By Stephanie Morris-Graves

Atlanta’s Bishop Eddie Long, senior pastor of the 25,000-member megachurch New Birth Missionary Baptist, made national news last year when three young men he’d mentored came forward with claims of sexual relationships with the revered pastor and community leader. Long categorically denied all of the allegations, even when another young man stepped forward with stories of sexual acts, rides in fast cars, trips on private planes to exotic locations, and even a kind of marriage ceremony between Long and the boys. Four of the men filed suit against Long and New Birth, claiming sexual misconduct. News reports say Long settled out of court earlier this year, but just last week new allegations against Long emerged when church members filed a lawsuit against the pastor accusing him of encouraging them to invest their money in a faith-based Ponzi scheme.

We’ll likely never know what really happened, but as I’ve considered what we do know, there are a few things I can’t help but think about Eddie Long and his scandal.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I don’t know many pastors who would hold their smartphones up in a mirror and snap pictures of their reflection. I certainly don’t know any that would do this while wearing Spandex biker shorts, a muscle shirt, and a backward Kangol cap and then send it to a young man. Moreover, four men have come forward with eerily similar stories, and some have offered details of their experiences with Long that most young men would be too embarrassed to share with their closest confidants, much less the public. That’s a lot of smoke.

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The Eddie Long story created an opportunity to discuss homosexuality and the church. Eddie Long is not and cannot be the only pastor or man in power at a church engaging in such acts. The issue is not only what he did, but also discussing the larger problems which are involved here. This opportunity may have been missed by just focusing on Eddie Long, although what he is accused of doing is also terrible.

Well said.