Wrathful Lambs: When the abused come to the end of their patience
I need to be very clear about a parallel I’m going to draw. Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain; his death alone takes away sins for those who are in Him. Scripture tells us of a day when Jesus will judge the world, and this terrifying day is known as the Wrath of the Lamb. I do not want to distract away from who Jesus is and what He will accomplish on that day.
But I want to talk about other lambs for a moment while never losing sight of the Lamb of God. These other lambs don’t take away the sins of the world, but lambs who went to a kind of slaughter themselves. Selfish shepherds and other predators have taken from and consumed too many of the most defenseless among us. More and more, the quiet, traumatized cries of the mistreated have been rising. Many ignored these cries, and the cries for help are turning into something else. These little lambs, innocents who were torn apart for the pleasure of predators, are beginning to show signs of wrath.
The Holy Spirit, inspiring Scripture’s description of how Jesus’ judgment would look, chose this very imagery through John’s writing. The idea of an un-intimidating lamb raging against evil is a strange one. In Revelation, the Lamb, enraged at the evils of the world, pours out His righteous wrath. These lambs are enraged at the evils of the church, and they are set to stampede in their own wrath.
The problem that we often do not want to admit is that the predators are in the church. The safe place for a flock has too often become a buffet for wolves. Churches have not really heard the cries of the victims at our complacency and predators’ greed. As I survey the world around us now, I hear a change in the cries for help. There is an anger, not just in what was stolen from them, but because we never sought to give dignity to their pain. They exposed their pain so that others would not have to experience the same horrific injuries. Not only have our church cultures not changed at their cries, but often the very same people are still on the prowl in new churches. Pain and disappointment have built into something more. The lambs are growing wrathful. Much of this wrath is directed toward unfaithful churches who did not help them bear their burdens. This is not an idle wrath.
The lambs are not wrong. Sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, and other forms of mistreatment are devastating evils to experience. Even more so within church communities. This stampede has begun to pick up more and more of the victims, reminding each other of the truth. The truth that many Pastors hid their stories because they were afraid of what outsiders would think. The truth that communities didn’t help them bear their burdens that were so unjustly forced on them, but instead wanted the victims to bear their shame in silence. The truth that many people spoke highly of concepts of truth and righteousness, but when little lambs were attacked and consumed, those realities were too uncomfortable to discuss. Anger at the unrighteousness of those who proclaim righteousness fits very well with Jesus’ own words about hypocritical spiritual leaders.
The victims of abuse are learning they have power. They have numbers. They can accomplish more than they ever thought they could. They can do what cowardly pastors were unwilling to do. Many refuse to live in the powerless place predators assumed they would stay in. They don’t need to be shut down by false definitions of forgiveness, be content with shallow apologies, or keep quiet for the ease and comfort of cowards. They have read in the Bible that God loves justice. They know that it is hired hands that run from wolves, but true shepherds will risk their own lives. They are looking for true shepherds who will take risks to protect them. Only a few have measured up to this biblical standard.
For the coming stampede, which has already begun, I am grateful. In truth, the church is served by these precious souls who speak from their own pain and agony so that truth may be known. We need them. We need the justice of Jesus more, of course. We need the Wrath of the Lamb. Hell is needed, for evil is more evil than we realize. Until that day, other judgments will come as a grace to remind of the great Judgement. We are living through one of those lesser judgments that remind us of the evils in our midst and the great judgment that we wait for. This judgment is needed to cleanse our churches and remind us of the dangers of being complacent with evil.
Careers will end, institutions will be shaken or destroyed. Jesus may remove the lampstand of many churches. The very language of God’s people will change to have more categories to understand abuse. We won’t be the same; praise God.
Are these innocent, mistreated lambs the same as Jesus? Of course not. I pray that they rest in Jesus’ wisdom and that they target their wrath rightly. But in reading the Bible, it certainly seems that Jesus would agree with this wrath. His wrath will also be poured out on the evils that these survivors are focusing on.