Why “Not All” Misses the Point
If you’re a person of faith, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the countless recent scandals in American evangelicalism, including the falls of megachurches and the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) cover up of rampant sex abuse.
Maybe you’ve also seen Shiny Happy People (documenting the IBLP fundamentalist Christian cult) or the two documentaries detailing multiple Hillsong scandals (The Secrets of Hillsong & Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed).
It’s been fascinating to track the popular dialogue in the aftermath of scandals, abuse reports, and documentaries. Overwhelmingly, the response of most Christians online has either been ignoring these events altogether or using some form of “not all” statement:
“Not all pastors are abusive.”
“Not all churches would treat people that way.”
“Not all Christians would stay silent in the face of injustice.”
Now, I understand the sentiment behind these responses. People don’t want themselves or their faith to be associated with scandals and abuse. In most cases, I doubt there’s malintent behind their words.
However, even if such responses are well-meaning, they’re actually missing the point.
After all, saying “not all churches” and “not all Christians” in the face of scandals and abuse doesn’t help the victims. It also doesn’t change their mindset: they likely already know there are healthy Christians and churches. Instead, it diminishes their pain and makes them feel like they’re at wrong for telling the truth about their experiences.
“Not all” doesn’t reflect the Jesus who left the ninety-nine to care for the one, who blatantly called out corruption in religious leaders.
“Not all” tells people their pain is less important than protecting a public image of faith.
“Not all” misses the point: having compassion for the people hurting.
A better way for Christians to respond is in listening, sitting with people in their pain, and showing the compassion of Jesus.
Rather than defensively shutting down conversations with “not all” sentiments, we can illustrate through empathy and kindness that each person and their pain matters—to us and to God.
And, in doing so, those hurting will see there are people who love God and people.
