File this memo under “be careful what you wish for.”
Those planning last May's funeral for evangelical star Ravi Zacharias were pleased to obtain live-streamed tributes from celebrities like Vice President Mike Pence and athlete Tim Tebow. Those outside the oft-disdained evangelical subculture may not comprehend the esteem Zacharias won by turning "apologetics" (defense of the Christian faith) from defensive bombast to intelligent and personable persuasion through books, countless personal appearances worldwide and the global team of some 100 speakers he built.
Presidential Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany teared up as she told CBN News that Zacharias equipped multitudes so "you didn’t have to check your brain at the door when you became a Christian." She concluded, "Rest assured, his legacy will always be here and he will continue to change lives."
That encapsulates the drama of this harder-they-fall saga.
All the posthumous praise for Zacharias shocked one onlooker, a massage therapist who says he groped her, masturbated in her presence and asked her for sexualized photos. She searched his name online, contacted Steve Baughman of the hyper-hostile RaviWatch.com and then spoke with Daniel Silliman, news editor of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today.
Silliman's resulting investigation found three victimized massage therapists and provoked fury among some staffers and beyond, eventually forcing Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) to drop its kid-gloves response and commission a totally independent investigation by a major Atlanta law firm, Miller & Martin.
Media analysts should understand that it takes far more guts for an evangelical magazine that survives on donors and advertisers to expose such situations than a metropolitan newspaper. Upshot: Silliman and colleagues can take satisfaction in distinguished service to the Christian constituency — which echoes those utterly candid authors of the Bible. [Disclosure: The Guy was this magazine's news editor early in his career.]
As agreed, RZIM released the attorneys' full findings on Feb. 9 (click here for .pdf) and they were mind-numbing. Christianity Today's lede had this socko summation: