Angels In Heaven, Devils on Earth
When I read about teenagers and adults teaching children (ages 2 & 4) how to smoke pot it fuels my righteous indignation.
When I read about a man who stabbed his wife to death and gives the
knife to his 2 year old and says "now you stab mommy" it fuels my
righteous indignation.
When I search the Megan’s law website for sexual predators - trying to see if a house we are looking at will be in a safe neighborhood for our children - I read about these crimes committed against children and it fuels my righteous indignation.
It’s easy to become upset at the heinous actions of others. Crimes against children should make our blood boil.
I read these stories and think about what Jesus said:
"If one of these little children believes in me, and
someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to
have a large stone tied around the neck and be drowned in the sea."
I read these stories and begin to look for large stones!
I also think about these other words of Jesus:
Be careful. Don’t think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven."
And then wonder if we could be doing more, as a community of faith, to protect children.
8 Responses to “Angels In Heaven, Devils on Earth”
You remind me of a man who attended our church for a couple of years. Wheelchair bound. Numerous medical problems. We noticed he would position his wheelchair near or under the stairway leading up to the junior high and high school classrooms. It was discovered through one of those child predator websites that this guy was a convicted child predator! We assigned a couple of guys to make sure he was always being watched and always inside the building and not under stairs where he could look up the girls dresses. Then we had a guy working in our office for about a year, only to learn (again through one of those web sites) that he was a convicted molestor. We confronted him about it and he had a good story of how it was all a "big mistake" and he was trying to get it all straightened out. Because we had a preschool at the church then, we immediately dismissed him from working in the office and within a couple of weeks, we never saw him again.
Like the actions of Greg and the Long Beach Church, our churches must be vigiliant when it comes to protecting our children.
At the Nashville Zoe 2 years ago, I took a wrong turn at the Woodmont Church looking for a restroom and started walking down the "restricted children’s hallway." I was immediately stopped by one of the workers who did a great imitation of a Mama Lioness protecting her cubs. She quickly re-directed me to the right hallway. I probably should have told her "who" I was which would have no doubt helped (and impressed her as well) the situation.
I saw on the Today show the teenagers actually teaching the toddlers to smoke pot. It was horrible…the kids were coughing, but as little kids do, picked up on it very quickly. I don’t know what should happen to those teenage boys, but I’m glad they’ve removed the toddlers from the Grandma’s home. (who appeared to be trying to raise all of them.) Hard subject…gets ugly for me when you involve children.
"And then wonder if we could be doing more, as a community of faith, to protect children…."
Indeed, many churches have instituted "Safe Sanctuary" programs to provide training & education to adult & teen leaders of children. Another aspect of your question to wrestle with as a community of faith - and this is difficult - is what our role might be in rehabilitating the offender and offering the hope of the transformative power of Jesus to these individuals. Certainly, these souls need professional help and most churches are not equipped to do this. But much like how many communities of faith have put their "money where their mouth is" by working with crisis pregnancy centers instead of just being anti-abortion, will centers to rehabilitate these offenders begin to arise and is there a role for us as communities of faith to become involved?
While the seeming increase in these offenses in the last several years can be partly attributed to greater awareness of this issue, it is also a reality that the Internet is an enabler to those mired in this and it’s here to stay. You’ve raised challenging thoughts, Randy. This reflecting God business is messy, isn’t it?
I spoke Sunday on forgiveness, among other things. This, for me, is the hardest application. Obviously, the flipside to all of this is trying to figure out how to be Jesus to the predators. I want to write them off and send them to Hell with an immediate one-way ticket. How in the world do I help them? How do I forgive them?
Vigilance, yes. Discipline, sure. But forgiveness too.
This is one of those blogs where I read one comment and think, "Yes!" and then another comment makes me think, "Yes!, and still another angle and again, "Yes!" Yes I’m angry! Yes, I want discipline and am indignant! And Yes, I want forgiveness and rehab. And especially yes to protecting our children! I think too that it is sad that we are even talking about an issue like this. It is truly an testimony as to the downward spiral that our society is taking. God bless our children.
Let me chime in with what everyone else has said. This is a timely topic, of course, and nothing, absoluely nothing, is as revolting and repulsive as what happens to innocent children in this world today. In our part of the world, among many others, in the recent past, a six-year old girl was abducted by this guy, sexually molested and shot, left for dead in the woods somewhere in Mississippi. They got the guy pretty quickly (boyfriend of the child’s babysitter). But in the course of all the news, this guy’s aunt was interviewed, and she was showing support for her nephew, saying he was her family member and she couldn’t just turn her back on him. Well, just in the last week, SHE has been arrested as an accessory to the evil crime! I think they should both be strung up by their fingernails myself, but there again, you get back to the fact that Jesus died for them, too. As Steve said, what a struggle to be Jesus to them.
Even against almost unbelievably pessimistic odds, the little girl lived. And if you can believe the news, she’s doing well.
sorry–this may be long. i lived in a small town recently where the church i attended bungled their situation very badly. a man began attending one church and that small community came to blend with the church i would later come to attend (a glorious thing to witness, really) the man had confessed that he had been jailed for molesting a child and has since married and was looking to change–this to the first group ‘elders’…no one knew about this until the second eldership was made aware of this confession. they promptly met with all parents of small children (we had a lot of small children). and they discouraged gossip and promoted forgiveness, the man was registered, and asked that if anyone had questions to address the elders–and please don’t just tell families you invite… (not sure how this was to work) but mainly we should all keep a vigilance.we did not see much more of the man because a young mother (whose sister-in-law had been approached to be molested by a preacher at this same church many years previous) decided to look the ‘predator’ up and found he had changed his name and was not registered by this new name (she is a clever researcher). she talked to a law enforcement friend about the ‘degree’ next to the man’s name. yep–the worst degree offense you can imagine.the elders were content that the man confessed and that when they approached him he admitted freely his past crimes. the woman came to them with her findings, hoping they would realize that the man had glossed over important details. she was dismissed as a gossip.i am sad to say that this becomes heartbreaking. he is not a predator of adorable little girls (of which we had many)…he preyed on boys middle school to junior high.–we were unprepared. one such young man in our midst (a son of a leader in the first small church) finally went to the police and aided them in gathering evidence–this after some time of abuse–and after his parents left town on a trip–this after he attempted and was caught touching his young niece inappropriately.this young man was not the only victim in the congregation (there were two others). worse, the parents stepped away from their son. and the church members are hurting to figure out how to deal with the ugliness.predators have often been preyed upon. what now of this boy who has already exhibited tendencies? what of the middle schoolers and the predators in our high schoolers who are peers not dirty old men?i like prayer. i like vigilance and education. i believe forgiveness and the wisest course. i like to know that God heals and redeems that which we wouldn’t conceive as possible.a note: the neighbor town and church has a ‘predator’ and has for some time. he came before the congregation and is open about his past. if he needs to go to the bathroom he walks to a nearby gas station or enter the foyer if it means he would be alone with a child or young person. he refuses to put himself in a position of temptation or of another’s speculation. he is a valued member and a powerful witness.sorry…no real answers, just an experience to share.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.