The Standard July 18, 2026
Recently a mainline denomination’s publishing corporation put out a statement regarding its current hymnal, partly in response to concerns over sexual abuse allegations involving two hymn writers. This is not a new kind of problem, but a timeless and thorny issue. Would you quote an author or a minister if it came out that he or she later had renounced the Christian faith? Would you use a worship song with sound theological lyrics if it turned out that the songwriter had caused great harm to people? Would you quote a minister who was instrumental in paving the way for important changes, yet who repeatedly cheated on his wife with several women?
Most of us can think of positively influential leaders who had hidden sins that were revealed in time. When in high school I started to attend a protestant church youth group. One of the adult leaders was a man who guided us in Scripture memorization. He truly seemed to have a passion for it and this made an impact on me. Much later, he was convicted of having committed horrible crimes. A contemporary Christian singer and songwriter of the nineties faced sexual abuse allegations twenty years later from two teens in the youth group he helped lead. Aside from these men going through the criminal justice system and being held accountable for their actions, complex questions remain. How should we view their work? How do we consider their legacies? Exactly what does repentance look like?
Back in the 4th and 5th centuries there was a controversy where a North African sect called the Donatists believed that priests had to be morally pure their entire post-ordained lives in order to have administered valid sacraments. They saw the Church as a spotless and pure community of saints. Saint Augustine countered their thinking, saying that Christians had to rely only on the head of the Church, Jesus, for holiness. The sacraments were not man-dependent, but God-dependent. Augustine quoted Matthew 13 to show that the Church was made up of the wheat and the tares, all growing up together. The Donatist schism was condemned at the Council of Arles in 314 AD, suppressed starting with the Council of Carthage in 411 AD, and recognized as a heresy at the Council of Carthage in 418 AD.
Following sound doctrine taught by faithful followers of Christ is the best path for the Church, but life is often not so ideal. We each have to answer the questions for ourselves as to how and when forgiveness and grace come into play when dealing with notably flawed leaders, teachers, and writers. Perhaps some hymns should be left out of the hymnal.
In certain circumstances, the Apostle Paul was glad for the good news of Jesus to be preached, even by those who proclaimed it out of bad motives. “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy or rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” Philippians 1:15-18
Can some good still have come from bad? How do we discern which ministers, leaders, and writers to quote? These are tough questions with which many of us wrestle.
celiastone 