Welcome back to Defender’s Voice. I am Dr.Paul. Thank you for joining us today. Please visit my website www.doctorpaul.org to subscribe to my podcast and also to support this ministry. Send me a friend invite on facebook.com also. Thank you for sending me your questions.
Today’s question: Julie Roys criticized Sarah Davis Zacharias over third marriage. Is this right?
Good question. Julie Roys published an article on Sarah Davis on her website www.roysreport.com. First, Julie criticized Alycia Wood’s video criticizing cancel culture. Alycia says cancel culture is Anti-Christian. Julie says, RZIM has a cover-up culture and calling it to repent is not anti-Christian. I agree with Julie on this. Pointing out abuse is not anti-Christian. Pointing out sin in our leaders is not anti-Christian. Don’t hide behind cancel culture. Don’t blame the democrats. We should ask accountability from our Christian leaders. I have respect for Alycia Wood. Sarah should not be using this sister to carry her dirty laundry. The Bible commands us to speak truth in love. So, speaking the truth is not cancel culture.
Sarah Davis left RZIM and immediately started a new ministry. They are sending letters to the donors of RZIM. All you gotta do is to download all the donor information into a pen drive and upload to a new computer in a new office with a new name. Julie says that is also not looking right. I agree. Why are you in a hurry? Your bubble just burst. Relax. Take time. Spend some time in introspection. It does not look like Sarah Davis has much patience. She and everybody in her team should resign and give the responsibilities to an all new team. Some donors already sued RZIM to give them an account of their donations. So, Sarah should provide those accounts in a transparent way before starting a new Christian organization.
Julie also criticized Sarah Davis for getting engaged to Louis Phillips. This will be her third marriage. She is 46 and Phillips is 30. I agree with Julie on this also. When you want to lead a Christian organization, you should have a stable marital life. If you are picking up husbands from the speaking team you oversee, that does not look good to the world.
Even in politics, we used to have high standards. When Newt Gingrich left his second wife to marry the third one, and announced that he would run for US a President, many people were uncomfortable. People said that is not a good example to the world. When Rush Limbaugh married his fourth wife, people said that is not a good example to the world.
Donald Trump married Melania Trump . That was his third marriage and her first marriage. A thrice married man as the President of the United States? People said, That does not look good.
Paula White was the senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center. She is with her third husband. When you change a husband every 5 years, that does not look good. She filed bankruptcy and started another ministry called Paula White Ministries. Sadly this is becoming a norm among Christian leaders.
When thrice married Paula White giving blessings over thrice married Donald Trump in the White House, it looked awkward to say the least. That is not a good example to the people of this world.
Similarly, a thrice married woman leading a Christian apologetics ministry? That is not good optics. Let us say there is a church. It has a pastor. The pastor divoced his second wife and married a Sunday school teacher in the church as his third wife. Lot of questions emerge. Why did he leave his second wife? When did his interest start in the sunday school teacher? Any sinful attractions play a role in the whole escapade? We get to ask all those questions. Christian apologists should be above reproach.
In the same way, you are leading a Christian organization. You divorced your husband and then engaged to a man who works under you. That triggers a lot of questions. When did you divorce your second husband? When did your special friendship start with your soon-to-be new husband? Did Ravi know about these things? Knowing all these things, Ravi made Sarah the CEO of his organization? We should question the spiritual discernment of Ravi in making his daughter the CEO of his organization.
So, Julie asked the right questions. Sarah Davis should not be leading a Christian apologetics ministry. Her coverup at RZIM, her three marriages, her impatience to start a new ministry….they do not show us a spiritually matured Christian.
Narendra Modi, prime minister of India messed up his marriage and then he said, ‘rest of my life is for the country and god’. Christian leaders contemplating third marriage should learn from him.
Sadly, today people are terrified of Christian apologists. Christian apologists are afraid of calling themselves ‘apologists’. A toxic atmosphere descended around Christian apologetics. We need a lot of repentance and introspection at this time. We don’t need new organizations. We need new hearts. We need new ways.
The moral landscape around us is deteriorating. As Christians we are having less and less influence on that landscape. Why? Because our life is not matching up with the ideas we preach. Thrice married individuals are leading Christian institutions and the atheist who has been living with his first wife for the last 50 years would laugh at us.
So, my answer to your question is, I agree with Julie Roys. When you did a massive coverup of your father’s sins, you should resign and transfer your responsibilities to someone with a good testimony.