Make It Right

We serve a God who is powerful and knowing - His power is available for the person who has been victimized and experiences shame; He knows, He cares, and He offers His love.  And, he can bring
the sinner, the victimizer, to repentance.  Hebrews 12 states:
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord...

In the world, we see this wave of allegations that is occurring, as victims are now stepping up to confront those who have violated them.  Some of those who have been accused have apologized; some authentically, others not so much.  The concepts of healing, forgiveness, restoration, and repentance are all Biblical components of a healthy Church, and need to be in operation.  By honestly and effectively dealing with the misdeeds of abuse and assault, we open the doors for God's character to be expressed.

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Jesus desires for His body, His bride, to be healthy; but, when the pain and suffering, the shame of abuse has infected human hearts, it provides an opportunity for the enemy to work and diminishes our witness.  The victims need healing and justice, the victimizers need to repent. 2 Corinthians 7 speaks to making things right:
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

It's never right.

And, the culture is receiving that message, even though responses have been varied.

So, how is the Church responding to matters of sexual assault?  It seems, based on what I've been reading, slowly and awkwardly, and unfortunately, in certain cases, not Biblically.

Autumn Miles is a domestic abuse victim who was involved in commissioning a LifeWay Research study on how well- or ill-prepared churches are to deal with domestic violence.  She has been a guest on The Meeting House on several occasions.  She has spoken out recently in a Religion News Service piece on sexual abuse within the church.

She referred to a story out of Memphis, where a teaching pastor at a church who abused a teenaged victim 20 years ago attempted to apologize.  While he received a standing ovation at the time, the handling of the assault situation has resulted in the pastor being placed on leave, and former colleague also being placed on leave from the church he was serving, while their respective roles in are being investigated.  Miles writes:

While secular society has recently rushed to correct its mistakes in silencing women, the Church seems to be doubling down. Instead of condemning the abuse of a high school student, a congregation supported its pastor without question. There was no talk of how a church should handle these incidents or the emotional consequences experienced by the woman involved. Instead, the congregation only discussed forgiveness for Andy Savage and remorse that his victim was not on the same “road to healing.”

She goes on to say:

While the Church should practice grace and forgiveness, there must be real, tangible consequences for sexual misconduct — especially when it involves a minister using his power to coerce women into sexual acts.

It’s time for leaders to take women seriously. When a woman comes forward, whether she’s sharing about domestic violence or sexual misconduct of a minister, there needs to be a swift response from church leadership. Her safety — both emotional and physical — must be of utmost importance. The leadership’s first instinct should be her care, not determining “whether she’s telling the truth” or “whether she participated willingly.”

Rick and Kay Warren want to change the narrative.  This past Sunday, at the church that Rick Warren pastors, there was a special service, a service that Pastor Rick characterized as being one of hope.

CBN News reported on the service.  The story says that, "He began the sermon by appealing to compassion between believers."  He is quoted as saying, “Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them, happened to you..."

He quoted the Scripture verse, Hebrews 13:3, which says: "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them--those who are mistreated--since you yourselves are in the body also."

Warren empathized with their pain, saying: "It actually grieves me when I think about what some of you have gone through..."

This issue hits home for Pastor Rick - his wife, Kay, is an abuse victim.   The story says that she was "molested as a youth" and "said the shame was overwhelming."

“I knew something evil had just happened to me, I didn’t know how to express it,” said Kay Warren.

“It became too shameful, I couldn’t really deal with it,” she went on to say.

She also stated that, "Abuse can cause us to lose our voices..."

Well-known Bible teacher Beth Moore was also on hand.  She related:

“Here I am, a young child and I had a pervasive sense of shame that I carried with me everywhere I went,” said Moore.

“It is such an intimate crime, so very personal. It becomes invasive,” she explained.

“I would think to myself, I wish I was a good girl. I wish I was a good girl,” she continued.

Kay Warren described the healing process as a "long journey."  The CBN story continued:

The first step is to ‘establish safety.’

She says you can’t get the recovery needed if you are in the midst of the abusive situation.

The second step is choosing to embrace the truth and sometimes that means addressing the fact the abuse really happened.

Next, tell your story.

So, kudos to the Warrens and Beth Moore for bringing this subject to the forefront.  I don't want to add a whole lot to the story, but to summarize, there does need to be a seriousness about this subject.  There are hurting people in our congregations, and the Church should be a safe place for people who have been victimized to tell their stories, free from condemnation.

Ultimately, the aim is restoration in the midst of brokenness - relationships need to be restored.  The person who has been victimized certainly needs closure, and that can come through the repentance of the victimizer.  Repentance can lead to forgiveness, which leads to the activation of the presence of God.  But, it seems that all too often, offending acts are swept under the rug, leaving victims suffering in silence.

Now, we are in a critical moment when the suffering has festered enough, and a torrent of indignation has exploded on to the scene, bringing a thirst for justice - and healing.  These are concepts that are rooted in the Scriptures, and whether a person is a believer in Christ or not, there is a deep-seated desire to make things right.  The Scriptures shows us how to do that and the love of Christ can motivate us to act.