Now, one might wonder what it means if there is an ecclesiastical investigation and the abusive pastor is acquitted. Does that suddenly make the original charges slanderous? Not at all. We already noted how difficult it can be to convict a pastor of spiritual abuse. All the odds are stacked against it. After all, the initial investigations of Steve Timmis, James MacDonald, and Bill Hybels all resulted in some form of exoneration. So an “acquittal” does not necessarily prove that the original charges were mistaken. It may just mean there wasn’t enough explicit evidence or perhaps that the
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