Tried With Fire

I finished reading two important books on child abuse – Not Forsaken by Jenn Greenberg and What is a Girl Worth?   by Rachael Denhollander. Two different women. Two sisters-in-Christ. Two different stories. Equally devastating and both offering insight if we would take the time to listen and learn. And that’s the thing. Taking the time to listen and learn. Why don’t we?  Why do Christians minimize abuse? Why do Christians get upset when you bring up this issue? Why do Christians justify covering it up? (This is just one example. ) This continues to baffle me. I tried to understand this from the point of view of psychology – Melvin Lerner’s “Just World Fallacy. “ I tried to understand the fear that would drive people to do this, but after reading these two recent books, I need to bring it closer to home. What would I do if this happened in my church? I pray it never does. In fact, I pray this almost daily, but what if it did? What would I do? There are two things that wou...

Sexual abuse requires both deception and coercion or an abuse of power. The deception must first be of the self and then of the victim and the community. If it is to be covered up, then that deception and coercion must be continued by the system, which then is mimicking the perpetrator... When sin is exposed, it creates a crisis and crises do two things: they reveal character and they are also what we might call "separating" times. A crisis reveals character because in the moment of crisis, we do what we have been practicing. We display what we have been habituated. We demonstrate what or who we live in obedience to... A crisis is a revealing time. It reveals what is in the person who has come to you; it will reveal the heart of the one who is accused; it will reveal your heart to you; and it will reveal the heart of the structure or organization that is threatened by the truth. It is absolutely crucial that what is being revealed be seen and understood and responded to ...