The Sins of Others Trail Behind

"The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them." (1 Timothy 5:24)

If you could choose between being a nobody in this life and being forgiven, or being incredibly successful in this life but having your reputation ruined immediately after death, which would you choose?

Ravi Zacharias chose the latter. Zacharias was arguably the most successful Christian apologist of his generation. After his death last May, some of the biggest names in evangelicalism eulogized his faithfulness and intelligence. The same day he died, however, women began coming forward claiming that he had sexually manipulated and abused them. 

The more his organization investigated, the more came to light. It was all true. He had abused several women in multiple countries. He had hundreds of photos of women on his phone. For years, the only person who was onto his double life was an atheist blogger no one paid any attention to.

Now, his family will have to live the rest of their lives grappling with the double life he led. The organization he named after himself will have to find a new name and get as far away from his legacy as it can. The young apologists he mentored will have to wonder whether the man they respected ever really believed the Gospel he preached. As journalist Rod Dreher put it, "How deep must your perversion be to think that you can get away with this stuff forever? ... either you must be psychotically double-minded, or you must not really believe in God."

When I first heard Ravi's story, I found myself wondering why God had allowed him to escape the consequences of his sin in this life. Why did God let him go to his grave surrounded by the adulation of millions of admirers? Another part of me thinks, "Maybe that's the punishment." No one will ever be able to say he was sorry because no one ever heard his confession. That door is no longer open to him.