Second, victims should not meet with an abusive pastor unless he is genuinely repentant. One can imagine a scenario where a church does hold an abusive pastor accountable but that pastor remains defiant and unrepentant. But there can be no biblical reconciliation unless there is real repentance: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3). In such a scenario, the victims of abuse should wait until an official church body has established that genuine repentance has taken place.
