There is a direct line btwn how a man treats the women around him and how he treats the Church.

A lot of folks are struggling to make sense of leaders who use their positions of authority to abuse women. They can't figure out how a person could be committed to ministry & do such things.

Let me suggest that such a person was never committed to Christ's Bride.

More likely, such a man was using the Church the exact same way they were using the women they abused.

Correspondingly, a man who does not honor & protect his own bride will not honor & protect the Bride of Christ. A man who views women as source of self-gratification will view the Church the same way.

The same is true for those who refuse to hold such men accountable. Those who will not defend a woman from attack by an abusive man will not defend the community or nation they're called to serve from similar abuse.

Giving attention to how men treat women is not special interest advocacy. It is a litmus test on who a man is & how he'll relate to every other role of public trust.

Failing to stop such a man & hold him accountable is a measure of our own faithfulness. A man who won't protect women from an abusive man won't protect their church, community, or nation either.

If we learn anything this week, let it be this:

How a man treats women & how he'll let them be treated predicts how he'll act in every other duty entrusted to him.