“He left because his feelings were hurt.”
“His expectations were not met.”
“It is his sin that needs to be addressed.”
“He is a divisive person.”
“He would not submit to church authority.”
“He’s not welcome to visit this church.”
I could go on.
There’s a scene in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace is betrayed by Robert the Bruce. When it happens, Wallace breaks and collapses, giving up.
I know the paralysis that sets in when you’ve lost faith. I know the exhausting internal battle of wanting to glorify God while being silenced, whether by others or by your own inability to do anything but shut down. I know what it is like to have your thoughts and feelings dictated to you and to be labeled.
I know what it feels like when collaborative gossip happens behind your back and you are ambushed. I know how stones feel when they come disguised as hugs and “I love you.” I know what it is like to try to lead your family to safety only to have the war follow you wherever you go, because a letter was sent and whispers of slander and gossip continued. I know what a prayer sounds like when you’re in fear that you may see someone who hurt you in public. I know the careful planning involved in forbidding certain people from being in my presence.
I know the heavy shame of recognizing the right thing to do yet failing to do it because I was not equipped and could not due to more pressing issues such as a daughter’s bone marrow transplant. I know what it is to lose all faith in the very place that is called to offer help and safety, and to find it has become the primary source of anxiety and pain.
I know the reality of both individual and systemic abuse in the church.
I know church hurt deeply and intermittently. Having experienced it myself, I rank it among the most difficult seasons a believer can endure.
I often point to the imagery of that particular scene in Braveheart to describe an experience that can stretch on for months, if not years.
Yet even in all of this, no matter how deep the pain, no matter how numb and overwhelmed one becomes, Jesus remains worthy of worship. I know what it is to lose faith in the bride and cling to the Bridegroom, trusting in faith that He is sufficient.
This is a topic that desperately needs to be studied and defended because far too many people minimize or dismiss it as emotional sabotage or toxic empathy or turn away to keep peace.
In my experience, adding a deep study of classical theism, along with how biblical counseling should held and occur, greatly strengthens the discussion. In my opinion, biblical counseling lacks a deep connection to the biblical and systematic theology of classical theism. In this, counseling must reform to better align with biblical truth in order to understand the moral responsibilities of all parties in each context.
Yet another field that must be explored and implemented to help bring understanding is logic. Abuse often happens due to illogical frameworks that manipulate and control the perceived reality and narrative.
In truth, biblical counseling must be a multidisciplinary discipline in the form of listening ti gain understanding but remaining scripturally authoritative in first principles and in application, and in this reject disciplines that are antithetical to scripture. We must submit to God’s authoritative definition.
“Guard your heart above all else,for it is the source of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
I have really found these four books to be extremely helpful in equipping and guarding the heart with this topic in mind.
If you’re a biblical counselor, I would appreciate your book recommendations on the topic of church hurt and church abuse.
The betrayal - Braveheart
https://t.co/ypxgUtow76
The woke right “biblical masculinity” is deeply at odds with Christ. It constructs manhood around performative strength, dominance, cultural aesthetics, and a sense of holy political or cultural crusade. The pragmatic effort to masculinize church in order to bring men back to the pew is hyper-patriarchy void of cruciform love.
This mindset is of the first century Jews expectation of a “militant” Messiah who would seize power by the sword. Todays male influencers often present a neo version of that same temporal vision by prioritizing visible toughness, power, and earthly restoration over the cruciform way of servant hearted humility, sacrificial love, emotional honesty, and dependence on grace that Jesus embodied.
The deeper issue is not mere politics or a pragmatism to attract men back to church, but a functional idolatry that substitutes self fashioned masculine ideals for true Christlikeness.
Men, resist the woke right masculinity. It’s just a christianized “Andrew Tate” version of male falsehood.
Chase is not a good representative of biblical masculinity. But, he has found his market audience and he has to feed his loyalists somehow.
I’m thankful I blocked him, and that he has blocked me.
1 Samuel 16:7
@BasedMikeLee Wow! The comments. People saying Latter-day Saints aren’t Christian is like passengers on the bus telling the bus driver he’s not riding the bus. Dude, Latter-day Saints are driving the bus! You all are welcome to come along.
@RepMikeKennedy This is the “I identify as …bc I say I am” argument.
Christ in your title means nothing.
The LDS = a henotheistic adaptation to Arianism and their systematic theology is that of a science fiction comic book.
@HistoryNut_1945@BasedMikeLee The LDS hold to a henotheistic adaptation to Arianism. That’s not a little off. Their entire systematic theology is antithetical to Christianity.
@LifeNewsToo@LifeNewsHQ@McJuggerNuggets Reread it. Calling the for justice in holding the hitmen and drug dealers accountable while calling those who hire them “victims” is a perversion of justice.
The righteousness of Jesus (of God - the Holy of Holies , the Holy Holy Holy) was imputed to the believer in the gift of faith. He does not see your sin. He sees only the glory of his Son through his eternal election through adoption.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:20-21
❤️
You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know, dear
How much I love you
Please don't take
My sunshine away