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How does the gospel inform our response to abuse?
Rachael DenHollander, survivor of sexual abuse, author, advocate, and educator walks us through the answer to that question in this beautiful speech. Some of you may already be familiar with this particular speech, but it's worth listening to again, and definitely worth sharing with friends who are new to this topic.
Here's one quote from this phenomenal speech:
“The Christian faith teaches that not only does God love, but that God is just because he loves. He pours out wrath on evil because he cares. Christ took that punishment upon himself so that those who repent and believe can experience that forgiveness. Not because forgiveness means that what they did no longer matters. Not because saying those words erases what they did. But because someone else took that Justice in their place. Either way Justice is done. Either it falls on the abuser, or Lord willing, if he repents, it falls on the redeemer. But Justice is always done, because evil is real and it matters to God, and it should matter to us. Only in the Christian faith do we have a theology where evil is never minimized or outweighed by other good things. As if the abuser can do enough good deeds to erase the harm he has done. Only in Christianity can personal vengeance be released because there is a God who cares enough to unfailingly always bring Justice.”


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