Jesus Wept

Where to even begin with this? Since I have started this blog, I have used Twitter as my main social media platform to let people know when I post something. Since then, I have cultivated a wide range of men and women who I follow to make me think and laugh and, hopefully, become a better disciple of my King.

Over the past few weeks, I could not help but notice the back and forth about the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville. I am not a Baptist, but apparently I follow quite a few of them on Twitter, and apparently there is a pretty foul rot in the upper echelons of that denomination.

I won’t bore you with the ins and outs, but the long story short is that some of the higher ups in the SBC have been covering up or ignoring cases of sexual abuse. Not only that, but apparently some have been lashing out at abuse survivors. They seem more angry that the dirty laundry is being aired than that pastors and seminary professors soiled the laundry to begin with.

I applaud the brave women and men who share their stories, even in the face of backlash by so-called brothers and sisters in Christ. After reading yet another account from a survivor, I kept coming back to John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”

Jesus wept when Mary and Martha confronted Him with their pain and grief over Lazarus’ death. Even though He knew that Lazarus’ resurrection was imminent, still Jesus wept over their pain.

In the same way, wept over each instance of abuse. Every time an adult has preyed on an innocent child. Every time someone has abused their authority to manipulate someone under their care. Every time an abuser has denied and their enablers stood by and did nothing. Jesus wept.

Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So I believe He is still weeping. He is grieved over the state of His Church, His bride. He weeps over the survivors, and He weeps over the abusers. He weeps over those whose hearts have been so hardened that they would use the faith as a cover for their wickedness.

But do not confuse His sorrow for weakness. Do not confuse His patience for apathy. Scripture is clear that Jesus reigns over all and the scepter of judgment is in His hand. Let us choose to stand with the survivors of abuse now, lest we find ourselves standing against King Jesus in the Day of Judgment.