One thing that is not debatable about the character of the biblical God is that he hates sin and evil, despises oppression and injustice, turns his face away from abuse and exploitation, and certainly God does not take side with those who pretend to be religiously righteous and pious, but externally they produce the fruit of political devils and cultural demons and are in solidarity with those who despise truth, beauty, and a Christ-centered life/lifestyle–both in thought and action.

One of the crises in Evangelical Christianity in this culture that pervades in contemporary churches is the sin of religious hypocrisy manifested through the sexual abuse of little boys and girls in churches, sexual rape of church women by church leaders and ministers, sexual harassment of young girls and boys by their youth pastors and ministers, what have you? Most of these sexual charges happen in church parishes and facilities. (Please see the recent report on sexual scandal in SBC Evangelical Churches and Institutions, and Dr. Russell Moore and J. D. Greear’s response to the culture of sexual sins in the SBC and Evangelical churches.)

A lot of people stop going to church for congregational participation is not because they hate God or don’t like to associate with Christians or Christianity; the reasons are multiple, but let me suggest five of them:

1. The lack of transparency and accountability in church leadership and christian institutions

2. The devastating problem of religious hypocrisy in (Evangelical) churches and church leadership

3. The silence and support of sexual violence and oppression toward women by church clergy and christian organizations

4. The silence and support of violence and dehumanization toward the LGBTQ community and same-sex couples by Evangelical Christians and Christian organizations

5. The appropriateness and incorporation of the extremist political culture and ideologies in sermons, christian teachings, and in the structure of churches, christian institutions, ecclesiastical thought and practices

The church is no longer a safe place for little girls and women. As one biblical authors warns all of us, especially followers of Jesus Christ and those who love and do the will of God, “God will not be mocked.” God shows no partiality to anyone, nation, people, religious group, political affiliation, racial affiliation, ethnic group, sexual orientation, gender orientation, economic and social classes, what have you?–when it comes to the defense of his holiness and sacred name, and his command to his people to walk in justice, love, and truth.