Ministry Is Messy – How Do You Love a Wife Beater?
You know the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss.”
That became more real than ever today as I found out that the husband of a young mother that we assisted yesterday punched her in the face when he found out. It became real when I discovered that it wasn’t the first time. It became real when I discovered that he’s broken bones before. It became real when I found out that the child, who is in Kindergarten, has witnessed it more than once…saw her Daddy beat her Mommy.
You know what we assisted with?
Laundry…we gave her money to do her laundry, his laundry, laundry that she completed then paid for with her face.
The man in me wants to run to her rescue. I am suddenly consumed with a rage that will, in itself, turn violent if I were to see the husband…the father. I am suddenly consumed with an urge to purchase a handgun, and to call some old friends to help me pay a visit.
His excuse for beating her is that he becomes so enraged that he blacks out and doesn’t know what he’s doing.
What a load of #$%^! He knows exactly what he’s doing, and that wicked heart of his likes it.
How do I love this wife and mother who is afraid to involve the police because of what happened the last time he got out of jail for beating her?
How do I love this little girl trapped in a home that could eventually see her victimized?
And here’s where I almost can’t believe I am asking this question and it’s where following Jesus just freaking make no sense, and that is how do I love this man that beats his wife for getting enough money from the church to help do his laundry?
Jesus, how do I love him?
I know that loving him isn’t to excuse his actions, or to ignore pursuing criminal action, or to just pretend that I never heard what I have just heard.
But I just don’t know how to love him?
I am posting this because I want to ask for you to pray for this situation. Yesterday I saw her make a commitment to follow Jesus and today I found out how incredibly difficult that is going to be for her. So, pray.
Otherwise if anyone has dealt with something like this before successfully I’d like to hear from you. Please, leave me a comment. Thanks.
Is God Worth Following? Eternal Life Doesn’t Suck!
Today as I made my way though Daniel I got to read my favorite of all Bible stories, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the Firey Furnace.” I don’t know why it is my favorite. Maybe it’s because I think the name Shadrach is the coolest name in the Bible and way better than his Hebrew name of Hananiah. Maybe it’s because even after they are given prominent roles in the governemnt of Nebuchadnezzar they still stand against the ungodliness. Maybe it’s because they do it without fear of losing their job and losing their life overcoming their fear of God. Maybe it’s because God saves them, and appears with them in the furnace. Or maybe it’s because of Daniel 3:18, “ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
I often wonder if we have crossed a significant line over the years as we have tried to make Christianity palatable. We try to convince people that there is something in it for them if they would just pray this prayer and get dunked in this giant bathtub. We preach sermons about how God can fix your marriage, your kids, your finances, and your health and we fail to proclaim with the same vigor that He’s still worth following even if our wife still decides to leave us, our kids still choose to disobey us, we still end up bankrupt, and we still get cancer.
I have a friend, much older than I, who asked me a question as he was obviously dealing with the same thing. He said, “Robert, would you follow Jesus even if it meant that you would go to Hell?”
What a great question. I’m haunted by that question every day, because when he asked it I had to really check myself and I had to deeply deal with just how selfish I was in my own personal walk and in how I was communicating the gospel to others.
My answer today is, “I think so. I mean, I would try to. It would depend upon how connected I am to what it was He actually has done for me. The more connected I am to His suffering, the more likely I will be to suffer for Him” If I learned anything from Peter on the night Jesus was betrayed it was that I am never sure until the opportunity arrises.
I’m not sure how hot Hell is, but it can’t get much hotter than that furnace in Daniel 3.
And those three guys went.
May my faith in the little things of today prove beneficial when the furnace comes for me, and for you.
Is God worth following? I hope so. And this hope comes from a place deep inside of me, that just showed up one day when God through His crushing grace saved me.
Addendum:
Daniel 3 also raises a question I’ll have to ask when I see Jesus face to face: “Where in the heck was Daniel in all of this? Was he unaware of what was going down? Did he try to stick up for his friends? Did he choose to worship the statue? He’s conspicuously absent…
Life sucks…
Friend just found out mom has ovarian cancer…dad has heart disease and was just released after another heart attack…God, life sucks! Help.
So, those diagnosed with cancer within the last year that I know: My mom, my neighbor, 40 year old mother of three with leukemia, and now one more.
Father God, on behalf of these I come…and I plea…that you heal them. In the powerful name of Jesus I humbly pray. AMEN…So be it!