Sexual HEALING
O ne in four women and one in six men are or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime . Someone in the pew at church sitting next to you may have been a victim of rape . Maybe you suffered sexual violence or violation .
Some have been abused right in our churches by parents , stepparents , pastors , priests and other spiritual leaders who preyed on them instead of protecting them . Broken . Wounded . Ashamed . The effects go beyond the physical and touch every area of life , including the spiritual . But there is hope for healing . Dr . Andrew Schmutzer , a professor of Biblical Studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago , has written several articles and essays about how the church can help survivors of sexual abuse and is himself a survivor . Dr . Schmutzer talks with The Well Magazine about how the Church can help victims of sexual abuse heal .
What are the effects of sexual abuse spiritually ? It is the crushing of metaphor . The Christian leader , pastor , youth worker , parent are meant to be an example of the God who is not seen . Particularly when a child is abused , it really crushes
20 20 The Well The Well Magazine Magazine / Spring / Spring 2013 2013
Image courtesy of luigi diamanti at FreeDigitalPhotos . net this boy or girl ’ s view of trust , of protection , of this good God — particularly if the abuse is by a Christian leader . Another effect is the mistrust of the goodness of God . How can a good God create a system of leaders that can abuse both physically , sexually and also spiritually ? It is more insidious in a faith context . Some ( abusers ) may even say I have the authority to do this . There is an enormous mistrust of leadership . These folks don ’ t want to follow anyone anymore . They don ’ t even trust themselves . That is one of the difficulties survivors face . They need to be taught to trust and relate all over again .
What is your assessment of how the church has dealt with this issue ? We haven ’ t done well . I love the church and I am committed to the church but it doesn ’ t always do well . The church is concerned first and foremost with its own image . They fall prey to image management . That ’ s a result of pastors who are thinking more as CEOs than shepherds . They want to protect the organization .
It ’ s not the victim who is center stage . It ’ s the organization . Most abuse is from people the victim knows . These are not suspicious people in the church ’ s eyes . So here ’ s a teenager who has been abused . How is this teenage girl going to