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A friend of mine who is a Southern Baptist pastor was sharing his thoughts on the sexual abuse scandal, and he mentioned 1 Timothy 5:19:
"Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses."
This can be a difficult one in the real world, especially with sexual abuse, which can be done in secret. A he said/she said situation is difficult, and of course false accusations have been made. While acknowledging wisdom is important, he had an idea I found helpful: Corrobating evidence may serve as a witness. If there's video evidence, that might serve as a "witness."
A hypothetical example I thought of is a situation where a church elder was caught on camera committing a crime like stealing from a store. If the elder claims that there were not two witnesses, I don't think that would fly. That technology didn't exist when 1 Timothy was written, and Paul being the pragmatic person he was, I don't think he would have any patience for someone trying to fall back on that verse as a get out of jail free card.
"Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses."
This can be a difficult one in the real world, especially with sexual abuse, which can be done in secret. A he said/she said situation is difficult, and of course false accusations have been made. While acknowledging wisdom is important, he had an idea I found helpful: Corrobating evidence may serve as a witness. If there's video evidence, that might serve as a "witness."
A hypothetical example I thought of is a situation where a church elder was caught on camera committing a crime like stealing from a store. If the elder claims that there were not two witnesses, I don't think that would fly. That technology didn't exist when 1 Timothy was written, and Paul being the pragmatic person he was, I don't think he would have any patience for someone trying to fall back on that verse as a get out of jail free card.
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