Thanks for tackling this important topic. Your readers may be interested to learn more about child abuse prevention programs and abuse reporting laws for church leaders. These resources from Christianity Today can help:

* Reducing The Risk: http://ReducingTheRisk.com

* Reducing The Risk kit: http://store.churchlawtodaystore.com/seabpr.html

* The 2012 Child Abuse Reporting Laws for Churches: http://store.churchlawtodaystore.com/20chabrelafo3.html

Best,

Matt Branaugh
Christianity Today’s Church Law & Tax Group

Side note: As for “big words”, once again you may be pretending, for some reason some people take a perverse pride in ignorance – it’s a kind of reverse snobbery really. If you really don’t know the meaning of something that’s no shame, but get a dictionary. You’re not really dumb so don’t be intellectually lazy.

I take Jesus at His word when I read John 6:29, and also when I read John 5:28-29. Do you? I believe, with joy, what Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8 and also take seriously what he tells us in Ephesians 5:5-7, in Galatians 5:19-21, and Galatians 6:7. I wish more of the whole counsel of God had been pointed out to me earlier in my life. Or maybe it was and I was just blinkered by a few cherry-picked verses. Don’t you be.

“We evangelicals must accept that our beliefs are now in conflict with the mainstream culture. We cannot change ancient doctrines to adapt to the currents of the day. But we can, and must, adapt the way we hold our beliefs — with grace and humility instead of superior hostility. The core evangelical belief is that love and forgiveness are freely available to all who trust in Jesus Christ. This is the “good news” from which the evangelical name originates (“euangelion” is a Greek word meaning “glad tidings” or “good news”). Instead of offering hope, many evangelicals have claimed the role of moral gatekeeper, judge and jury. If we continue in that posture, we will continue to invite opposition and obscure the “good news” we are called to proclaim.We evangelicals must accept that our beliefs are now in conflict with the mainstream culture. We cannot change ancient doctrines to adapt to the currents of the day. But we can, and must, adapt the way we hold our beliefs — with grace and humility instead of superior hostility. The core evangelical belief is that love and forgiveness are freely available to all who trust in Jesus Christ. This is the “good news” from which the evangelical name originates (“euangelion” is a Greek word meaning “glad tidings” or “good news”). Instead of offering hope, many evangelicals have claimed the role of moral gatekeeper, judge and jury. If we continue in that posture, we will continue to invite opposition and obscure the “good news” we are called to proclaim.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/the-decline-of-evangelical-america.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

This is a great Tim Keller sermon on the dangers of prideful religion. The Flannery O’connor story pretty much sums it up. Can you believe a liberal would listen to Keller? Maybe I’m more orthodox than you think. Grab a pair of heads phones. Great sermon for those who are so sure they are going to heaven. I would love to hear your thoughts especially on the Flannery Oconnor reference.

http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/losing-my-religion-why-christians-should-drop-their-religion

John, no one is turning the Good News into Bad News. The Good News is that God has provided salvation from those who repent, and this is grace based, not merit based. The Good News also is that God cares about the oppressed and desires for them to be protected and restored.

What you are not seeing is the consequence that your “quick to restore” theology has on victims of evil. I have read story after story of an abused spouse was was beaten by her husband, went to her pastor, and her pastor told her that her husband was sorry so she needed to submit to him. And if she didn’t, then SHE was in sin. Or stories of child molesters who remained in the church in good standing, expecting their victims to move on and forgive- and then they do it again. Or how about a three year old who was forced by the church to “forgive” sexual abuse?

I absolutely believe that God can restore and heal the repentant rapist, but a truly repentant heart does not cry “you must forgive me”. A truly repentant heart agrees with God about the evil it has done. A truly repentant heart does does not feel a sense of entitlement. Saying “Yes, I sinned, but you are a sinner too” is not repentance.

Repentance isn’t something a person just speaks, but it shows up in his or her actions. And yes, an abuser can show false repentance for a while, so we have to be wary. Someone who has demonstrated the ability to destroy another human being to satisfy his or her own sense of entitlement can certainly fake it for a while. When the safety and well being of a victim is on the line, repentance of an abuser must not be accepted lightly. And even at that, laws must be obeyed and justice done.

Our first priority must be to the victims. How many times in scripture has God commanded that his people be about justice? Not just punishing the wicked, but restoring the oppressed. When we quickly overlook the oppression of rape, violence, or other forms of abuse, we are not doing justice on behalf of the oppressed- we are siding with the oppressor.

The Good News includes being a people who protected and defend the weak. If it isn’t, then the Good News becomes Bad News to the oppressed who will find no relief in God’s people.