The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

 

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing 

but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

I have to be honest and admit that I despise Jerry Falwell Jr. It's important for me as a Christian not to hate any human being and to see every person as a child of God. At the same time I cannot respect those who manipulate Christian faith for personal gain and the accumulation of wealth. Falwell is often described as an evangelical leader when he is actually a shady business person who has used the university his fundamentalist pastor father started to create a financial empire which has very little to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Falwell once stood in front of the student body at Liberty University and encouraged the young people to purchase weapons in order to fend off the supposed Muslim threat in America. In his unrelenting defense of Donald Trump he has demonstrated that gospel values mean nothing to him and he regularly offers "might makes right" comments. 

Whenever faculty members or students challenge Falwell's autocratic leadership or the apparent hypocrisy of his statements and actions they are silenced. Some faculty members of colour have left the university because they are uncomfortable with Falwell's statements.

For all of this, it was only after Falwell posted a rather salacious photo in which he is standing next to a woman on a yacht in which he is holding a drink and both have zippers down that the board of the university directed him to take a leave of absence from his position. Both the compromising pose and the alcohol would lead to dismissal for faculty members or expulsion for students so its obvious that he figures he is "above the law" of the institution he serves.

It's been pointed out that many of his other statements and actions are far more egregious that what transpired in the photo, but in evangelical circles the focus is often on individual moral transgression than the bigger picture of what it means to be faithful to Jesus' teaching and example.

I have the suspicion that Falwell will return after some statement of contrition to satisfy his base. The truth is that he should be permanently removed because he is truly a false prophet, a wolf in sheep's clothing.