I have to post this right away because it is soooo false and so incredibly damaging to victims of evil ones (like domestic abusers hiding in the church) and so enabling to the wicked. It is a quote from a pastor who claims to be an expert on domestic violence and who has been rather successful at putting himself off as such. His message, he says, is one of “hope.” But it is anything but that for victims.
You will see as he answers the question put to him by a supposedly “reformed theology” talk show moderator that he minimizes and levels the sin of the abuser. He lumps ALL of us into the same category as the conscienceless sociopath, and he shames and guilts any of us who are righteously angry about how this wickedness is being tolerated in local churches. In so doing, he is showing that he himself is guilty of the very sin that the Apostle Paul confronted the Corinthians with:
1 Corinthians 5:2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
Does Scripture teach us that all people, including Christians, are sinners and in fact sinners of the same category as those who creep in among Christ’s flock and work to destroy their souls (which is what these domestic abusers who hide in churches in disguise are doing). Of course not!
1 Corinthians 5:11-13 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. (12) For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? (13) God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
And again:
2 Peter 2:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. (21) For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. (22) What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
With those Scriptures in mind, listen to what this “expert” has to say. This is the kind of false teaching that gathers the crowds and leads to popularity. Oh, well, unless you are a victim of the “christian” abuser –
Question: How does the gospel speak into, heal, and really answer the problem of domestic violence and how might we hope in Christ in the midst of a dark, broken Genesis 3 world where it seems like domestic violence abounds?
Answer: I want us to be a voice of hope because there are a lot of voices out there speaking to this topic and many of them can be angry, can be resentful and somewhat rightfully so. But I think the church can be a voice of hope here. Not hope for marriage restoration, but hope for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel, which is our best hope for marriages moving forward.
What I often say in the idea of redemption is ‘Did Jesus die for abusive men?’ And while I do understand the aspect of the reprobate and being targeted by God’s wrath and a seared conscience and so on, I do believe there’s an aspect of hope that we don’t simply write everyone off. But we embrace the reality that not only did Jesus die for violent men, he hung on a cross designed for a violent man and by a sermon on the mount type of theology each of us have that heart of violence potential within us and so if we have no hope for the abuser then there’s little hope for us…
Show us, Mr. Pastor – show us in Scripture where we are commanded by the Lord to counsel and give hope to and “redeem” the reviler. You may point us to the following words of Paul, as I suspect:
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, (10) nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
But these people came to real faith and genuine repentance. Authentic transformation in Christ. We essentially NEVER see such in the abuser, the sociopath, the reviler as Scripture calls them. Yet people like this pastor claim they have a program, they have a system, all of which gives “hope” to people who continue to lie and deceive and abuse. This very Scripture tells us that such people will never enter Christ’s kingdom as long as they walk in evil, which is exactly what they are continuing to do. We are not to counsel them or educate them. We are to put them out from among us and not even eat with them.