Up In Flames: Falwell Scandal Represents the Controversy of American Evangelical Christianity

(OPINION) I was going to comment on the Jerry Falwell Jr. scandal but then I read Kaitlyn Schiess’s piece in the New York Times. She says it better.

This past week, allegations of a series of scandals rocked the evangelical faith community. Jerry Falwell Jr., President of Liberty University, resigned amidst allegations of sexual and financial misconduct. He claims he’s done nothing wrong (while collecting a +$10,000,000 payout).

This should grieve us. Liberty’s men’s sports are the Flames, so it’s tragically ironic to see this as another instance of American Christianity going up in flames. The problem is a faith tradition formed on this side of C. S. Lewis’ Great Divide – one that focuses on the brain over the body.

I’ve written about this over the last seven weeks. I was going to connect Falwell to the inefficacy of Think right, act right. I was going to note how evangelicals on this side of the Great Divide falsely believe that if we know the right information, we will act rightly.

Then I read Kaitlyn Schiess’ op-ed piece in the New York Times. Schiess, a recent graduate of Liberty, says the root of the problem at Liberty is its approach to education. Think right, act right. She says better what I was going to say. Read her column. Or at least read these excerpts.

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There is a long history in Christian education that focuses on the formation of the affections, alongside the training of the intellect. This reflects one of the religion’s foremost insights about human nature. Augustine famously wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” That is, humans navigate our way through the world via the things we love – the stories about the world that captivate us, the desires that motivate us, the material or spiritual goods that attract us – and we need guidance to make sure that the things we love are ordered beneath our ultimate love of God. Christians have often described sin as misdirected love – loving the wrong things or loving the right things in the wrong way.

Christian education, then, has historically focused not merely on delivering the right information, but also on giving students the tools – music, prayer, storytelling – to shape our loves. Yet evangelicals – and Liberty, in particular – have often neglected this focus, falsely believing that if we know the right information, we will act rightly. What we’re seeing in Mr. Falwell, now, are the consequences of that neglect. How does a man who knows all the right answers come to do so much wrong? By underestimating the power of the loves in our lives – in this case, political power – to shape our actions and alter our moral commitments.

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Kaitlyn Schiess reflects a view of Christianity and education on the far side of the Great Divide, before 1816. Educators on this side can have a lot of good content (I’m sure Liberty does) but Schiess writes that “our hearts were being trained to love wrongly.” She’s right.

The good news is that Scheiss has not left the faith. She’s not become a religious “none” and or exile. She’s being undeceived. That’s healthy, as the repudiation of our idols is “the beginning of being undeceived.” Pray that Falwell follows suit. Pray that we evangelicals follow suit.

Republished with permission from The Clapham Institute. The author is the president and founder of the institute.