Tom Chantry has posted a very thoughtful entry regarding the Caner scandal at Liberty University, and the difficulties an institution faces when dealing with moral failure.
Pastor Chantry writes:
For the moment, we can only say this of Ergun Caner: his school has neither exonerated nor destroyed him. It remains to him to determine what his response will be. He may choose the route of full disclosure and repentance, or that of strategic re-creation of himself without any attention paid to his past troubles, or even that of blatant disregard for all criticism and a continuation of his obviously fraudulent self-promotion. We simply do not yet know. For that reason, it is impossible to pass final judgment on the career of Ergun Caner.
He goes on to make six points, the explanations of which are well worth reading.
Here’s the outline:
- The decision which Liberty actually made was a very difficult one.
- Big institutions which are liable to big lawsuits must send their public statements across the desks of lawyers.
- The fallout of the Caner scandal could never have been resolved through action by his school.
- Moral failings in leaders create difficulties which are not easily overcome.
- The person vindicated in this mess is none other than the Apostle Paul.
- The Caner scandal cannot be fully addressed by any action taken against Caner.
I stand by my earlier blog post, but this kind of context, perspective, and insight is helpful to consider.
