I am so proud of the women of Hollywood who have come forward to expose those who would use power and position to dishonor women and steal innocence from children. It takes a lot of courage to put reputation and livelihood on the line to stand up for what is right. I am sad that they had to go it alone while the organizations that were supposed to protect them remained largely silent. Every segment of society needs to be on the watch for those who would wield their authority in unseemly ways.  We are all at risk, including the Christian community.

That being said, I would hope that we would take the discussion to the next level and ask ourselves if the Hollywood culture in which they work actually nurtures the very behaviors they abhor. Is it possible that the messages sent in movies, music, and video games have contributed to the problem? If Tinseltown wants to be a voice for change it cannot speak out of both sides of its mouth. It cannot rail against guns while making films that glorify violence or call out abusers while making movies that glorify the exploitation of women. It is one thing to identify the wrongdoers but quite another to reform the culture in which they were raised.

My final comment is a hard one for anyone to hear. In addition to calling out the perpetrators, we must also be willing to offer healing and forgiveness. I don’t mean turning a blind eye or tolerating their behavior. They are clearly suffering the consequences of their actions, but if they are truly contrite, should we not be willing to offer them forgiveness? Jesus is a very tough act to follow. He took the absolute worst abuse the world could throw at Him and then did the unthinkable by reserving his precious last breaths to say, “forgive them for they know not what they do.” The Christian answer to sin is not retribution but redemption. Our outrage at these despicable acts should not be any less but our forgiveness should be more. The guilty have a lot to answer for but we are not the final authority on this matter.

We must all get our gardens in order, but that doesn’t just mean casting out bad apples, we must also be committed to cultivating orchards that grow only good fruit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash