When a clergy person or a prominent church leader engages in activity that betrays the trust of the congregation, it can have a cancerous effect on the whole congregation. This is especially true when the offense is in the area of sexuality or finances. These two areas of betrayal seem to leave especially deep wounds in the community of faith.

All communities are built on bonds of trust. When that trust is betrayed, it is especially difficult to rebuild that trust. We know it with couples who have experienced infidelity but it is even more complex in larger communities. Add to that the fact that a church is centered on faith and obedience to God, and it is even more difficult.

The first step in healing is to name the betrayal and its effect on the larger membership. At such a time it is important that the community avoid any appearance of secrecy because that is fuel for the type of gossip that can further exacerbate the wounds. Note the comments about the cover-up in the Catholic hierarchy. There needs to be the opportunity for members to confess to their own pain as a result of the experience.

(I will speak more about how our judicatories can assist in this process in the next blog.)

Step 2. Having identified and acknowledged the painful effect of the betrayal, it may be helpful to be reminded as a Christian community that the church began with the experience of betrayal. There are a couple of issues that could be explored at this point. Number one, what prevented the early church from being destroyed by Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, and the disciples all running away? Number two, what was Jesus’ response to the experience of betrayal and what does that suggest for us who claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

REDEMPTIVE POSSIBILITIES

The point here is not to cover over painful wounds with a series of pious words but to genuinely explore the redemptive power of Christ in the Body of Christ. The third task for the church, having named the pain and explored the biblical truths of how to respond to betrayal would be to begin to identify redemptive possibilities that could emerge from their own experience of pain. What we learn in Christ is that no experience of betrayal, denial, or abandonment is so powerful that it can prevent the redemptive power of Christ. To experience the resurrection of Christ in the midst of the wounded Body of Christ is to deepen the healing power of Christ in our midst.

(NEXT BLOG, HOW CHURCHES CAN WORK TOGETHER SEEKING REDEMPTION.)