This is a Church Problem Too
The heart of the #churchtoo movement is to make churches wake up. I cannot count the number of times that I have heard of moral failings in the public and seen churches condemn. The conversations that I have had about how sick the world is and how something like that could never happen in the church. When the news came out about priests in Boston the response of much of the Protestant church was not to look inward at their own problems, but rather to condemn this as yet another corruption of the Catholic Church.
This is not just a problem of Hollywood or the media. This is not just a problem of the Catholic Church. This isn't even just a problem of churches. This is a human problem. For too long the church has tried to ignore the fact that these kinds of problems exists. We think that we are immune or we only talk about it in hushed corners of the church. Wake up church! Silence is not spiritual.
The problem is we care more about the image we project than the truth of who we are...Sexual sin affects all of humanity, even the church.
Why are we spending time trying to curate the image the world has of us? Why do we think that we are not affected by the common sins of humanity? Jesus told us that we will have tribulations. We know that the world does not understand the things of God. We know that all have sinned and that we will continue to do things that we do not want to do. We know all this and we see how the world still sees us as hypocrites. Church, we are failing at curating our image.
But that's not really the problem. The problem is we care more about the image we project than the truth of who we are. Let's be brutally honest. Sexual sin affects all of humanity, even the church. We can no longer ignore that. We can no longer pretend like we are unaffected by the very same sins that the world has. Rather than set ourselves up as above the world we need to show that we are no better than the rest of the world. The church is not perfect. Only Jesus is perfect.
Church Leaders are Fallible
If we accept that the church is not perfect then we have to accept that our church leaders are fallible. Our church leaders need to accept this fact. Too many who call themselves Christians have set up a system where they can do no wrong. In a system where the leaders are expected to be perfect it is no wonder that no one comes forward.
Leaders you need to stop trying to convince your congregations that you are Jesus. You're not. I don't relate to people through my perfection, it is my pain and faults that are best used by God. If we truly believe the gospel then we have to believe that God is glorified the best in my weakness.
I think that maybe some of this is because we are never honest with kids about bible "heroes." We don't talk about Abraham giving his wife to Pharaoh or trying to make God's plan happen with a handmaid. We may talk about David's moral failings with Bathsheba, but we rarely talk about the consequences that had for his kingdom and his son. We never really talk about how the women must have felt. We don't talk about the effect these men had on Sarah, or Tamar, or Leah.
Our church leaders are not Jesus. They cannot save us. They are human just like us. We have to accept that fact. We cannot try and hid their sin. We have to hold them accountable for their actions. It is when we try and cover up or simply deal with things quietly that we as the church fail. We fail because in doing that we ignore the victims.
We Need to Give Voice to Victims not Perpetrators
I chose to use Jules Woodson's name and not her abusers because too often in these cases the victim is ignored or not given proper recognition. The media loves to talk about perpetrators, plastering their name and photos everywhere. Yet this does not do justice to the victim. We MUST listen to them. They have already been assaulted, silencing them only wounds them a second time.
Churches should be a safe harbor from the evils of the world. Too often churches are the centers of that evil.
The church needs to listen to victims whenever they step forward. In every case it takes courage and vulnerability to come forward. When Jules came forward twenty years ago she was not given voice. When she tried to confront her assailant personally she got no response. She went public because she was not being heard.
Church when we hear from victims we must NEVER minimize what they are saying. We must give them voice and space. We must work with them to seek justice. For too long the church has sought to make our leaders the emphasis. We have been concerned about how they would be affected. What it would mean for their careers. But this is simply wrong.
With Jules Woodson the church decided that nothing illegal occurred, but that was not the church's decision to make. The church exists to bring healing and repentance, not to decide the legality of assault. When we hear the stories of victims it is our duty to them to report what they say. They come to us because they want help not apathy, condemnation, and silence.
Churches Need to Address Their Policies
Much of what I have read recently on this has to do with what churches do after an assault takes place. This is an important discussion and churches need to be aware that many times the church has failed. But this should also be a time to asses how we prevent this from happening.
In my church we have a policy that adults are never alone with children. This would include a youth leader driving a someone home. Had there been another adult with Jules this might have been prevented. If your church does not have some kind of protection policy for children you need to do that now. There needs to be background checks. There needs to be training on how to treat children and how to deal with social media.
The church is too often late to the game when it comes to protecting those we are entrusted with. Your personal feelings of the trustworthiness of a person are not enough to qualify them to work with youth. We must be vigilant. We have to accept that this is a common problem in our churches.
In the event that something does happen we need to have procedures in place in to report abuse and protect victims. Though we never wish for something to happen in our churches we need to know what we would do if something does happen. Church we need to wake up. Churches should be a safe harbor from the evils of the world. Too often churches are the centers of that evil.
We are ALL Part of the Problem
This last point was originally going to be about forgiveness and repentance and how the world only wants justice and revenge. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that the church doesn't need to learn about forgiveness. The church needs to be forgiven. Not doing good is as much a sin as doing evil. Sometimes it is more evil.
There is no forgiveness for the world without the judgement of the cross.
Church, we need to recognize that there is a pattern. Time and again we learn of leaders who have abused their power. Leaders whose history is kept silent and not known. When we stand by and do nothing we are as responsible as the perpetrator. We need to hold them accountable. When the church condemns those who seek help for homosexuality and gives standing ovations to abusers there is a problem. Church we need to do something.
Grace should be a part of what we do, but repentance requires acceptance of consequences. Had Jules abuser been reported twenty years ago then this would be a different discussion. We would be talking about grace to those how have repented and submitted to authority. Without justice there is no grace. There is no forgiveness for the world without the judgement of the cross.
May we realize this is a church problem too. May we give voice to victims. May we acknowledge our culpability in this corporate sin. And may God forgive us.
Amen
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