UNITED STATES
Charisma News
JESSILYN JUSTICE
Sin, death, repentance, grace: They’re the core elements of what we believe, and by putting them into practice, we set ourselves apart from the world as we strive for holiness.
But holiness is not perfection, as the recent case of Josh Duggar revealed. Brothers and sisters, we were quick to forgive as Christ forgave us, and for that I am thankful.
Duggar recognized his wrongdoing, confessed, repented and has spent his life making up for it. His sin led to his salvation, and we rejoice in that.
However, as I scroll through reactions on social media, I am not without a heavy heart as I see how we as Christians try to cover up our sin, to protect our own and whitewash their wrongdoings without consequences.
Unfortunately, I think this applies too often to sexual abuse in the church. How often do we preach about forgiveness, practice it and let those who participated in sexual crimes take places in leadership?
Forgiveness and moving along doesn’t mean we are without consequences. Though Josh deeply regrets his actions, he’s still haunted by them, as are the victims of his sexual abuse and others.
Though all sin is equal in terms of separating us from the Father, sexual sin is different from others in terms that it’s both an internal and external expression of one’s flesh. To engage in sex outside of God’s intent means we are saying that we know better for ourselves than God does, and we sear our souls in an attempt to gratify our flesh.
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