On Accusation and Rebuke

I think you may be prone to see everything in “black and white” when it comes to God’s servants. The Bible frequently portrays very imperfect men as choice instruments of the Lord — David, Gideon, numerous kings, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if, like myself, you look in the mirror and marvel that God uses you to accomplish His will — imperfect as we are and not willing to let everyone know the evil we find lurking in our own hearts.

I knew Wendel Kempton since 1952. We were students together at Moody. God used him in unusual ways even in his youth. Like you and I, he was not perfect. He doubtlessly made some wrong calls. (As a coach, he would have liked that analogy.) Some of us might question a few appointments he made to positions in the Mission. I have had occasion to interact and work with Kempton on many occasions. Compared with other Christian leaders, he was one of the best. On the Bangladesh issue, I think he failed miserably. He deferred to his colleagues to the hurt of others who might not have seemed as “important.” That was wrong; it deserved rebuke when it was known. I think he fell into the trap that often occurs in Christian organizations — that we must protect the “image” of the movement, even when it means covering the sins of others. Covering sin is usually wrong, but the Scripture warns us against publicizing the sins of others too. I have seen on occasions how leaders will avoid dealing with issues, will remove an individual quietly without publicizing a sin, will even (I know it’s unbelievable) put them in another position to “protect” that person’s future and his family, etc., etc. Supposedly, it’s all done to “protect” the testimony of the organization. It totally ignores the injunction that applies to leaders: “Those that sin, rebuke before all, that others also may fear.”

Having acknowledged Kempton’s great error in the matter of Bangladesh and Don Ketcham, I think it would be wrong to totally discount everything else Kempton did: the leadership he gave to the growth and expansion of ABWE, the personal ministry he provided to countless youth and young couples, the effective ministry of the Word, the sacrifices he made for the cause of Christ. Bangladesh, despite these tragic happenings, became one of ABWE’s most blessed ministries. In a Muslim country, where one would least expect the Gospel to triumph, a vibrant ministry grew to be recognized even by the Islamic leaders as a valid part of their country. Government leaders came to the ABWE hospital for treatment rather than to government hospitals. A modern translation of the Bible into the native tongue was achieved. In the midst of spiritual conquest, Satan did a most heinous attack. Other than this tragic decisions related to Bangladesh, Kempton was unquestionably used by God, and anyone who knew him, recognized that fact. Without doubt, his failures hurt quite a number of people. Whether this was deliberate or simply a matter of human error and personal weakness, I don’t think we know. Some things we have to let God sort out, and He will, to the praise of His glory, and to the benefit of all those who trust Him.

From my personal acquaintance with Kempton, I think that, knowing all we know now about this scandal of which he was a part, he would repent of his error, recognize it as sin, ask the forgiveness of those who had been hurt, resign from his positions of leadership, and accept any disciplines that were meted out. Though he had sinned, he would have sought God’s forgiveness. As God would have it, Kempton was called “home” before the scandal broke. His life was cut short, whether as chastisement by God, or for some other reason, only He knows. Whatever wrongs he did will be dealt with justly at the Judgment Seat of Christ, where he may suffer “loss” for this great error. I hope the injured parties will find comfort in trusting God in their hour of trial and live their lives as victors rather than victims. “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

Joe, if I believed that the behavior in the ABWE office were irrelevant to the question, I’d agree with you 100%. And interestingly, you’ve illustrated one BIG place where my profession differs from what you did; a prosecutorial mindset is going to have a “throw the bums out” kind of approach, only the relevant details, etc..

The trouble with that mindset is twofold. First of all, it’s going to be hard to prosecute anybody. Second, as satisfying as it is to “throw the bums out”, that unfortunately does not change ABWE’s culture—rather it tends to not only fire a lot of the wrong people, but also tends to put everybody else into a bunker mentality—which ensures that the cultural change does not occur. So I’d recommend more of a modern “quality engineering” mindset rather than the prosecutorial mindset. Apart from egregious examples, you don’t fire, and you make it safe for people to reveal WHY they did things the way they did. And then you figure out how to change it.

This particular piece of evidence is really important in this regard for a very simple reason; people who knew the accused find it hard to believe, and the answer to this issue does not particularly affect ABWE. It’s the classic “unimportant” case that tells you everything about why things get done in the way they do at ABWE, and even better, it involves people with over 100 years at ABWE who are in leadership there.

So if you wonder why things got hid in that PII report, Al Cockrell and three others are going to be able to tell you if you make it safe for them to talk. Then, even better, they get to set the example on how to deal with an accusation before everybody else—it wouldn’t just be dry forms and training, but rather the interim president and others would be repenting publicly (of gossip at least) and then showing how to investigate a claim. It’s an express train to cultural change there.

It is you who is on a racist rant, Joeb, and you don’t even recognize it. Do you even know the nuances of the term “white cracker” and how inappropriate it is. In itself, it is a racist term. It is true that many whites until the sixties frowned upon inter-racial marriage. But people of the black race did also. In fact, I have read articles where black women were angry that their men were dating and marrying white girls. Some Christian schools in the South, that were largely dependent on the white population for students, had rules against inter-racial dating so as not to offend their constituencies. This was especially true in the sixties and seventies. By the late eighties and forward, those rules were relaxed. I don’t know your age, but if you were quite young in those years, and if you lived in the South, you probably didn’t find those rules offensive. I remember that, when I first attended the Moody Bible Institute in the early fifties, it was the first time this boy from Texas ever had an extensive conversation with black people, and it was surprisingly a joyful experience. Many mission agencies frowned upon inter-racial marriages, following a generally held belief during that time that God ordained the races and wanted them to perpetuate the racial lines of demarcation. ABWE was an agency based in the North (New Jersey/Pennsylvania). Frankly, I don’t know the exact nature of their racial policies inasmuch as I didn’t become a member until 1985, when race was much less an issue.

Please don’t be absurd. Of course, I do not believe the innocent young girls were guilty of any wrong-doing. The blame falls upon Don Ketcham entirely for the acts themselves, and the blame extends to those who showed weakness in dealing with it and subsequently tried to keep it quiet. Different people have different opinions on the way this was handled, and frankly, you are not qualified to say who knows the Lord, and who doesn’t. Some of God’s great servants have failed morally in their lives, and you and I are wise to leave God to be the Judge of that relationship.

As for my mission career, I hardly believe that you are qualified to stand as judge of that, so I’ll leave that for the Lord to judge. All those happenings with Don Ketcham, Bangladesh, and ABWE were wholly unknown to me during the twenty-three years of my membership in ABWE. My relationship with the Mission leaders were completely different. Am I disappointed? Most certainly. Dr. Michael Loftis and his wife, Jo Beth, were very personal friends. I was part of his administrative team. I never saw anything in them but a couple who modeled Christian leadership impeccably. He got entangled in ways I do not know with the mess he inherited when Dr. Kempton stepped down, and Michael became President. I don’t know your status in ministry, but I would question your right or place to stand as judge over some of these people. You might pray for them. They erred grieviously in some cases, but your only place in this is (1) to have an opinion about the things investigated and reported, (2) accept the steps taken to rectify the error and to comfort the aggrieved, and (3) to learn from it for your own future ministry. “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.” You are ever bit as vulnerable to the “devouring one,” and a bit of humility will help you and I both to be on guard and not fall.

I am indeed happy (you say proud) of my years with ABWE. My relationship with the Home Office was good. The Board served me admirably. They assisted me immensely in the work God gave me to do. There were very positive results in those years when we labored in England. You will fail if you think you can shame me into despising those friendships and working relationships. I am no more guilty of their failures than they are of mine.

I fail to see why you want to interject the case of Thomas Jefferson into this situation. It appears you wish to entice me into some trap so that you an neatly slot me into your frame of reference, and I refuse to fall for the ploy. Go try that on someone else.

I know not your age, but you sound like a much younger man than I am (81 years), and much less experienced in the Lord’s work. When I was in mly forties/fifties, I was much more of a zealot, but age has shown me my own inadequacies, failures, and even sins, and I find myself being much more understanding of the same in others, while sorrowing over having not give my Lord more.

Very wise words of counsel, and I can see where you are going. This holds promise for working through the tragedy that left so many innocent (some of them children) injured and perhaps damaged for a life time. I hope this QE model is followed. ABWE got sidetracked for a few years, but even then God blessed and used its missionary personnel admirably all over the world. Just goes to show that God in His wisdom can take even the things that are “naught” and bring to nothing the wisdom of the world

If you’re going to have an LEO, and I understand how it’s important to have someone who’s not afraid to be a little unpopular at times, they just want to make sure he’s like Andy and not Barney, and definitely not Warren. If you catch my drift.