Our Response to Philip Yancey's "Great Shame"

“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others, we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The evangelical world – actually, the entire Body of Christ – was dealt a devastating body blow this week with the revelation that renowned author and speaker Philip Yancey has admitted to having had an 8-year extramarital affair with a married woman. As a result, Yancey said that he is retiring from all ministry activities including writing, speaking, and posting on social media.

Yancey, who wrote a featured column for Christianity Today for decades and served as an editor-at-large with the publication, is best known for his books The Jesus I Never Knew (1996), and What’s So Amazing About Grace? (1998), both of which won the ECPA’s Christian Book of the Year Award. Altogether, Yancey’s books have sold more than 15 million copies in English and been translated into 40 different languages. Former President Jimmy Carter once called Yancey "my favorite modern author".

In a statement he emailed to Christianity Today, Yancey wrote that “My conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage. It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both of our families.” Yancey went on to say that “I have confessed my sin before God and my wife, and have committed myself to a professional counseling and accountability program. I have failed morally and spiritually, and I grieve over the devastation I have caused.”

Calling the affair “my great shame,” Yancey added that he was “now focused on rebuilding trust and restoring my marriage of 55 years.” In conclusion, he wrote, “I pray for God’s grace and forgiveness — as well as yours — and for healing in the lives of those I’ve wounded.”

And so, the author of Where Is God When It Hurts? is hurting because (1) he has hurt others; (2) he has dishonored God, and (3) he has damaged Christ’s Bride, the Church. So, what are we to do?

I don’t know about you, but I intend to (1) forgive him, (2) pray earnestly for him, his wife, and everyone involved, and (3) carefully examine myself and take every possible precaution lest I find myself in a similar predicament.

I can also tell you the one thing I will refuse to do: cast aspersions Philip Yancey’s way. God has used him in a mighty and powerful way over the past 40 years, which is probably why Satan prodded and probed until he found an area of weakness in Yancey’s life and then unleashed an attack when he was most vulnerable.

Allow me close with a few applicable Bible verses…

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2 (ESV)

“When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.’” John 8:7 (BSB)

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.” Galatians 6:1 (NLT)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President