Back story on today’s post:

Former NBL star, Ben Zobrist filed a lawsuit against the alleged lover, former Pastor Brian Yawn, who Zobrist claimed was involved with his wife, Julianna.

Apparently, Julianna Zobrist had something to “say” about the claims in that lawsuit and, more specifically, about her divorce from Ben Zobrist:

“I am choosing to protect my children’s hearts by not saying hurtful things about their father in public. My attention is focused on caring for them during this difficult time, and I refuse to divert my energy to slinging mud and publicly reveal personal details of my previous relationship in order to score sympathy points.

It’s tempting to retaliate or seek revenge when someone decides to hurt, slander, or lie about you. Especially in public. It’s difficult to remember that those who harm us are acting out of their own pain. Wounded people need healing, and that’s what I pray finds every person who is so lost in their pain that they resort to inflicting harm on others.”

-excerpt from Julianna Zobrist in her Instagram post on 7/6/21

This “statement” looks very, very bad to me!

She is trying to have her cake and eat it, too. Someone who is really wanting to protect her children from saying bad things about their father does not imply their father is a liar!

This comes across to me as what a female, religious cheater might say when caught:

Such a cheater would hold back what she thinks “drove” her to cheat. (In other words, this is the stuff cheaters use to “excuse” the inexcusable.) Such a cheater does this both to claim the “higher ground” and to sell themselves the lie that they are the “bigger person” here. Neither are true.

It is not the high road to call your soon to be ex-husband a liar and slanderer by implication.

The statement is designed to do the exact thing her statement says it is not meant to do–namely, “…to score sympathy points….” She is positioning herself as the victim of her husband by making this statement. The “holier than thou” and “bless his hurting heart” position is assumed here “…for the kids!”

Plus, as a leader in the church, she is dodging the hard questions about her behavior and accountability here.

She leaves the accusations about her alleged adultery unaddressed, essentially. Indirectly, she suggests that the allegations are slander and lies.

Is refusing to address such serious moral allegations a godly response to such allegations by a church leader? Biblically, a leader in the church is held to a higher standard than this (see James 3:1).

If you make your living by teaching from a position of moral virtue as any church leader does, then you ought not to be shocked when people want to know if you are living up to the moral standards for church leaders and teachers set by the Bible.

Hiding behind the kids is cowardly.

If you want to protect your kids from the fall out of your private life, then you can choose a profession where how you behave in your private life does not affect your profession. Leading and teaching Christians is not one of those professions.