Church Trauma
Pastor Kevin Canterbury
May 8, 2022
Series: Clickbait
15 min. read
God creates. The enemy destroys.
God is a creative God. He invites us, His creation, to join Him in the ongoing creation and reconciliation of people back to Himself. But, there is an enemy, Satan, attempting to pervert and destroy what is good. Our topic today is a difficult one but it’s one we cannot afford to ignore: Church Trauma, (or church hurt). It happens, but it doesn’t have to.
But before we go to church trauma, let’s think outside of the Church itself-
There’s a great deal of pain and trauma in our world that’s enough to cause life-long hurt.
Some of the Main Sources of Trauma include:
Domestic violence. Natural disasters. Severe illness or injury. The death of a loved one. Witnessing an act of violence. Sexual violence (rape, assault, or harassment). Watching traumatic events on TV, in films, or on the internet.
That’s some serious stuff. It happens because we live in a fallen and deeply broken world, where human sin is present AND demonic power is rampant. Now, insert the Church - the Church that Jesus started when He spoke to Peter about “feeding My sheep”.
Matthew 16:18
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell will not overcome it.”
The Church was built to be a sanctuary - a safe place where people can be encouraged, lifted up, and loved. But notice Jesus’ phrasing here, it’s no accident He said “the gates of hell (or hades) will not overcome it”, because the gates of hell will certainly attack it. While we know it won’t be overcome, the fight is real and it is serious. So, the addition of imperfect people serving and leading in the Church will cause hurt, harm, and even trauma.
If you’ve been involved in a church, really in any capacity, you’ve probably been hurt or wounded by it. Any establishment can become a traumatic environment, churches included, but instead of a church being a safe place you can run to, sometimes it can be the greatest perpetrator of embracing terrible ideology and inflicting lasting trauma on its members.
Our text today is one most might know, but I want us to see the story in a new way: Through the lens of church hurt and very real trauma. I’m not sure it gets more real than this:
John 8:1-11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
I don’t think I have to convince anyone here that the way these religious leaders treated this woman was anything short of traumatic. I mean, could you imagine even just being there? You’re in a very public place and a bunch of religious folk bring a woman in front of us all and shame her – isn’t that wild? And my concern for you today is that that’s the only way you would recognize spiritual abuse or trauma – when it’s obvious.
But that’s not how evil usually operates.
Think of it this way: In the opening chapters of Genesis, the bible describes our enemy- the devil. He’s not a red guy with giant horns and a pitchfork. No! How does the devil appear?
As a serpent.
Now, a random serpent would seem out of place in your house or at your local coffee shop… But in a garden, Satan blends in - because you’d expect to see a serpent there. Had Satan approached Eve as he truly was, she would have fled, no doubt.
The devil approaches us appearing to be something he isn’t.
In 2 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul describes Satan as an imitator… “He disguises himself as an angel of light.”
The same thing is true today. We think Satan will appear as an evil emperor or scary monster… (think Palpatine from Star Wars - Dressed in all black. Grey skin. Shooting lightning from his hands.) Obvious evil! But, please hear me out. The devil does not appear in the ways you expect him to. To some of us, he would appear as a Christian.
Church hurt takes place when leaders care more for their power, platform, and prestige than they do for people.
I remember last year hearing Pastor Dharius Daniels preach on this text and he said something really fascinating:
“…this story wasn’t actually about the woman but about a power struggle between the religious leaders and Jesus.”
And therein lies the breeding ground for terrible things to happen in church. People get caught in the middle of this fight. This is true today. There are power struggles between Jesus and those who want to inflate their ego and real people get trapped in the middle and get hurt.
Now, what makes this text really difficult is the details. What the religious leaders did to this poor woman was wrong, but what she was doing was also wrong. Not that she deserved this at all, but that’s what makes this a tough story. The lines get tough to read. Here is why I bring this up: There is an obviously wrong way to handle the situation involving this woman - then, there is the Way of Jesus.
See, these religious leaders took it upon themselves to take this poor woman and act as if they are applying scripture accurately. The scripture they were referencing (Leviticus 20:10) says both parties are to be put to death, but where’s the man, huh?
Selective application of scripture will always lead to trauma.
So, what does Jesus do? He kneels and basically says, “I see you selectively applying scripture here, so the one among of you that is without sin can throw the first stone.”
(Deuteronomy 17:7 states “the witnesses must be the first to throw the stone…”)
Once they leave, Jesus asks the woman where her accusers are, “has no one condemned you?” And she says “no one.” Jesus says “then neither do I, go and sin no more.”
So, did Jesus lower the standard? No. Jesus models a better way to address it and motivate someone to embrace the standard!
Grace doesn’t lower the standard,
grace is just a great motivator for people to actually reach it.
Hurt and trauma come in when we offer people
religion and rules when they need relationship and direction.
Jesus had to rescue people from His own religion
Jesus is Jewish. Today isn’t about attacking the Church, but about accountability. If Jesus corrected His people, then I want to see that example and apply it to us today.
I mean, how do you think this woman felt about Judaism after this? Those men may have walked away that day but they were still religious leaders in her town. She still had to live through the shame and exposure that happened to her.
How do you think this woman felt about spiritual authority?
What do you think she thought about God after this?
There are three areas or elements of trauma that I personally think are the most pervasive and dangerous within the Church today.
These traumatic environments I’m going to discuss today may at times seem “Christian” or feel “Christian” but it doesn’t mean they are.
Traumatic Environments:
1: LEGALISM
Legalism takes place when anything is added to the Gospel. Anything that is added to earn or ensure salvation, rather than simply being given salvation. Adding rules, requirements, and standards to Jesus that He Himself does not require brings about a serious spiritual trauma.
Focusing on God’s laws more than relationship with God, keeping external laws without a submissive heart, and adding man-made rules to divine laws and treating them as divine.
Legalism is one of the most crippling things I think you can experience, and Jesus had His fair share of experiences with legalists and the religiousness of the Pharisees – these were His greatest critics, right? Let me encourage you today if you call yourself a Christian: Not everyone will like you... and if you’re honest with yourself, you don’t even want everyone to like you! Or in other words, in this life you will have haters! Make sure you have the right ones. If the people who throw stones at you are the same ones who wanted to throw stones at this woman and were the ones plotting against Jesus, then you are in good company! If the legalists are coming for you, you must be doing something like Jesus, so don’t get discouraged by it- but take heart.
God creates, but the enemy destroys. Something so freeing, like faith in God, becomes a means by which we condemn and enslave others.
The amount of convincing I have to do for people to simply believe that God TRULY loves them as they are is staggering. No one is perfect, but the perpetuation of legalism is not just a result in misinterpreting scripture but is a result of arrogance. These religious leaders were doing this to this poor woman and they lacked the humility to see the scripture properly, and instead viewed the situation as a means to try to get power and influence away from Jesus.
One of the most obvious ways to tell if someone is struggling with legalism or a religious spirit is:
Legalists are easily offended and difficult to please
But Spirit-filled believers that embody the Way of Jesus are actually hard to offend and easy to please – so which describes your faith more? Are you easily upset by others? Are your standards within faith beyond the standards of Jesus?
Legalism in the church will crush people and kill faith. But there’s another trauma out there that is in our churches today:
2: RACISM
The Book of James calls it “partiality”. But this is what I am finding that makes racism difficult for people to accept as a real problem… “If I’m not actively racist, I’m not racist.” Racism isn’t only intentional or deterministic, meaning racism takes place without someone actively pursuing it.
Here’s what I mean:
Racism exists outside of white-power chatrooms and KKK rallies.
Racism exists outside of discriminating against minorities.
Racism exists outside of using offensive language or racist words.
Now, we would agree those are examples of overt racism, right? Easy to see. But that’s not always how evil operates – it’s not always obvious, remember? The devil is not usually an obvious racist, but will present himself as “meaning well”.
Racism exists outside of your awareness of it.
Isn’t it interesting how some Christians can examine other sins and say you are guilty whether you are aware it is sin or not? But when racism comes up, there is a litany of excuses, some I have heard:
I didn’t know!
How am I responsible for what past generations did?
Black millionaires exist, there’s no such thing as racism or systems that perpetuate it.
Racism exists outside of your awareness of it. The fact that you can’t handle your fellow siblings in Christ correcting some of your thinking, some of your assumptions, or some of your messed-up theology says abundantly more about your arrogance.
“I am only struggling with racism if I am actively doing it…”
That’s not how sin works. Add to that, the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick…” As is true with ANY sin, we need people in our lives to call it out of us at times, you are not perfectly aware of yourself.
I try to be a Kingdom-driven person, all about the Gospel. Discussing issues of race is a Gospel issue. Because there is a false-peace we white people want to be true and in our circles, we cling to that false peace, or we find a quote from the one person of color that shares my ideology, sacrificing the concerns and realities of the majority, to pacify my own uneasiness – that’s not how sin works and there are populations of people who have been traumatized and are being traumatized because of our arrogance and dismissiveness.
“Pastor, it would go away if we stopped talking about it.”
What other sin goes away if we stop addressing it?
You do know there are plenty of folks alive today that had to drink from separate water fountains? And had to sit in separate places on the bus? There are people who experienced that that are still alive! So, follow the bread crumbs here- If THEY are still living, then the people who believed in, perpetuated, and rallied for that segregation are ALSO still alive, and they raised a generation of people with the sin of racism as a template to view the world.
Talking about something that divides us isn’t divisive,
but ignoring sin to keep people comfortable most definitely is.
This problem is so ingrained in us that when a black man dies in the streets our first response isn’t compassion or grief but the question: “Well, what did he do?”
I say this with a sincere heart: If we aren’t talking about this, if we aren’t continuing the conversation on the sin of racism, do we really care for the Gospel of Christ? If not, I think it’s because we simply want power and now we have circled back: Religious folks grabbing for power at the expense of people and it is absolutely traumatizing.
3: SEXISM
Before going here, we Christians must have a heart of grace toward people who interpret scripture differently with sincere motives. There are churches that have divided over the conversation of women in ministry, preferential treatment of men over women, and so on. I believe there are Gospel-centered people who love Jesus, love scripture, love the Church, and love one another with sincere conviction but we won’t all agree on this… I’m not here to distinguish between gender roles either, simply approaching the sin of sexism.
Here at Rock Vineyard, our Lead Team is a female majority and I am grateful for that. God has equipped the women in this church to serve and push and help and challenge and LEAD our church. Ladies, you won’t find a leadership ceiling here.
When I say sexism, I mean the prejudice against women based on their gender and that doesn’t just exist in the Church but historically it has thrived. Again, not talking about our fellow believers who simply hold different convictions, but I am talking about the trauma associated with real sexism that tells women “we want your tithes and your generosity, but have no room for your input.”
When sexism enters the Church, we communicate that a woman’s value is only defined by her service.
“Serve, give, clean up, smile, watch the kids, but do not lead. Remain quiet, but subject yourself to inappropriate comments, remain in an environment where you are objectified because this is for the Church and we all have burdens to bear…” No way!
Ladies, I cannot speak for every church but I will speak for mine: If you don’t feel safe, we are not safe. If you feel forgotten or tossed to the side because you are a woman, we must know, because we need to learn and we need to correct.
Sexism in the Church is a problem, but its roots are ingrained in the home and it takes all of us being aware of our blind spots and being willing to learn and grow at 30, 40, 50, 90 years old AND it requires we say something when we see something. It simply takes all of us to help mitigate this. Ladies, if you aren’t safe or empowered to lead then something is seriously wrong and we need to know.
Men, we can help and we can step up by kneeling.
Men, I don’t want to just hear about your skills, your leadership style, or your gifts to lead the church. I want to see your butt serving others and setting an example of what it looks like to be a Godly man of integrity; one that advocates and elevates others, especially women.
Men, we help lead the Church by viewing our sisters in the faith not as prizes to be won, a problem to be conquered, or a hurdle for inclusion purposes, but as an equal member deserving of equal regard and respect.
“The truth is that sexism is harder to navigate as a woman in ministry than a woman in business because of the belief that we will accept these comments as unintentional and because we are expected to react even to unkindness with love. If we respond in such a way that our retorts are deemed unkind, we run the risk of all kinds of interpretive results: we are not very Christian, we are awfully sensitive…”
Karoline M. Lewis, Chair of Homiletics at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, Book: She
I was at the park with my kids last summer and my daughter, Lenya, was upset by something and telling her older brothers not do what they did to her again… and they listened! But the stranger sitting with me on the bench said, “Wow, she’s bossy!” I gently responded, “She’s not bossy, she’s brave.”
There are some seriously traumatic environments at play within the Church and these three areas are by no means all of them, but they are holding people back. What God created the Church to do is good, but the enemy destroys and distorts. So with humble hearts today, would you be willing to examine your role in your church or community?
Are these traumatic elements of the greater Church present in your heart?
Legalism, the elevation of people into God’s rightful place…
Racism, the elevation of certain people ahead of others…
Sexism, the elevation of men in front of women…
Contrary to what you may think, I am a firm believer that the local church holds the hope of the world: The Way of Jesus. It is because of Jesus and His promise over the Church, “the gates of hell will not overcome it”, that I will fight against these elements that keep people out of church and away from their Creator.
God creates, the enemy destroys…
The Church is meant to be a place of development.
The enemy wants the Church to be a place of destruction.
What happens in the Church is up to us… the Church.
What will the church become? Will we do the hard work to eliminate legalism, racism, and sexism? Will we humbly listen to the voices of our fellow children of God when things aren’t ok? Will you choose to help us lead a church that is known for making wrongs right, and slaves free?
It’s simple. I firmly believe that is the way forward, I believe that is the Way of Jesus.
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About Pastor Kevin
Lead pastor at Rock Vineyard Church.
Discipled in the SBC.
Educated at Fuller Seminary.
Trained in the Vineyard.
Loved by Jesus
Eternally grateful.