Today is Good Friday. Nothing “good” about it in a sense. It was anything but good for the disciples, and for our Lord. A dark day of death and apparent victory by the enemy, when all seemed lost. But it was very, very good as it turns out. Our Passover Lamb was sacrificed and this time, He was the end of all Passover lambs. This Lamb was effective – His blood has made us as white as snow. From our perspective, as we look at that original Good Friday through the lens of Scripture, we see that God was orchestrating the whole thing all along. Every thorn in the crown, the very seamlessness of Jesus’ tunic, the nearby tomb of the rich man – the whole thing was a drama ordained in eternity past. The will of the Father was done.
What did the enemy and his minions think that first Easter morning? Stone rolled away, tomb is empty – with Jesus’ grave clothes laying there in perfect outline as if somehow the body they once enveloped had been suctioned right out from inside them. I think that is what Peter saw when we are told that he went inside, saw, and believed. The cross, as it turns out, was a master strategy from the Master. The greatest surprise attack of all time. Death was led captive and the enemy POW’s were marched on display. He is risen.
Author: Jeff Crippen Page 77 of 88
Last week as I was reading through the Gospel account of Christ’s betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion, I was struck with how often this narrative exposes the mentality, nature, and tactics of abuse. This really should not surprise us because abuse is just plain sin. I think that it is in fact perhaps the most “diabolically beautiful” portraits of sin to be found.
Its essence is the lust for power and control over — everything! It is the acting out of Satan’s declaration, “I will be like the Most High.” In other words, the abuser, like the devil, lusts to be God. Understand that and your eyes will be opened to everything else he does.
Exodus 22:22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.
Deuteronomy 10:17-18 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. (18) He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Psalms 94:6 They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
These few verses are just a small sampling of many others found in Scripture that repeat the very same theme – God commands us to render justice for and give care to the helpless and weak. Orphans and widows are prime examples. I would like to suggest to you that the victim of abuse classifies as a widow, and therefore the Lord expects us to provide her with justice and protection. Why do we call her a widow? Because her husband really is no husband. He is an oppressor and tormentor. Often, she is a “widow indeed” because her abuser has successfully alienated the rest of her family from her.
1Co 2:1-5 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. (2) For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (3) And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, (4) and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (5) so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
It has become almost commonplace to read of still another well-known “happening” pastor being exposed in some wicked, hidden sin that has been going on for quite sometime, all the while he continued to preach to and teach others. We are all sick of it. And we are also sick of how these guys and their band of brothers treat victims of domestic and sexual abuse. One of the chief reasons for this oppression of victims in local churches is nothing less than the fact that the head guys are wolves.
But would you like to know what I am even more sick of? I will tell you – I am sick of these guys’ statements of “confession and repentance.”
I am going to give you a fairly recent example of just such a case and then I am going to point out to you why most all of these claims of “repentance” need to be rejected by us. Ready? Here we go.
Ephesians 4:26-27 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, (27) and give no opportunity to the devil.
We had a discussion once in a Bible study group about whether it is right or not for a Christian to ever be angry when they are sinned against. That is to say, some people wondered if anger is ever appropriate when we ourselves are the victim. Being angry when another person was victimized didn’t seem to be troublesome to anyone, but the idea of being angry when we personally are victimized seemed to be sinful in the thinking of some. Someone said, “well, Jesus was angry when He drove the money changers out of the temple, so anger must not always be sinful.” Someone else responded, “but we are not Jesus.”
Now, this much I do know. If we tell abuse victims that it is sinful for them to be angry about what was done or is being done to them, we are going to do them much harm. In fact many abusers will use this very tactic against their victim: “You call yourself a Christian! You are just an angry, bitter person! You are unforgiving.” You know the line I am sure.
So what about it? It is pretty easy to find Scriptures that show that it is right to be angry when we see evil and injustice. But what about when we are the victim of that evil and injustice ourselves?
If you have ever had chickens, you may have had to trim their wing feathers to keep them from flying out of the chicken pen. Clipping wings is a good thing when done to chickens. It really is for their own good. Chickens just aren’t meant to soar like an eagle (if they try, the eagle will get them). And besides, soaring makes finding the eggs pretty hard.
But abusive people believe in clipping the wings of their victims, and this is most definitely not a good thing. We as human beings are intended by our Creator to soar:
Psalms 8:3-9 ESV When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, (4) what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (5) Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. (6) You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, (7) all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, (8) the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (9) O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Abusers however, work to keep their targets in the pen. And as most of our readers already know, they have many tactics for doing just that. One such clipping tool is a kind of economic one. Let me explain.
Recently I addressed in some comments this subject of who a Christian is – and who is not. As you know, we have had the tiring mantra of “we are all sinners” thrown at us as an excuse for abusers and as a club to force us to “show love and forgiveness.” We aren’t buying that line anymore. The Christian is not a sinner. We still sin, but “sinner” is no longer the title Scripture gives us. Saint, heir, child of God, beloved, holy ones – these are the terms the Bible uses.
Rev 12:10-11 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. (11) And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
One typical method and characteristic of the wicked is that they accuse the righteous. They know that a godly person has a sensitive conscience (often too sensitive) and the evil man uses that against us. As you can see from the Scripture above, Satan is described as “the accuser of our brothers.” Think of what he said to the Lord, for instance, about Job. Or consider the accusations of Satan’s children, the Pharisees, that they rained down upon Christ.
Psa 68:4-5 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him! (5) Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
As of today, we have received $1602.00 in donations to cover the $1540.00 unexpected tax bill owed by an abuse survivor. We orginally posted the request on March 21st, so in only nine days the need was met in full. This is not only a huge blessing to our friend in need, it is very exciting for the rest of us as well.
Many thanks to all of you for praying and for giving. On occasion I am sure we will have opportunity to share similar requests with you all again.
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Original post: Opportunity to Help an Abuse Survivor in Need
Update on Giving for Abuse Survivor’s Tax Bill