ST. LOUIS (MO)
Is It Enough? (blog)
April 9, 2019
By Doug Lay
The pulpit, as a symbol of a theological reformation, stands as a representation of the Bible’s power and uniqueness of that reformation. The pastor, as a symbol of the church’s leadership, stands behind that pulpit to publicly proclaim the Bible’s power and uniqueness of the crucified Christ.
Yet, the pastor can hide behind that pulpit. He can hide behind the pulpit when speaking out about controversial social topics. A recent report finds that “when asked if they felt limited by their congregation to speak out about social issues, 64 percent of pastors said yes, FaithWire reports.”
One particular and relevant social issue today is the sexual exploitation of children by church leaders, the cover-up by those same churches, and then the silence of other churches concerning the cover-ups.
Remember the millstone—Jesus’ harsh and condemning picture of judgment for anyone who would exploit, abuse, or despise the least of these. The pulpit should be the pinnacle of such preaching, but it is easy for the pastor to hide behind the pulpit when preaching about sexual and physical abuse victims and how the church should address abuse.
How do pastors hide behind the pulpit?
First, the pastor sets the focus of the preaching, choosing not only what to preach, but also what not to preach. Topics involving sexual abuse of minors, marital physical abuse, infidelity, rape, and church cover-ups can simply be ignored. The pastor controls the narrative.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.