Understanding What Makes Us Vulnerable to DARKNESS

I’m reflecting on my last blog about SBC churches and sexual abuse.  The question of “Why” we (churches) colluded with the abusers in such a heinous activity continues to roll around in my brain.  Let me begin with a bit of anthropology.

We were created to live in an integrated fashion.  By this I mean a rich interconnection with all dimensions of the self (will, spirit, heart, thinking, feeling, behaving and relating to others).  The problem is we live “fragmented” lives.  For instance, I can easily think about loving others but feel no love and behave unloving. Can you see the lack of integration, the lack of unity in my self?  Being an apprentice of Jesus is life-long journey to unity with him and unity within our selves.  Matthew 23 examples this when Jesus confronts the disintegrated religious leaders.

What does it take to be “disintegrated” (aligned with DARKNESS)?  A lack of unity of the self is fertile ground for all type of expressions of disintegration.  Out of this soil grows denial, distortion, deception, manipulation, collusion, etc. (And TONS of other vices.)  The list is infinite and multi-variegated.  All of this grows from the lack of unity within the self.

What does it take to become “integrated,” “unified?”  JESUS!  Just needed to get this out of my system.  Of course we need a unified being (JESUS) to teach us the way of “unity”, he being an incarnated example of this type of integration.  And needing Jesus is the first step in a life of close discipleship with him and others.  We need others as much as we need Jesus.  That was God’s original design for us.  I’ll take up the paramount significance of relationship with others in a future blog series.

Can you imagine a life free of inner conflict?  A life where what you believe and what you feel and the way you act is consistent and unified.  This would be an example of true “mental healthiness” and a life of integrity. What we need is LIGHT to open our eyes to our disintegrative condition.  BUT . . . there are major blockades that have been fortified over the years against the LIGHT.  We’ll look more closely at the LIGHT and the fortified blockades (in all of us) that hinder integration in the next blog.