We bear witness

Jeri is both a biblical scholar and a 4th degree black belt. These strengths give her an interesting perspective on our fight for clergy accountability.

Sometimes I simply lose track of what it is I’m doing and why. Does this work make sense? Does it make things better? Does it change anything? Constantly, I ask these questions, and my answers are often shaded by a sense of hopelessness and futility.

But in a comment under the prior posting, Jeri’s words struck a chord and so I want to share them here.

We bear witness, she explains. It is both as simple and as difficult as that. We bear witness to the reality of countless so-called religious leaders who turned a blind eye to the rape and molestation of kids by their clergy colleagues, and who continue to do so.

Our voices, our lives, our stories, our very selves – WE are the bodies they tried to bury.

With each and every one of us who serve as witness to this terrible truth, we encourage others as they too struggle to claw out of that dark spiritual and psychological pit that religious leaders dumped them in.

In Jeri’s words….

"Remember, even the Lord Jesus did not try to convert most of the Pharisees. He never EVER appealed to the High Priest to repent.

I don't know that any of us who work to make these tragedies and sins known will ever see the highest echelons of the Religious Elite repent. But we will see the wounded gain trust in Christ. We will see the Lord act on behalf of His people (His true people, not these garish pretenders).

When you make public these sins, and you reason well… you are reaching a silent group of people. Your victory is not in converting corrupt Baptist leaders, but in showing their victims that there is still a level of decency in others that is concerned about what happened to them.

This is what it is to be a witness. We do not mark the time or the effort. We simply take it a day at a time, working each day as we are able. The concept, in martial arts, is not to be trapped in time. Don't let yourself be conscious of time passing, because that is a trap. Your mindset has to be timeless. You live in the present moment, doing the very next thing to advance your fight. That way, you don't weary yourself.

In a fight, when a fighter starts watching the clock or worrying about how much longer the fight is going to go, he puts himself at a huge disadvantage. He wears himself down.

Similarly, if you take a hard blow, do not focus on the pain or worry about the damage until you are in a place to calmly assess it and repair it. You must fight "above" the pain, without fear.

Let's talk about those hard blows: These men betray themselves, and some of them will go to their graves haranguing you and calling you an evil doer. But their works will make them known to persons who want the truth. Let time work on them as their wicked deeds and wicked works accrue and weigh them down.

Understand the parameters of your war: can you make corrupt leaders non-corrupt? No. They've already sold their souls. Can you sway people at the grass roots level? Yes. Can you comfort the afflicted? Yes.

I do believe the Lord will destroy corrupt church leaders as He destroyed the Sanhedrin when the time was right. But I think our war is to call peace and restoration to the victims of the corrupt church leaders."