I really enjoyed Ken Locke's article "Churches Need Higher Standard in Age of Sexual Abuse" (Sept 6, 2018, page 5A). I'm glad to see church leaders exhorting us to live up to the teachings of Jesus. Sadly, many churches are more interested in coverup than cleanup.
Next to its failure to witness, the church's failure to discipline its leaders and congregation is its biggest sin. The church's current problems all trace back to its disobedience.
Usually the Roman Catholic Church gets targeted, but the problem of sexual abuse unfortunately is widespread (The Church's Abuse Problem: It's not just a Catholic thing, 9-14-18, Eric Metaxas and Ann Morse, christianheadlines.com). Rather than trying to really change things for the better, church leaders try to cover it up. The crooked preacher gets some counseling ("For God's sake, man. Next time be more discreet.") Then the crooked preacher announces "the Lord" is calling him elsewhere (using God's name in vain?). So he leaves town, usually just ahead of police or outraged victims. Church leaders believe they successfully covered up the sin, but usually the community already knew about it. Instead of being fooled, the community loses respect for the church.
Here are some resources: Website answers.org/issues has a couple of helpful articles: "Public trust: Should Christians tell the truth?" and "Truth and consequences: Exposing sin in the church." Jay Adams wrote a couple of helpful books: “The Handbook of Church Discipline” and “Ready to Restore.”
