Pain, indignation and forgiveness.

 Pain, indignation and forgiveness.

Jesus was very forgiving.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mk 11:25 NIV

But Jesus was also frequently angry about the way religious leaders bullied weak people. So often preachers give the absurd impression that religious bullying was something that happened 2000 years ago and the Jewish leaders were the villains. Nothing to do with preachers today. Really?

I am fed up with preaching against offence or bitterness because so many preachers trivialise abuse and injustice. I just read a much better message. The preacher actually encourages wounded Christians to talk to God about their pain and indignation just like the psalms of lamentation.

So many super positive preachers ignore the psalms of complaint and lamentation. They have their favourite positive faith scriptures and it almost seems to me that they want to be more spiritual than the Holy Spirit who inspired the psalms of lamentation. Not that they are all arrogant but there is a kind of collective blindness often imparted from one preacher to another.

It is not only women who are bullied and put down by parents, employers or church leaders. Men also bully men. Have you seen male animals fighting for dominance in wildlife documentaries? Jesus said the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and they are applauded as benefactors... Does it sound like some churches to you?

But Jesus said we should be different. Many preachers teach forgiveness while at the same time trivialising trauma and abuse of power. This kind of preaching is very damaging and is often a part of the bullying process. Preaching on unforgiveness often degenerates into blaming the victims.

Jesus is very compassionate towards victims and this is confirmed by the psalms of lamentation and complaint. For many super positive faith preachers, these "negative" psalms are in the book but not a part of their understanding or teaching.

My indignation over bullying probably indicates I still feel the pain. Some people might suggest that continued indignation is a sign of sinful unforgiveness because when you forgive, you forget and the issue no longer exists for you. I think this is a serious misunderstanding of Scripture. 

When I was excommunicated by pastors, I was so traumatised, that I spent a full year in a psychiatric ward. In time I realised I was not condemned by God and I forgave the pastors from my heart. This forgiveness was part of my healing process but I was still broken and requiring strong psychiatric medication.

In time I gradually learned not to condemn myself but I became increasingly indignant about unjust authoritarian church leaders in general. Fifty years later, I am still a militant opponent of authoritarian church leadership. 

I am in good company. Jesus and Paul were also indignant.

Do you think Jesus was unforgiving? Or Paul? But did they no longer feel the pain of rejection and bullying? Did they no longer feel indignation when they saw religious bullies hurting weaker people, particularly vulnerable women?

When I read the sayings of Jesus and the inspired writings of Paul, I see two apparently contradictory tendencies side by side, extreme indignation over injustice, especially injustice by people claiming to represent God.

The other striking feature is the extreme emphasis on love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. It is hard to find Christian writers and preachers who are able to fully embrace both of these aspects of God's character in full measure.

In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul rebukes the Christians for submitting to authoritarian pulpiteers.

In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:20 NIV