Tried With Fire

See updates at the bottom of the post - This sister-in-Christ is currently at the PCA General Assembly. She is waiting to see if her concerns will be addressed regarding how her domestic abuse was handled by her local church . The following video contains her interaction with the presbytery clerk . "Over the next year and a half, there was no acknowledgement from any of the Presbytery officers dealing with my case nor any of the elders at Faith Presbyterian that Charles had sinned, been abusive, or done anything seriously wrong at all. In one meeting I attended with two friends present, one of the Shepherding Committee officers compared Charles Garland’s tone to that of Jesus and the prophets in Scripture calling out those who were self righteous. The chair of the committee said he couldn’t be sure the recording was even real; perhaps I had digitally altered it." I know that all SBC leaders/pastors are not like Paige Patterson. Neither are all PCA leaders/pastors l...

Believing that all will be well if we just follow certain rules is common to us all. The question is what are we willing to overlook for that well-being? What will it cost us to maintain nostalgia or self-security in an organization? How much are we willing to betray others and even betray ourselves for the sake maintaining the status quo or obeying the leader? If disagreement with the powers-that-be means walking on eggshells or invokes a strong sense of fear, perhaps the system itself is abusive. Judgment begins with the house of God - not only for the leaders but for those of us in the pews. We may not wield power, but we can shore it up with our silence and idolatry of people and ideologies. Perhaps these recent shakeups in the SBC are demonstrations of God's kindness that will lead us to examine ourselves and repent. The following quotes are from  this article by Rod Dreher  on the SBC/Patterson scandal. It's worth reading for the insight he gives on why the ...

In the latest round of revelations, Paige Patterson was allowed to retire as President Emeritus from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a retirement package, a house on the grounds, and a stained glass window in the chapel. Just prior to this, the Washington Post broke a story of how a woman was raped while a student and counseled by Patterson to not report it to the police. Anger and tears were my first response. What were they thinking? Does the life of a woman matter so little when it's stacked up against the reputation of seminary? The sick irony is that a seminary is supposed to train pastors to care for the flock of God. Pastors who are supposed to be like their Master in laying down their lives in service. Was that exemplified? Hardly. Pastor Wade Burleson has written a post detailing the back story behind the Washington Post article. Read it and weep. Read it and pray that God will tear down the curtain hiding the spiritual abuse and misogyny in His church...

In the light of the controversy surrounding Paige Patterson  and his comments on abuse and women, I am sharing this slightly edited post from 2014 that I wrote for domestic violence awareness month.  It's funny how the things we care about the most are often the most painful and emotionally exhausting to put into words. How do you encapsulate an issue that touches theology, history, and culture? How do you write about something so personal and not dredge up memories and feelings that you'd rather consign to oblivion? I wrote drafts that are probably too volatile to be published because they tipped a few sacred cows that we cling to as conservative Christians. It helped to get those thoughts out of my head, but I'm still frustrated at the huge blind spot that the evangelical church seems to have - a sort of hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil about domestic abuse within its walls. After much research, thinking, and praying, I am convinced that domestic violence...

Thanks to technology, nothing ever goes away. It has come to light that a seminary president - Advised a woman to go back to her abusive husband and to just pray, knowing full well that this would subject her to further abuse. I had a woman who was in a church that I served, and she was being subject to some abuse, and I told her, I said, “All right, what I want you to do is, every evening I want you to get down by your bed just as he goes to sleep, get down by the bed, and when you think he’s just about asleep, you just pray and ask God to intervene, not out loud, quietly,” but I said, “You just pray there.” And I said, “Get ready because he may get a little more violent, you know, when he discovers this.” And sure enough, he did. She came to church one morning with both eyes black. Referred to a minor in sexually objectifying terms. Remarked that everyman should own at least one woman. This sounds more like the misogynistic remarks of Archie Bunker than a Christian leader. ...

I wrote this post last year but never published it. Believe me, I would much rather that this issue be properly dealt with in Christian circles, and I never write about domestic abuse again, but that time has not come yet. Until Christians realize the damage we inflict on one another because of the horrible advice we give *, domestic abuse needs to be discussed openly with humility and repentance. Cancer is a horrible disease. While there are many very successful treatments, I know of no absolute cure that can guarantee eradication once and for all. Survivors still undergo regular monitoring in case there is a recurrence. When someone is diagnosed, treatment is initiated quickly because of cancer's propensity to spread. While it is not wrong to hope and pray that a cure will be found, if I was diagnosed, I would accept existing treatment even with its limitations. This doesn't indicate a lack of faith. Rather it is wisdom because I don't know the future. It would be fool...