The Obsession with Scandal

Everyday a professing believer falls into some kind of immorality or scandal. It can be a preacher, an elder, or some obscure individual. But no sooner has the scandal, or even the prospect of a scandal, surfaced, people are drawn to it and communication begins. The press dispatches its reporters, and if it involves a prominent believer the television jumps out of the blocks with reports of accusations complete with pictures and videos of the accused. They rush to interview members of the congregation who are only too willing to offer support, doubt, or even castigation. And armed with those on scene videos the television updates its ½ hour reports meant to lend a helping hand to the frenzy. And the cause of Christ suffers because of the infidelity compounded with the spread of the news.
Read the Christian blogs as they present the reports along with a pitiful “he claims he is innocent” disclaimer that is nothing more than a self serving attempt to be “fair”. But so many believers miss the entire Biblical principle that calls us to not only show some constraint, but to let such scandals be dealt with within the community of faith. And furthermore, we must not take on the mantle of spreading the news of scandal even if you can convince yourselves that the person involved is a heretic and you are attempting to encourage other believers out of that particular Christian genre to leave it. It is never right to do wrong in order to accomplish a greater right.
Salacious details and torrid rumors add to the atmosphere of true and false gossip, and while these things swirl the Spirit flees. And the moral umbrage we all attempt to exhibit reveals more self righteousness than it does a moral basis for condemnation. And what, pray tell, are we attempting to do with our republications of scandals involving believers miles away from our contact sphere? Are we attempting to show people we are dead set against sexual promiscuity and adultery? Are we trying to convince others that they should stay away from this particular offender? The national press will do a wonderful and pervasive job of doing that, and they will gladly besmirch the name and cause of Christ without any help.
But the underlying truth is that scandal is attractive to the carnal curiosity and extremely hard to reject. Scandal excites and increases self righteousness, neither of which are offset by the perfunctory “pray for him”. And just what should we pray for? Should we beseech God that He would use the secular news media to provide us with more horrific details so we can pass them along to the shark frenzy already in full throttle? And what does it say about us when the moderate Muslim world hesitates to criticize their own, even in the face of open terrorism, and yet believers in Christ rise to every opportunity to magnify and broadcast the sins of one its own? And in case you haven’t noticed, when the professing believer who falls is in the “unapproved” doctrinal neighborhood, the energy and swiftness to make known the unfolding events is considerable and much less measured than if someone within the “approved” camp fell into scandal.
The entire spectacle is scandalous and does a serious disservice to the cause and Person of Jesus Christ. And the real scandal is that our sins are not trumpeted by God around the world. And just how should we deal with scandal within the body of Christ?

Correction and redemption, with an emphasis on redemption.