Tried With Fire

Lynette English has written the story of her abusive marriage and how it was handled by two churches. One handled it well, but one did not. The differences between the two reveal how much Christians need to learn about domestic violence. Here are a few excerpts, but please read the entire article for yourself. Thank you, Lynette, for sharing this! From A Tale of Two Churches: Abuse and Protection of the Vulnerable in the PCA Like many abusive spouses, my seminary-trained husband shed seminary-trained crocodile tears. The church’s compassion for my husband and the desire to save my marriage superseded church discipline. I was called to a meeting with my associate pastor and the elder task force, and told that my husband really needed grace. Lots of grace. I was to go home, love that man to death, and show him the grace of God by my actions, and he would find that irresistible. He would be forced to change, because my kindness would lead him to repentance. (I know now that this a...

Wendy Alsup wrote two posts ( part 1 & part 2) in response to the Nashville Statement. I agree with her concerns that the issue is bigger than just taking a stand against sexual immorality. The doctrine of Imago Dei is at stake: We are fighting now for an orthodox understanding not just of homosexuality, but of Imago Dei. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be made in the image of God?...Who bears human dignity? How should they be treated? (part 1) In the 2nd part , Wendy examines Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology and a recent statement from John MacArthur. She comes away with the concern that -  it seems that image bearers need to respect role and authority to actually show God’s image. Practically speaking, if you are perceived as not respecting either role or authority in life, you go down the priority list for protection as an image-bearer. Folks who see image-bearing dignity mitigated by how well you respect role and authority tend to work in a...