metoo

So where does the church stand? I hope it’s obvious but this is not a gray area. The Bible never flinches in recording and denouncing the sexual sins and mistakes of its characters.

And it’s always wrong when one of God’s treasured daughters (or God’s treasured sons for that matter) experiences sexual misconduct or sexual harassment.  There are many scriptures I could point you to, but the clearest relational blueprints in Scripture are these words from the apostle Paul to a young church leader named Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:2:  “Treat… older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.” That’s pretty clear, isn’t it?

In other words, treat the people you work with, the people who report to you, the people you attend church with, and the people in your neighborhood like family with absolute purity. If someone is young enough to be your daughter, treat her like you would want your daughter treated. If someone is a peer, treat her like you would want your sister to be treated. If someone is old enough to be your mother, treat her like you would want your mother to be treated.

Now can I just take a minute to talk directly to guys?  Guys, listen to me please we need to be courageously more like Jesus was with women. Here’s what I believe, no matter how many women share their stories, until enough men rise up to intervene, condemn, and protect….the exploitation of women isn’t going to end. Proverbs 31:8  instructs us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. So guys, what does it mean for us to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves and to ensure justice for those being crushed? It means instead of laughing at a joke that was demeaning or disrespectful to a woman, a real man says, “That joke wasn’t funny and it wasn’t appropriate.” – When a man hears that from another man, he doesn’t tend to repeat that joke. It means instead of turning a blind eye to a pat on the butt or a brush against a breast, or a way over-extended hug, it’s a man intervening and saying, “Don’t ever touch her that way again.” Chances are, he’ll think twice next time. We need to treat our colleagues with respect, dignity, and appreciation for their skills and abilities. We need to extend equal pay and benefits for equal work. 

Now if I could say a few words to you as a woman. Statistically, quite a number of you have been the target, the object, or the victim of sexual harassment in many different forms and I know this is painful for many of you. Almost every woman who has gone through sexual harassment in whatever form, talks about the emotional, psychological, and spiritual fallout. They wrestle with guilt and wonder if they somehow asked for it; if they could have deflected it. They wonder if they were making a big deal out of nothing and many victims carry shame that should only belong to the perpetrator.