The church elder Mr. Charm encouraged the young man. He counseled him to seek God and he gave a few Scripture references for deeper thought. He even handed the young man a twenty to help him through a hard time, maybe go to the "Men's Retreat".
Pastor Pits walked through the alley to reach his car after a hard day's work. His heart was heavy over a hurting church family. Mr. Charm joined him and began to engage him in debate. As they neared the parking lot, Mr. Charm grabbed Pastor Pits' arms and bound them with ropes. He tied him to the bumper of his own car and got into the driver's seat. He took off, dragging Pastor Pits behind.
The results were obvious. Pastor Pits was in agony. The church elders visited him and told him they would talk to him and their talking would heal him. They talked to him for months. Sometimes Pastor Pits gave in to the temptation to seek medical help and the elders rebuked him soundly. They told him that Jesus is the healer of the broken and he was obviously broken, so faith would bring healing for sure: he must have a lack of faith. The elders prescribed a list of Scriptures for Pastor Pits to read. As Pastor Pits tried to read, he could not get very far because of his consuming agony and the damage to his head in various areas.The elders were contemptuous.
The rest of the church congregation got involved. They made Elder Charm apologize in front of the church. They were really, really wise. They made a list of the people Elder Charm had helped, including the young man. Pastor Pits said, "I helped people, too, but now I can't do much." The church said, "Don't be so proud! Elder Charm does not owe you anything because Jesus paid his price." Pastor Pits was removed from his position, but out of the kindness of the wisdom of the church, he was allowed to hang around. They would smile at him because they were so forgiving and they would pat his arm.
Pastor Pits told the Doctor how his injuries occurred. Elder Charm was very hurt by that. Elder Charm's hurt was comforted by the church congregation. Pastor Pits was further rebuked for seeking secular help (the Doctor) and for refusing to shut up about this one little mistake that Elder Charm committed. Pastor Pits acted weird because his body no longer was able to work normally. His brain sent wrong signals. Nice people from the church sent him funny cards because they knew that all Pastor Pits had to do was laugh and he would be fixed. They sent e-mails with Bible verses because they knew those messages about perseverance would fix him if he would just try. They told stories about people who had been dragged behind vehicles twice, so his once could not really hurt in comparison. Fellow Pastors came to visit and to inform Pastor Pits that the incident was not a crime so he should not only "get over it", but he must invite Elder Charm to live with him.
Pastor Pits cried. He felt hated. He felt alone. He felt he had lost his family and language had lost its meaning: evil was good and good was evil. Love did not protect. The church agreed that they did not have to protect. They had verses to support this.
Elder Charm had slight consequences from the court and then he took Pastor Pits to court. He kept him there for years. Pastor Pits' pain increased to agony and he was kept from help. The church ignored him when he said, "I need support!" They said he only needs Jesus and if he was not limping along any better, he must not have Jesus. They said he was too needy and it needed to stop. Elder Charm cried big tears and said his feelings were so hurt because Pits would not pretend that he was fine. Charm enjoyed spending his money on court dates. Pits could barely work and had no money. People from the church sat on the witness stand and spoke glowingly of Elder Charm's many good deeds. The judge commended him for changing so admirably.
Was Pastor Pits alone? People came out of the woodwork to find him and let him know they were afraid of Mr. Charm. They warned Pits of threats Charm had made and of crazy evening behavior. The church said it was hearsay and they needed to go home to watch TV, so "forget about it". They could not handle the stress of trying to evaluate such things.
Pits could not walk in this craziness any more. He decided to find a new church family. His old church family looked upon this development with great relief. Now, they could blacklist Pits and promote Elder Charm, who had proven to be a man of useful talents. Charm did not seem to be affected by stress at all. He must know all the laugh tricks and have the willingness to forgive that pesky Pits.
Ridiculous scenario... Ridiculous, but very real to those of us who have tried to leave an abusive spouse. I pray that we, the church, will begin to see our cruelty so that we will no longer fall for the temptation to spiritualize cruelty. God has not given the gift of cruelty as a means of helping Him to perfect the saints.
Instead, we are told to be the tools of God by comforting the downcast (2 Corinthians 7:5-7). Our being downcast over trauma is not a sign of badness, but is an opportunity for the church to be the church of Jesus: His Hands and His Heart. We are also told not to overwhelm someone with excessive sorrow. A Christian who is an outcast is overwhelmed with sorrow because a true Christian needs the fellowship. I say that overwhelming the traumatized with added sorrow is a worse sin than overwhelming an incestuous violator with church discipline, as in the Corinthians 7 passage. What good is served? Perhaps evil is strengthened, however.
Sociopaths and abusers are in the church. They are married to church members. They do not behave in public as they do in private. What they say is not necessarily what they think. They do not have stressed reactions to horrors other than personal insults. This is one of the hardest hurdles we face in trying to understand the crazy-making of these personalities. As church people, we are overwhelmingly discourage from knowing these facts. If we can have the courage to know those facts we can behave with wisdom. It is the fool that does not want to be confused with real knowledge for a real life.
NEWSFLASH! The earth is not flat. Sociopaths, psychopaths and abusers do not think or respond like "you and I" but they are tremendous actors. Until we face that reality as God knows it, we will continue to dispense cruelty.
Pastor Pits walked through the alley to reach his car after a hard day's work. His heart was heavy over a hurting church family. Mr. Charm joined him and began to engage him in debate. As they neared the parking lot, Mr. Charm grabbed Pastor Pits' arms and bound them with ropes. He tied him to the bumper of his own car and got into the driver's seat. He took off, dragging Pastor Pits behind.
The results were obvious. Pastor Pits was in agony. The church elders visited him and told him they would talk to him and their talking would heal him. They talked to him for months. Sometimes Pastor Pits gave in to the temptation to seek medical help and the elders rebuked him soundly. They told him that Jesus is the healer of the broken and he was obviously broken, so faith would bring healing for sure: he must have a lack of faith. The elders prescribed a list of Scriptures for Pastor Pits to read. As Pastor Pits tried to read, he could not get very far because of his consuming agony and the damage to his head in various areas.The elders were contemptuous.
The rest of the church congregation got involved. They made Elder Charm apologize in front of the church. They were really, really wise. They made a list of the people Elder Charm had helped, including the young man. Pastor Pits said, "I helped people, too, but now I can't do much." The church said, "Don't be so proud! Elder Charm does not owe you anything because Jesus paid his price." Pastor Pits was removed from his position, but out of the kindness of the wisdom of the church, he was allowed to hang around. They would smile at him because they were so forgiving and they would pat his arm.
Pastor Pits told the Doctor how his injuries occurred. Elder Charm was very hurt by that. Elder Charm's hurt was comforted by the church congregation. Pastor Pits was further rebuked for seeking secular help (the Doctor) and for refusing to shut up about this one little mistake that Elder Charm committed. Pastor Pits acted weird because his body no longer was able to work normally. His brain sent wrong signals. Nice people from the church sent him funny cards because they knew that all Pastor Pits had to do was laugh and he would be fixed. They sent e-mails with Bible verses because they knew those messages about perseverance would fix him if he would just try. They told stories about people who had been dragged behind vehicles twice, so his once could not really hurt in comparison. Fellow Pastors came to visit and to inform Pastor Pits that the incident was not a crime so he should not only "get over it", but he must invite Elder Charm to live with him.
Pastor Pits cried. He felt hated. He felt alone. He felt he had lost his family and language had lost its meaning: evil was good and good was evil. Love did not protect. The church agreed that they did not have to protect. They had verses to support this.
Elder Charm had slight consequences from the court and then he took Pastor Pits to court. He kept him there for years. Pastor Pits' pain increased to agony and he was kept from help. The church ignored him when he said, "I need support!" They said he only needs Jesus and if he was not limping along any better, he must not have Jesus. They said he was too needy and it needed to stop. Elder Charm cried big tears and said his feelings were so hurt because Pits would not pretend that he was fine. Charm enjoyed spending his money on court dates. Pits could barely work and had no money. People from the church sat on the witness stand and spoke glowingly of Elder Charm's many good deeds. The judge commended him for changing so admirably.
Was Pastor Pits alone? People came out of the woodwork to find him and let him know they were afraid of Mr. Charm. They warned Pits of threats Charm had made and of crazy evening behavior. The church said it was hearsay and they needed to go home to watch TV, so "forget about it". They could not handle the stress of trying to evaluate such things.
Pits could not walk in this craziness any more. He decided to find a new church family. His old church family looked upon this development with great relief. Now, they could blacklist Pits and promote Elder Charm, who had proven to be a man of useful talents. Charm did not seem to be affected by stress at all. He must know all the laugh tricks and have the willingness to forgive that pesky Pits.
Ridiculous scenario... Ridiculous, but very real to those of us who have tried to leave an abusive spouse. I pray that we, the church, will begin to see our cruelty so that we will no longer fall for the temptation to spiritualize cruelty. God has not given the gift of cruelty as a means of helping Him to perfect the saints.
Instead, we are told to be the tools of God by comforting the downcast (2 Corinthians 7:5-7). Our being downcast over trauma is not a sign of badness, but is an opportunity for the church to be the church of Jesus: His Hands and His Heart. We are also told not to overwhelm someone with excessive sorrow. A Christian who is an outcast is overwhelmed with sorrow because a true Christian needs the fellowship. I say that overwhelming the traumatized with added sorrow is a worse sin than overwhelming an incestuous violator with church discipline, as in the Corinthians 7 passage. What good is served? Perhaps evil is strengthened, however.
Sociopaths and abusers are in the church. They are married to church members. They do not behave in public as they do in private. What they say is not necessarily what they think. They do not have stressed reactions to horrors other than personal insults. This is one of the hardest hurdles we face in trying to understand the crazy-making of these personalities. As church people, we are overwhelmingly discourage from knowing these facts. If we can have the courage to know those facts we can behave with wisdom. It is the fool that does not want to be confused with real knowledge for a real life.
NEWSFLASH! The earth is not flat. Sociopaths, psychopaths and abusers do not think or respond like "you and I" but they are tremendous actors. Until we face that reality as God knows it, we will continue to dispense cruelty.
