‘Your sin will find you out’: Southern Baptist President Ed Litton on sex abuse report

Ed Litton

Pastor Ed Litton, center, of Saraland, Ala., attends the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting Tuesday, June 15, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)AP

It’s been a whirlwind 24 hours for the president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Ed Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Alabama, warned members of the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. that the contents of an extensive report on how the convention dealt with reports of sexual misconduct among its clergy and workers would be “challenging and shocking.”

A seven-month investigation conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm, found that church leadership stonewalled attempts to investigate allegations of clergy sex abuse for a period of 20 years, while denigrating those who reported incidents or wanted answers.

You can read the report here.

Litton spoke to AL.com about the report and the reaction among the convention, which will convene for its annual meeting next month in Anaheim, Calif. The interview has been edited for length.

How would you categorize the reaction of the convention, one day after the report’s release?

Oh my goodness, I’d say shock...outrage is starting to creep in. I think people feared but did not really expect the report to be as full as it is.

How much did knowing this report was coming factor into your decision not to seek a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention?

Not at all. (Litton announced earlier this year announced he will not seek a second term in the top convention role, instead opting to promote racial reconciliation at the local level.) I feel a distinct calling to (racial reconciliation). I think those are the two issues that Southern Baptists believe we need to address, and I think God has put me in a unique position to do that.

On a personal level, how are you dealing with some of the things you’ve learned since looking at the report.

It’s overwhelming, I think disappointment, and evaluating the culture that needs to change in the SBC. I’m only optimistic at this level. I believe this convention of churches has the capacity to change its culture. I really do believe that. It’s easy over the years to think that would be very hard to do, but I think the trauma of what we’re seeing at this moment is waking people up to the need for culture change. What I remind people is that this (the Southern Baptist Convention) is the largest deliberative body on the face of the earth for two days. The convention spoke clearly in Nashville that this needed to be addressed, that the investigation needed to happen, and they went to dramatic steps to do that. I felt compelled by them to appoint the task force I did, and to fight for the (Executive Committee) to surrender and to let the investigation happen and not hide anything. And I wasn’t alone by any measure. This is the doing of the people of the Southern Baptist Convention. And I think they’re now wrestling with that, and I believe that’s encouraging. The reason I say that is because I believe systemic changes need to take place, culture changes need to take place, and I believe we will see those take place the same way.

Are there any steps beyond the recommendations the report made that need to be taken?

I think the new president is going to have to appoint someone, or a group of people, who will make sure we are seeing this to its end. By that, I mean the processes are on their way to change and are seeing change. But what we really need is heart change. At the end of the day, this is so foreign to how Jesus treated people. And I think most Southern Baptists are appalled at the fact that we have allowed people who are abused to be abused in reporting it. It takes an amazing amount of courage to report, and then to go through this suffering is unconscionable.

Some Southern Baptists says they’re worried about the wounds that the investigation will open up. What do you say to them?

I’d say that real wounds heal slowly, and they heal from the inside out. That’s a medical fact, and it takes time. And sometimes the skin wants grow back over the wound but it’s got to see the light of day and the infection has to be dealt with, or it’s going to keep being a problem. There’s no doubt there’s pain in all of this. But again, people have not been treated the way Jesus showed us to treat people. And we’ve got to make this right. And I don’t think we have a long time left to do that. This is an opportunity that we have to take very seriously. And not just get beyond it, but to do it right.

What do you say to someone struggling with their own faith, looking to go to a Southern Baptist Church, who sees this and thinks, maybe not?

I would say we’re not the sum total of our executive office. Southern Baptists are all kinds of people in various places, all kinds of different experiences. There’s no monolithic Southern Baptist. You have to take that on an individual basis. Ultimately, what we preach is Jesus. We are pointing people to Christ. We’re human beings, we’re broken, we’re frail, we’re fallible. But we believe His love isn’t. And we believe ultimately they can find hope in Him. We found that hope, but that doesn’t mean we’ve cured all of our disease yet. We’re still sinners and we struggle, but this is how the Scripture tells us - you struggle against sin with honesty and transparency.

Is there a Bible verse that maybe has occurred to you more than once over the last couple of days?

‘Be sure your sin will find you out.’ (Numbers 32:23) Luke 12:1-5 essentially says what is whispered from the backrooms will be shouted from the housetop. That’s sobering to anyone in leadership. It’s a reminder as a pastor that we will be held to a stricter accountability before God for how we shepherd His people. The Bible talks about that in Ezekiel 34, it talks about it in the New Testament. We have a higher accountability, and we need to sober up, and make sure our ultimate fear is of God, and the fact that we will all stand before Him. Being exposed is not the worst thing in the world, especially if you respond with repentance and brokenness. I believe there is sufficient mercy and grace for that kind of exposure.

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