That there are predators in church should surprise no one. The church after all is made up of all kinds of people.
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We come from different walks of life, different cultures, different ages, different languages, and different parts of the world.
There is one thing that we do have in common though, we are all sinners.
It is in fact one of the peculiar things that someone does before joining the Christian faith: admit that they are a sinner and are in need of help.
The church then is a group of people who have decided they do not want to live their own way any more.
It is a group of people who want to live God’s way and one of the roles of church is that we help one another stay on the straight and narrow.
It should therefore surprise no one then that the church has problems. What is shocking though is how long the church has done nothing and remained silent about weak and vulnerable people being abused in terrible ways. How did this happen? The ABC recently covered this particular issue and we must confess at this point that there is no one denomination that is innocent of this. We are all guilty. We must do better.
Those who have read the Bible will know that God is a God of justice. He hears the cry of the vulnerable. For those who have been wronged and denied justice, God knows and sees. As followers of Jesus, we believe that one day Jesus will come back again and fix it.
Until then, as his followers, we must work to that end. We need to continue on the mission that Jesus has left us, loving God, loving people, and working to make things right.
If we know of things that are not right in church, we need to speak out. If we have been abused in church, we need to speak out. We must all listen and we need to act. Sin is not just about doing the wrong thing, it is also about not doing the right thing when we should.