Sunday my wife and I got ready for church. I was decked out in my Sunday best and was wearing my brand-new canvas-style shoes. Every morning a large flock of geese congregates in a field I planted across from our home to gorge on the tender crop coming up. Daily I drive my truck down there to make them fly away and quit destroying my crops.
Sunday was no exception. When we walked outside to leave for church, I noticed perhaps 100 of them walking down row after row eating my tender crops. So, prior to leaving for church, we drove down there to run them off, but this time they would not fly. It was a misty grey morning and I suppose they didn’t want to leave. I went tearing down there and even blew my horn, but they would not fly away.
Exasperated I turned into the field and finally, they got up honking noisily, and flew away. Vindicated I put it in reverse to leave for church and nothing happened, at least that’s what I thought. Actually, the wheels on my wife’s Escalade were spinning and we were hopelessly stuck. We were already late, and I had to get out and walk through the mud in my new canvas shoes, (did I mention we had just received 2″ of rain). I finally made it up to our house and drove back in my four-wheel-drive truck to pick up my very unhappy wife who was standing in the mud beside our car and then I had to drive my truck like a bat out of Hades to get to church on time.
I sheepishly told her I thought she had four-wheel drive in that car. Then I had to listen to her explain in rude terms that Escalades don’t have four-wheel drive, nor do they have mud grips! When we got home from church, I got my tractor and went back down to the field that our car was stuck in. I told her to simply put it in reverse and barely give it gas and that the tractor would pull it right out. So, I hooked it up, fired up the tractor, and started pulling it out. The car was not stuck bad, and it came right out, but my wife ignored my warnings and was showering down on the gas and mud was flying everywhere including covering my windshield. I was screaming at her to quit giving it gas but she couldn’t hear me and suddenly the car hit solid ground and she headed right toward me at an accelerated pace. Finally, she saw me wildly gesturing to stop and she barely escaped ramming into the tractor.
I got out of the tractor and heatedly told her just to steer and not give it any gas. That went over like a lead balloon but we were finally able to get it on a solid road and pointed in the right direction. She sped off back to the house in a huff and I followed on the tractor. When I got back to the house I had to listen to her griping about her muddy car and I was more than ready to go to my deer stand in solitude.
This ordeal paled into insignificance compared to the disaster at church. I noticed that our pastor seemed off his game and was nervous and his message was the worst I’ve heard him preach. At the end, he somberly read a document detailing that our youth worship leader had abused a young girl in the youth choir and the church was investigating and so on. Apparently, her family is one of the most respected in the community and the youth leader was as well. The entire congregation was shocked and chaotic and people in the congregation and the senior pastor were weeping uncontrollably. A friend of mine serves as a security guard and I was supposed to meet him after the service, and he didn’t show. I found out later he was busy escorting upset people out of the building.
Ugh . . . My incident with the geese and getting stuck just wasn’t that important anymore. As I try to make sense of it. I admit I cannot. Satan wants to destroy the church and I believe pastors and other leaders in the church are under severe satanic attack, above and beyond ordinary people. There can, however, be no excuse for traumatizing and abusing a little girl and possibly many more, but perhaps it is a plausible explanation of how a man so dedicated to the Lord could fall so far. Behavior like his unjustly drives people away from the Lord and His church. That thinking is so lame. Anyone who thinks about it would realize that it is the fault of the youth pastor and not God or the church that this incident occurred. The church didn’t commit this sin, the youth pastor did. This young man will pay the price, but for many people so will the church and God.
It is just sad . . . We can only imagine the degree to which God hates child sexual abuse, which is an exceptionally offensive, repulsive wicked action! “For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. All through the Bible, we are reminded of how much Jesus loves children.
God will provide His Holy judgment and punishment aplenty for this young man, but as Christians, we are reminded that no one is incapable of receiving God’s forgiveness and grace. I have prayed for the young girl, her family, and friends, and I have prayed for the abuser that he will find grace and forgiveness. I have faith God will exact His consequences for this heinous sin. This young man will live with this incident all his life and needs God now more than ever. I am also praying for our church. Ironically just two years ago the former minister stole a large amount of money from the church. What the heck????
Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God… that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.