REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY
According to a recent survey, one in ten British men has carried out sexual offenses against children. This was the number who admitted as much in a survey; one can only imagine the number who denied doing so but lied.
Jesus said, “Whoever receives one little child…in My name, receives Me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:5-6, NKJV).
A millstone was a circular stone that was pulled by a donkey or some other work animal around a grinding vat of some kind. It could weigh up to 1,000 pounds. So, the imagery of that kind of a stone being hung around someone’s neck and then throwing them into the deepest parts of the ocean was extreme, but it was meant to be!
Sarah Chang wrote an article in the Washington Post. She worked as a prosecutor of sexual abuse crimes against children. Her office was responsible for investigating and prosecuting such things as the production, possession, and trafficking of child pornography.
In her first case, multiple CDs and DVDs showed a young girl being abused by a man who filmed his crimes with a handheld camera. As Sarah went to the forensic computer lab, she left the sound on to feel the horror of it all and to make sure that she didn’t miss anything that would affect their case, but she heard nothing. She turned the sound up higher. Nothing. She turned the volume up as high as she could, but all she heard was silence. This five-year-old girl said nothing; she didn’t even sob. And that’s what she found in video after video. Silent suffering.
Sarah later learned that this is a typical reaction of young sexual abuse victims. Psychiatrists say that this silence conveys their sense of helplessness, which is also why they are reluctant to report the incidents and why their tendency is to accommodate their abusers. Their helplessness is rooted in a complete breach of trust because, all too often, their abusers are people they’ve expected to protect them! In fact, according to the Justice Department, more than 80% of sexual abuse offenses against children are committed by people they know.
By the way, this is why most cases are never reported. The “trusted” adult tells them to keep it a secret or else it will get them in trouble. Chang wrote that as she looks into the faces of the children during the abuse, in both photos and videos, their eyes are dead. It is at this point that Jesus’ idea of a millstone seems about right, would you not agree?
Our churches must be sensitive to this horrible reality because this is the darkest of the dark. Therefore, we are to report any and all abuse!
“But it’s my wife/husband.” Report it immediately!
“But it’s my aunt/uncle.” Report it immediately!
“But it’s a leader/minister in my church.” Report it immediately!
Devotedly your pastor,
Bill Blanchard