I do not claim to know all the ins and outs of Crist's offenses or his pursuit of repentance, but I am compelled to urge consideration of the huge problem we only compound when we equate restoration with restoration *to a platform.*
The rush to forgive fallen public figures is essentially good-hearted. But we can further harm victims *and* offenders by assuming re-platforming them is necessary to forgiveness.
I do think disqualified pastors can potentially be restored to the pastorate, but we rarely see it go well because we move too quickly, assuming we're not truly being gracious unless we open both the door to personal reconciliation and to a position of authority. But it's unwise
And unbiblical. The qualifications for the pastorate are there for a reason. In many cases of restored pastors, "not a new convert" and "good reputation with outsiders" are applicable considerations.
I know Crist is not a pastor -- at least, I don't think he is -- but this is just the latest example of a kind of "repentance tour" that may only serve to put a vulnerable person right back into the patterns that exacerbate temptations and impulses.
If someone is confessing a kind of "the fame/authority/position went to my head and I harmed people," how does it make sense to put them right back into that position without a (long) season of living faithfully as a restored member of a flock, overseen and fed by good shepherds?
And as hard as it can be for those accustomed to platforms to fathom, what they may learn, albeit in a difficult way, is that Christ is good, Christ is sufficient, Christ is precious, Christ is sweet, and Christ is powerful just as much out of the spotlight as in it. /end
