When that happens, said Jeremy, “those young men don’t stop asking questions. They just go different places for answers.”
“Why is this a pattern?” he asked. “Well, because there’s a belief system, right? Now, that does not mean every young person [influenced by Gothard] reacted in a deviant way, at all, even by majority, but it does give insight into how that could create a pattern, because theology matters.”
Paul’s words to the Corinthian church were also relevant to the Vuolos’ conversation, in Jeremy’s view. The city of Corinth “was known for its debauchery,” Jeremy said. “It was like Vegas on steroids.”
“Paul has to actually work through some serious issues with them in the churches,” he said. “They’re suing one another. They’re getting drunk at the Lord’s supper. There’s all sorts of immorality.”
In 1 Corinthians 5:1, Paul wrote, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.”
Gothard’s advice would have been for believers in Corinth to leave the influence of the immoral city. But Paul never told the Corinthians to leave Corinth.
“I mean, it would have been a very simple solution,” Jeremy pointed out. “‘Hey Corinthians, you’re struggling with immorality and drunkenness. Get out of the most debaucherous city in the Ancient Near Eastern world. What, are you crazy? Why would you still be there?’”
“Instead,” he said, “over and over and over and over he appeals to the reality that they’re united to Jesus.”
Jeremy again quoted Jesus, who, praying for his disciples before his crucifixion, said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
“Gothard got it completely wrong,” said Jeremy, stating, “Bill Gothard is not a Christian. He’s not a Christian teacher. He did not teach Christianity.”
“Generations of children are being raised thinking, ‘If I can rely on the human flesh and my own ideas and ascetic severity to my body, I’ll be pure and holy,’” Jeremy said. “And then all of these desires come up and they don’t know how to deal with them. And then they become so severe [that] they spend their life in jail because they’ve never gotten to the root of the issue, which is you need a new heart.”
RELATED: Jason and Maddie Duggar Are ‘Shocked’ and ‘Disgusted’ by Joseph Duggar Allegations
“You cannot save yourself. But Jesus Christ in his life, death, and resurrection did what you couldn’t. He bore the penalty for sin on your behalf,” Jeremy continued. “And by you putting your faith in him, you’re united to Jesus. You are made new. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come.”
“You want to battle sin in your life, you want to battle addiction, you want to battle arrogance and pride and evil passion, you need a new heart,” he said. “That’s Jesus’ message.”
