? You who laughed at a female teacher being told 'go home', where are you? Where are you now?" Moore herself, who has spoken about her own childhood sexual abuse, responded to Woodson's tweet with sympathy. "Jules, I can't imagine how devastating that must be. I am so sorry," she said." -- Charisma News

This is the end result of not doing what the bible commands. For weeks now we have heard the correct cries of go home for someone as false as Beth Moore but Denhollander and Moore are correct here in their disdain for these same people not standing up for the same principle when it comes to someone in the good old boys network. Beth Moore is clearly not permitted to serve in a pastoral role but you have no moral authority to say that if you think Andy Savage is.

"Others on Twitter urged Woodson to forgive Savage. Boz Tchividjian tweeted that is a pattern abusive church leaders often follow. Tchividjian is executive director of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment). "A common tactic of church leaders who have used their power and authority to sexually victimize is to place themselves back into positions of leadership while piously gaslighting and guilting those who object by accusing them of being unforgiving, unmerciful, & un-Christian," he said in a brief thread on social media. "Such dark tactics must be exposed over and over again until they are seen for what they are ... the protecting and empowering of offenders and the attempted silencing of truth." Wade Mullen, an advocate and researcher who has studied abusive situations in evangelical settings, said Savage's statements "absolutely" raise red flags for him. In the past, Savage has minimized the abuse by referring to it instead as an "incident," Mullen told RNS. The former pastor also has emphasized it happened two decades ago, creating distance between the abuse and what he is doing now, Mullen said. In the most recent audio recording, Mullen said, Savage never names what he did and continues to downplay its gravity, simply suggesting people Google him. "In my opinion, he's still engaging in deception. Until he's willing to speak the truth, until he's willing to name what it is accurately, then he shouldn't be trusted. The deception will continue," Mullen said." -- Charisma News

Boz is the brother of Tullian and GRACE was just as outspoken about the Tchividjian debacle. Boz hits the nail right on the head here. Tullian also spoke about forgiveness when he opened his new church and downplayed how he took advantage of one of the sheep entrusted to him. Savage does not speak with moral clarity of not only what he did but how he covered it up for two decades. This is not about being unforgiving. It is about being biblical.

"Woodson already has forgiven Savage, she said. "I will openly say that I forgave Andy a long time ago before I ever went public, and I had to do that just so I could move on with my own life without an apology. But that's very personal, as is his forgiveness between him and the Lord," she told RNS. There's a difference between forgiving someone and giving them a pulpit, Woodson added. Forgiveness doesn't negate justice, accountability and consequences. Woodson hopes Savage has repented. She has no problem with him sitting in the church pews, she said. But she believes he "biblically is disqualified" from a position of leadership in the church, she said. She pointed to 1 Timothy 3, which says church leaders must be "above reproach." She also is worried that his return to ministry would send a troubling message that the church is a safe place for abusers. That's why, she said, she feels called to "shout it from the rooftops that this is not OK." The news of Savage's possible return to the pulpit was retraumatizing, Woodson said. Now that the initial shock has passed, she feels a "new spark" to continue to speak out for abuse victims in the church. "As Christians, we are called to speak to certain injustices, and having a wolf back in the pulpit over vulnerable people is certainly an injustice that I am willing to stand on the platform and speak against," she said."

Why is it that only Jules Woodson seems to read their bible in this situation? There should be a vast difference between forgiveness and giving someone back a pulpit after they have disqualified themselves. Forgiveness does not negate justice, accountability and consequences. After he assaulted Jules Woodson he did have to leave his church but that was only so he could avoid being exposed and because Woodson refused to listen to the "stay quiet" demands of leadership. Yes, he now stepped down from highpoint but only after being confronted by his past and now he gets to open his own church? Those are not consequences. They are sabbaticals.

Jules Woodson is right. Andy Savage disqualified himself from ministry over 20 years ago and has been living on stolen time ever since. Steve Bradley and Larry Cotton are equally disqualified for trying to cover this up and should not be in ministry either. So many have been near apoplectic over the go home faux outrage and all we have for Jules Woodson is crickets. That is an unbiblical inconsistency that must be corrected. No one says anything about the Jules Woodson's of the world while Dr. Michael Brown continues his Scooby-Doo investigation to determine if Todd Bentley should be restored to ministry for a second time! Mark Driscoll stole $250,000 dollars from his sheep to cheat the NY Times bestseller list and then bragged about running his sheep over with the Mars Hill Bus and now he has a new church. Ted Haggard has a church in Colorado. His bio page brags about his time as the president of the National Association of Evangelicals. No mention of how he was busted doing crystal meth with a male prostitute. The evangelical landscape is littered with the victims of pastors who abused their power and their sheep only to come right back into a new position of power piously crying about forgiveness. As a church we need to start getting restoration right. We forgive them and then tell them to go home.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- October 31, 2019

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.