Commenting on Evangelical Pastor Robert Morris’s arrest on five counts of “lewd or indecent acts to a child,” a Christian counselor said:
It’s not the type of sin nor the amount of sin that’s the issue, but the *fact* of sin. God’s children commit 100 instances of sin daily whether they realize it or not. The problem is that in the minds of a lot of people, some sins are more respectable than others, and some are more deplorable than others, based not on how it offends a Holy God but how it negatively impacts other people … My daily sin is as offensive to God as Morris’s.
This counselor believes that, in God’s eyes, all sins are the same; that every sin is offensive to God. In other words, if you walk down the produce aisle of the local grocery store, stop at the grapes, and eat a handful without paying for them, you are stealing. In God’s eyes, and the eyes of many Evangelical Christians, you are just as sinful, just as guilty, as a pastor who sexually molested children.
The practice of viewing all sins the same way is called sin-leveling — a belief held in many Evangelical churches that is used to minimize serious “sins” such as sexually molesting children, sodomizing church boys, raping church teens, and sleeping with a parishoner. Christian Post reporter Jennifer Michelle Greenberg, aghast after reading the counselor’s comment, wrote:
Now, I have no idea how this counselor spends his time (and I’m not sure I want to know), but the idea that all sins are equally deplorable to God is a tenet of spiritual abuse.
On the one hand, the smallest, most mundane sin separates us from God. He is utterly and unimaginably holy. He is perfectly just and good. Jesus died for the sin of the child who stole candy from the grocery store, but that does not mean God considers the child to be as evil as a child predator.
You would think this would be common sense. Even unbelievers and complete pagans instinctively know that sin exists on a spectrum of severity.
A poor person who steals a loaf of bread does not deserve the same punishment as a bank robber. A person who cusses in traffic is not as deeply sunk into Hell as a serial killer.
And yet, this Christian counselor wants us to believe that on a daily basis, you and I commit sins just as repugnant to God as the sexual abuse of children.
Unfortunately, this tactic of sin-leveling — this false doctrine that all sins are equally heinous — is prevalent in abusive churches and theological circles. In order to shame victims into forgiving their abusers and not reporting crimes, they point out that the victim is just as evil as their abuser, and therefore the victim should not point fingers or accuse. In order to manipulate witnesses into keeping quiet, they remind them that they’re just as depraved as a sexual predator and claim that real Christians “extend grace” and “don’t gossip.”
According to the Bible, we all sin in thought, word, and deed. This counselor would have us believe that all sins are the same; that rape and murder are the same as petty theft and going fifteen miles over the speed limit in the eyes of God.
Have you ever wondered why preachers who commit serious crimes often end up back in the ministry a year or so after they are released from prison? Sin-leveling and unconditional love and forgiveness are the primary reasons criminal preachers end up restored to the ministry. Bro. Joe, the pastor of First Church of the Rightous Baptists, spends five years in prison for sexually molesting a church boy. After release from prison, Joe gets a hankering to preach again. He goes on a restoration tour, convincing his fellow preachers and churches alike that he is a changed man (with no thought given to the boy he raped); that he promises to never, ever molest children again. Good to go, right? For many people, the answer is HELL NO! This preacher has no business pastoring churches or being around children again. Yet, for Evangelicals who think all sins are the same, this preacher should be unconditionally loved and forgiven; that if God has forgiven him, so should everyone else. It’s what Jesus would have us do, right? As a result, scores of American churches are pastored by or have staff members who have been convicted of sex crimes. Sometimes, churches don’t know about their pastor’s criminal past. In other instances, churches know about their pastor’s past crimes, but, thinking they are offering a penitent sinner love, grace, and forgiveness, churches give rapists, child molesters, and abusers a new start in life. Who are they to stand in the way of what God is doing in the life of their pastor? Or so their thinking goes, anyway.
If you ever attend an Evangelical church again, look at the so-called man of God who stands before you and ask yourself if you should trust him. What do you really know about him? What do you know about his past? Ask yourself the same questions about the church’s assistant pastor, youth pastor, Sunday school teachers, children’s church workers, nursery workers, and anyone else who has contact with you and your children.
Sadly, well-meaning church members think they “know” their pastors and staff members, when, in fact, they don’t. Pastors often present to congregants a well-manicured, scripted version of their lives. Past criminal behavior is “under the blood.” Jesus forgives past sins, and if he wipes the offender’s slate clean, how dare people still hold them accountable for their “sins.”
Love and forgiveness are laudable goals. However, blindly loving and forgiving people can and does lead to awful consequences. Common sense suggests that some sins are worse than others and often cause greater harm. Common sense tells us that we should protect children and vulnerable adults at all costs. Yet, because of a warped understanding of human nature, many Evangelicals are willing to give preachers who commit sex crimes a second chance. This is why I advise parents to never let their children out of their sight when attending church. Just because someone is a preacher or church staff member doesn’t mean they can be trusted with children.
Suppose Betty Jo, a Godly woman and member of Holier Than the Methodists Baptist Church for thirty years, is appointed treasurer of the church. Unbeknownst to the church, Betty Jo has a severe debt problem due to her husband gambling away their money. Over time, Betty Jo steals money from the church, paying her bills with the proceeds of her criminal behavior. Eventually, the church finds out about Betty Jo’s theft. The church has two choices: prosecute Betty Jo or forgive her for stealing from them. The church congregation decides to forgive Betty Jo. Three years later, the church needs a new treasurer, and Deacon Bob suggests hiring Betty Jo again. What? It’s one thing to forgive Betty Jo, but should she be given access to the church’s money again? Common sense says, absolutely not. Unfortunately, unconditional love and forgiveness often get in the way of common sense. Betty Jo should never be permitted to touch the church’s funds. She forfeited that right when she stole the church’s money. So it is with criminal preachers, especially those who commit sex crimes or have illicit sexual relationships with vulnerable church members.
Some “sins” disqualify men and women from the ministry. This used to be a commonly held belief, but no longer. It seems no sin is beyond the forgiveness of gullible churches. Remember this the next time you take or drop off your innocent children at the local Baptist church.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Good post as always, Bruce. I agree 100%. To use a novelty like “sin-leveling” to minimize Morris’ sexual abuse of a minor is not only contrary to sound doctrine but more importantly morally reprehensible in an overall general sense. I believe there is a Biblical passage in one of the epistles that states, “there is sin that is mortal/deadly”. This idea of sin-leveling sounds a lot like, “we aren’t like these other (traditional) churches” bullshit that evangelical churches like to spout.
Outside of merely theological reasons, Christian religious institutions really need to consider the optics and the safety of their parishioners a lot more than they used to. The child/young adult sex abuse criminal epidemic (I refuse to call it a “scandal”- that’s more like the treasurer taking money off the top or the pastor and church secretary falling for each other and running off together) has seared itself into the minds of just about all people, and has led to many folks leaving religion in general. So when you publicly minimize this horrific behavior a la Dr Tee by inventing some BS doctrine you aren’t doing yourself any favors.
And don’t get me started on the whole “restoration ministry” bullshit. It didn’t work for the Catholic Church, so it is certainly not going to work any better for the Yay-Jesus churches either. No matter how many cool bands and hip contemporary services you have, that “restored” Pastor with his manicured beard, new tattoos and his shirt tail hanging out is still going to be a pervert just waiting for his next victim.
As someone who worked with children in schools and churches for 40 years, I’m appalled that the USA doesn’t have the universal rule we have in the UK. That no child, in any professional, church, medical or social situation is ever to be alone with the adult in a room. When the rule came out in the 2000s, some of us – grey haired grandma teachers were shocked that anyone would think we’d ever harm (implying sexually) any child. Then we agreed, if this rule protects just one child from abuse by a trusted adult, then we accept it. It’s never broken, if we are with a child we’re not related to, a second adult must be present. It’s as automatic to us now as putting on our seatbelt when we get into any car. It leads to some funny situations. The Sunday School leader at my last church, found her only pupils one week were her 8yo twin god daughters, but she still asked me to come in the room with the three of them, to obey the letter of the law. Arriving at a school one day to be a reading buddy, a teaching assistant beckoned me. It was lunchtime, a child had fallen and grazed his knees, all the staff were in a meeting and she asked me to stand in the open doorway of the medical room so she could dress the child’s wounds without being alone with him in a small room. And everyone working with kids and vulnerable adults must pass a police check, no exceptions.
That would be too sensible for us to do. The Christian Nationalists would scream persecution, even though it’s a sensible child protection rule.
So if all sin is the same offence to God/Jesus, and all can be forgiven, then why is Hell necessary? It’s like in real life society, we either forgive all criminals and let them go, or we execute everybody for every little offense.
Humans are smart enough to know that crimes differ in severity and circumstance. Hence, we have probation, fines, community service, and short jail sentences for minor crimes. Prison is for serious crimes. So why do so many Christians downplay sex crimes? To cover their own asses, obviously. But Hell is for non- Christians, people of different faiths, LGBTQA+, and people who hate Trump. Why no sin leveling about that?
Unfortunately, the followers of people like Morris will continue sin leveling because that’s the way they have been taught to think. Morris apparently made it sound like he had been in trouble for sexual indiscretions with an adult woman rather than doing what he actually did, grooming and sexual abuse of a 12 year old girl. He should never have been approved for the ministry.
“Christian counselor.”
That’s what’s known as a red flag. It’s as pointless to see one of those guys as it is to go to a church pastor for any kind of counseling.
And all sins are the same, huh?
Wow.
A thought occurs to me that is prompted by the previous article regarding the atheist meme. The cartoon depicts the atheist in an unfavourable light, and also with a cigarette in his mouth, clearly a derogatory image. Now, first of all is smoking a sin? It doesn’t say so in the bible but it’s undoubtedly a method of conveying poison into the body, which surely is contrary to God’s will? And secondly, I’ll lay odds that many more evangelicals than atheists smoke, though I have no statistics on the subject. My reasoning goes that atheism tends to increase in proportion to better education (this isn’t an insult to believers at an individual level, but it is a statistical fact), whereas smoking tends to move in the reverse direction, hence my suggestion that more evangelicals commit this particular sin than do atheists.
Preachers use 1Corinthians 6:19-20, which states, Don’t you realize that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
The thinking goes, we shouldn’t do or eat anything that harms our body. Of course, each preacher has their own list of things that harm your body.
Of course, preachers use this Scripture to preach against all sorts of “honor God with your body” sins. Overeating is certainly “dishonoring God with your body,” but preachers rarely, if ever, talk about gluttony. 🤣🤣
Morris was my “pastor” for a few years although I never actually met him. I did know several people who were invited into his inner circle. They were all wealthy males and sexually promiscuous. I attended one more church after that, but ongoing panic attacks forced me to leave church for good. Deconstruction was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I should note that Morris brought up the story of his assault of the minor multiple times while I was a member. He actually bragged about it and said God used it to advance him. It’s all recorded. Anyone who defends that POS is complicit. That’s all I have to say.
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I really appreciate this post and comments. I have been a Lutheran for all of my life, and while Lutheranism is a fairly benign version of Christianity all things considered, one of the hallmarks of Lutheran theology is that all humans are inherently sinful and nothing we ever do can ever be reckoned as grace or worthy of even the first glance of pity or mercy from God. (In Reformed theology, this is called total depravity, but Lutherans would never call it that – like many people, Lutherans fight with their closest brothers the hardest!) To consider that anything we do could earn merit or worthiness would trivialize the sacrifice Jesus made upon the cross – or as they would say it, if we are saved by God’s grace alone (which was Luther’s essential contention), then there is no possibility for us to do anything that is not tainted by sin.
What this leads to – and what I have been uncomfortable my whole life with but never had the words for – is sin leveling. If it is impossible for God to tolerate any sin, then even the slightest sin is a total separation from God. So me spitting my gum out on the sidewalk or having an involuntary impure thought when I see a pretty woman is the same as premeditated murder or torture. I have always known deep down that this is obviously absurd, but it’s not until reading this post that I had the words to express it. (In practice, Lutherans get around this by using a corporate confession rite that gives “entire forgiveness of all your sins” at each service – but this is an absurdity for another day…)