The real scandal

Muckraking is a game. There are operatives, opponents and reporters everywhere looking for dirt, and there is much to be found. I watched the show “Scandal” for entertainment, and scandal is a common story theme. “Oh, what tangled webs we weave, when first we practice to deceive” (as Sir Walter Scott said, not Shakespeare).

Far from entertaining, however, are church scandals: sexual abuse cases or immoral actions of famous church leaders. The Inquisition and the Crusades are disturbing parts of church history. Maybe a pastor runs away with the organist or the church treasurer embezzles. One pastor said his church had lumpy carpets because of all that had been swept under them.

Disgraceful

“Scandal” has come to mean any disgraceful or discreditable action. Scandals once knocked someone out of the game. Now infamy can bring fame, popularity or high level positions. Is the real scandal that we are no longer scandalized?

“Scandal” comes from ancient Greek, brought into Latin and then to English. “Scandal” originally meant to cause someone else to fall, setting a trip-stick in a trap. I once caught a ground squirrel in my basement this way. This literal meaning becomes metaphorical when life is seen as a journey with traps along the way. The “scandal” is what the discreditable action does to others.

Offended

The Greek word “scandal” occurs 44 times in the New Testament as either a verb or noun. In its passive verb form, it means to fall away from or reject the faith. This is often weakly translated as “taking offense.” The Pharisees were scandalized when taking offense at Jesus’ charges in Matthew 15:1-20, as were the people of Nazareth in Matthew 13:57.

The greater scandal is the verb in the active form – to scandalize, to cause someone to fall. Jesus warns, “If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42 NIV, cf. Matt. 18:6, Luke 17:2). Paul counsels, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister” (Rom. 14:13 NIV). Paul was trying to put an end to the power plays within the Roman church between the Jewish and Gentile Christians and between weak and strong members. It is when the church attempts power plays against others that there is scandal. When the church bullies some into submission, others trip and fall and leave the church, possibly also the faith.

Christ Scandal

There is one scandal to hold to, that is, Christ, especially Christ crucified. Jesus says, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble [is not scandalized] on account of me” (Matt. 11:6). Both Paul and 1 Peter quote a hybrid citation of Isaiah 28:16 and 8:14. “As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame” (Rom. 9:33, cf. 1 Peter 2:8).

Let us focus on this scandal, the love of God in Christ. “Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble” (1 John 2:10). This is not a game, and it is scandalous.