Nathan's Voice

For those who want to become part of a support network for abuse survivors, one of our founders, Jim Wright, will be teaching a semester-long Christian counseling class beginning Tuesday, September 6th, through early December. We will be meeting every Tuesday evening at his home just south of Manassas, Virginia, from 7:00 to 9:15 pm.

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Ministering to folks who’ve been abused, abandoned or exploited requires a special grace. To find healing, people often need someone who can help them push through the defenses and rationalizations they’ve erected in response their hurts. But when they get to the source of the pain, and transparently surrender their resulting self-perceptions and beliefs to Jesus, they find that He tenderly brings healing and wholeness.

We routinely minister to people dealing with issues that exceed anything you might imagine. But God shows up in amazing ways, and men and women find freedom in just one or two sessions from profound emotional and spiritual bondage.

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“Peace if possible, truth at all costs.” – Martin Luther

How do we handle misconduct by leaders in the church, especially when it goes beyond merely personal sin and involves an abuse of position or trust which harms the church and hurts others?

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Much to my dismay, God keeps bringing people to my door who have been abused by a pastor or other trusted church leader.

Over the last year, I’ve taken on three cases against abusive pastors. Two involve significant embezzlement and fraud by pastors in different churches. A third involves extensive sexual abuse and misconduct by half a dozen men on the pastoral and ministerial staff in yet another local church.

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How should we react to an unrepentant pastor who’s used his position of trust and power to prey on women – often after turning to him for spiritual counsel and support during vulnerable times in their lives?

All the theory in the world is great. But one thing I’ve learned from experience is this: Those who want to help these women find justice and closure, and protect others, need an unflinching resolve to stand toe to toe against these predators.

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What if the local church refuses or otherwise fails to stop a pastor or other church leader who abuse his position of trust and power? Then he must be openly reprimanded as a public warning to all – no exceptions! 1 Timothy 5 teaches this.

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So you’ve tried to follow the procedure of 1 Tim. 5, as discussed in Part 4 of this series, by investigating and exposing church leaders who abused their positions of power and trust.

But what if you were rebuffed?

Or what if – despite public reprimand, confession and repentance – you reasonably fear that they may continue preying on others or the church is not providing restitution for the harm you’ve been bearing? Scripturally, do you have additional options?

More specifically, is it ever proper to seek help from the courts and secular authorities to deal with pastoral sexual abuse or churches which allowed it to happen? After all, doesn’t 1 Cor. 6 say we should not sue another brother?

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