Let me state right off the bat that if you see/hear that a Christian is raped by another Christian and you say that they should not report this to the police as it would be against scripture and thus a ungodly and a sin that God finds reprehensible, YOU are the ungodly one and have displayed a lack of understanding concerning the scriptures, empathy and the rule of law, not to mention common sense.
The scripture often used to justify this is 1 Corinthians 6:1 which says; >"When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?"
People pick this first verse and run with it because it suits the evil in their hearts to cover up horrible things they and their pastors or fellow members do such as this rape and sexual harassment issue. Permit me to burst your bubbles with joy.
The next verse of this scripture clearly states: "Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!"
Did you get that? The emphasis by Paul is not that just any case is not brought before courts and people outside the church but cases that are actually trivial as he expects that as Christians who are mature and love one another, they would know better as to how to handle disputes, and not let them become something embarrassing to the body of believers.
Even the part about judging the world and angels is often twisted out of arrogance by many, but that is gist for another day.
Reading all the way down to the 11th verse we see him specify even more what he refers to.Did it not occur to you that there are a good number of Christians who are policemen and women, lawyers and judges? Are they now ungodly and sinners to be in such professions? The irony of this is that in churches we will tell people that the wicked and ungodly are everywhere and we need more Christians in office...then when something like this comes up, we suddenly realize that everyone in such offices are evil and ungodly people who cannot do the right thing.
So tell me, in the case of the two examples I gave or something else such a murder or kidnapping, is it now still ungodly to bring it before these people?Sexual harassment and rape are actually crimes against a person. This terms means that something was done to someone that falls under one or multiple categories such as fatal, sexual and non - fatal and non - sexual offences.
In case that is too complex for you, it means that by law this person can and should be persecuted. Can the victim forgive and choose not to press charges? Of course they can. that is their right, but it is not something you should coerce them into or lie to them about the need to saying God wants that or will be angry if they do not.
So no it is not all about "our God" and our personal image before the world. I have to use inverted commas because frankly I doubt it is the same God we are talking about when people come up with these excuses to not report the case.
You see sometimes we like to posture in Church when it suits us. We act like we have the best interests of God at heart but we are more concerned for our personal image, that of our own home church or the leader(s) we like.This is evident when we then come forward and are the first to scream on social media about someone else who does the same.
If this misused scripture does not work, we will start with the touch - not - my - anointed one. Another heavily abused scripture that actually has nothing to do with the issue at hand or dealing with people in church who have done something absolutely vile.
Sexual harassment and rape are not small or trivial matters. They did not have a minor dispute about whether or not he can touch her body. He forced her down and violated her or drugged.intoxicated her and did the same, and he deserves to be prosecuted for that, and yes this goes for males as well as children of any sex. It also applies to domestic violence. So, no beating your boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse and causing them any other form of physical harm is not a minor dispute among believers. They have every right to get you jailed.
Last I checked, we were also told to obey the laws of the land as Christians. Appaz, some of us use other versions of the Bible that skip this part as well.
This is what Romans 13:1-7 says;
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed."
It is a wonder that anyone can see this and still think it is improper and ungodly to take a rape case to a judge or have a person arrested over it because the two people involved are Christians. Rather than feel shame over this occurrence, should the shame not even be that this kind of thing should even be happening among the people who claim to know God?
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