The Church
Caught between the Devil and a Woman
The Church
An agent of Satan or a Refuge for Healing
The Church
Caught between the Devil and a Woman
The Church’s Response to
Intimate Partner Abuse
THE PRINCIPLE:
“Do you not know that you
are God’s temple, and that
God’s Spirit dwells in you? If
anyone destroys God’s
temple, God will destroy that
person. For God’s temple is
holy, and you are that
temple” (I Cor. 3:16-17).
The Greek word translated
“temple” here comes from
a root word meaning to
dwell and is related to the
Greek word meaning “a
sacred place.”
“For you were bought
with a price;
therefore glorify God
in your body”
(I Cor. 6:19-20).
THE REALITY
• The bodies of some are
exchanged for money.
• Others whose bodies are
not yet able to bear children
are forced to give birth,
often dying in the process.
• Many who survive endure
a living death with diseases
that make them social
outcasts.
Jesus came to release women and
girls from the bondage of social
custom and give them a place of
honor in the kingdom of heaven.
Is the church doing this today?
Jesus came to release everyone
from the bondage of social
custom and give them a place of
honor in the kingdom of heaven.
Is the church doing this today?
Jesus went out of His
way to empower the
powerless and give
honor to those shamed
by social, political,
economic, or religious
restrictions.
We must examine our own attitudes, as
well as the problems in our community.
We must ask ourselves, “What am I doing
to help protect women and teenage girls
in my church?” “What am I, by my
unconcern, allowing to go on in my
town?” “Am I acting like Christ?”
It is important also to
consider the sources of my
attitudes. Negative customs
and attitudes about women
have been codified in the
laws of many cultures.
THE RESPONSE
Too often Christians adopt the
social and political attitudes
of their society rather than
building a strong biblical
foundation which
recognizes how much God
values every person.
The Christian church bears a moral
responsibility to call governments,
communities, and individuals to rise to
the biblical standard of the high value
God places on the human body, the
temple of the Holy Spirit and purchase of
Jesus Christ.
Before significant behavioral changes can occur
or more ministry services are organized, it is
important for more church members and
leaders to recognize the extent and severity
of abuse issues in their churches.
THE EVIDENCE
What evidence do we have that
God wanted to raise and
restore woman to her rightful
position?
God forever raised
woman’s body from
shame to honor, from
humiliation to respect.
1. Mary
2. The woman with the issue
of blood
3. Mary and Martha
Jesus not only elevates
women to new heights,
but He honors and
respects her capacity to use
her God-given mental
powers to learn.
Jesus, once again, is breaking
the stranglehold of socially
assigned “woman’s place” to
raise her to the place God has
assigned her.
This is what Jesus shows in all these
encounters. Understanding this, one
can understand Paul’s statement that
in Christ, there is no male or female
(Gal. 3:28), since their baptism into
Christ makes them equal in Christ.
The lesson from Jesus’ encounters
with women whose bodies and
brains were disdained and
abused is that those who receive
Jesus Christ must honor and
respect women.
What can the
church do?
Sadly, abuse among
Christians
is on par with those
who claim no faith.
What can the
church do?
The Church can develop a
proper theology of
marriage, family life, and
reconciliation.
I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master's
business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from
my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15 NIV
I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master's
business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from
my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15 NIV
Servants have
little or no control
over their lives.
I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master's
business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from
my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15 NIV
Friends have total
control of their
lives.
The Church can admit
that intimate partner
abuse exists--awareness.
Conduct an abuse prevention
Sabbath/Sunday service each year.
The Church can seek to
employ more female
pastors.
Women stated in the interviews that they
would not confide in a pastor simply because
in most cases the pastor was a man. Kathy, a
marital sexual abuse survivor, said, “I could
never go to a man to tell this stuff to. It’s just
too intimate.” In the single case where the
survivor’s home church employed a female
pastor, the abuse survivor recalled that
female pastor as being a “godsent.”
The church can stop
creating and sheltering the
abusers.
The church can listen to
the hurting.
The church can support
government legislation that
will help protect victims of
abuse.
The Church can conduct
seminars on intimate
partner abuse.
The Church can conduct
support groups for
victims of abuse.
The Church can conduct
men's retreat that
promotes equality and
partnership rather than
male “leadership”.
Male and female have equal voice, vote,
and power in all human relationships.
The Church Can
Teach men how to be good
persons.
Teach men that they are not leaders
by default.
Teach that leadership is a gift
and not a gender.
"There must be. . . "a liberation of the male
psyche from preoccupation with domination,
power hunger, control of patriarchal culture.
This requires commitment to deep study,
combined with a willingness for painful,
uncomfortable, and often shocking change."
(Haki Madhubuti)
Instead of telling men to “go home
and take back authority, (Tony
Evans)” teach men the concept of
power sharing and co-leadership in
marriage.
The Church can hold the
abusers responsible for
their behaviors.
"If the problem of wife abuse is one of
evil, the church can no longer avoid
taking sides.“ A love which intends
to be effective in terms of God’s
kingdom cannot avoid taking sides,"
says theologian Jose Bonino. . .
. . . In fact the church will be in collusion
with evil if it does not a stand on the side
of the victim. Only when it becomes an
advocate for the oppressed can it fulfill
its prophetic role." Battered Into Submission (Alsdurf)
“ In Christianity, I've experienced
"leadership" attitudes from men that
have been of the dominating perspective
than of the understanding guidance
perspective. I know many men who have
taken "Christian" teachings and used
them as their God-given authority to
"keep a woman in her place" and
maintain their male-leadership role. . .
. . . They refuse to let their wives get a job, to
go to college, have her own friends, dress the
way she wants to, etc. They want to control a
person in order to be the "leader." And guess
what a lot of Christian men do when their
wives won't do what they tell them to -- a
little verbal hollering, shaming, a few slaps, a
little hitting, to show them who's in charge
because God said so in the Bible.”
The Church Can
“Teach all to speak evil of no one, to
avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to
show perfect courtesy toward all
human beings.” Titus 3:2
The Church should be a
place where men and
women are freed from the
slavery of traditionalism.
The church must not be
caught between the Devil
and a woman. Instead, it
must unfurl its waves of
freedom and justice.
The church is to be a
haven of rest and a safe
place for the wounded.
May the “renewal of our minds” create
new and wholesome ways of relating to
one another in Christ, honoring body,
soul, and spirit as a gift we give to one
another because we recognize the value
God places on every person.
ADRA/WM Partnership
www.enditnow.org
www.adventistwomensministries.org
The Church
A haven of rest