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For those reeling from RZIM, a few thoughts from someone who knew of RZ but never read or watched anything by him.
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I recognize that a lot of the commentary is a subtle bit of grieving and mourning. It is a difficult, awkward, intense, and horrifying reality to grasp.
Have some grace for yourself as you go through this.
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Have some grace for yourself as you go through this.
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However, there is nothing redemptive to be squeezed from his life - and that is important. His words, his ministry, is entirely shrouded in what he used his ministry to do:
Abuse and exploit women.
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Abuse and exploit women.
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Mix a little arsenic into the cake, and the cake becomes rotten and corrosive and destructive.
And I am not saying what he did was *a little*
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And I am not saying what he did was *a little*
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Consider this: the awkward, intense, horrifying feeling you feel in the pit of your stomach - while real - pales in comparison to how the women felt and feel.
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The Prophets and Jesus call upon us to repent. Repentance is not merely saying "I did something wrong," although it includes that.
It requires understanding and a transformation. New birth. New life from what was crushed.
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It requires understanding and a transformation. New birth. New life from what was crushed.
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It is time (and it has been time for a long time) to listen to Thompson and the other unnamed women. It takes incredible courage to stand up against abuse and abusers with integrity, and they have done so.
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This reveals a massive sore on the underbelly of much of Christian thought, and that is the subordination of women (often sexual). It is hard to find the bacteria that would lead to such a wound in Scripture - or I would argue.
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The scary thing for me is this:
How many more RZ's are there in our world?
And are we willing to do the difficult, horrifying, awkward work of being the people of God, who live with Kingdom values, who demand justice?
Power is not a Kingdom value.
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How many more RZ's are there in our world?
And are we willing to do the difficult, horrifying, awkward work of being the people of God, who live with Kingdom values, who demand justice?
Power is not a Kingdom value.
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Final thought:
Listen. Learn. Act.
Our Christian witness demands it. We should settle for nothing less, for Christ's sake.
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Listen. Learn. Act.
Our Christian witness demands it. We should settle for nothing less, for Christ's sake.
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