Dharius Daniels - Church Trauma

Church trauma. Well, I’m concluding a series today called «Respectfully.» We have to address it today; this is the last lesson in the series, so we’re preparing to go all the way there. The Gospel of John, chapter eight, beginning at verse three: John 8, verse three. We are getting ready to go all the way there. Everybody, take a deep breath. If you’re ready, put «I’m ready» in the chat. I wrestled with this a little bit, but my heart is burdened, and I feel like this is something that the Lord wants me to contribute to and address to a degree. No one person can fix all problems; I think it’s a little messianic or even narcissistic to think you can. Nobody’s job is to fix all the problems. Your job is to play the part God wants you to play in addressing them, and that’s part of what I want to do in this message today.

John 8:3 says, «The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the act, and the law of Moses tells us to stone her. What do you say? '» They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. When they kept questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, «Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.» Again, he bent down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, «Where are they? Has no one condemned you?» «No, sir,» she said. «Neither do I condemn you,» Jesus declared. «Go now and leave your life of sin.»

I want to stop reading right there, and I want to tag a title to this text: «Church Trauma.» This is the final sermon in our series called «Respectfully,» where we’re receiving biblical tips for tough talks. We’ve had tough talks with various individuals and received guidance on how to engage with different people. Today, we’ll use God’s Word to help us have tough talks with Christians, and I want to discuss this subject: church trauma.

Family, I want to ease into this introduction with this axiom: I want to inform some of you of this truth and remind others of it: God is a creator. Listen to me. The enemy is a cloner. God creates; the enemy clones. I’m simply suggesting that the enemy desperately desires to pervert the purpose of anything that God creates, and he does this by creating counterfeits that emulate the authenticity of what God originally intended. Is this not what the Apostle Paul said when he stated that «Satan himself has transformed himself into an angel of light»? In other words, the devil doesn’t always show up looking like the devil. Let me reframe and rephrase that: the devil rarely shows up looking like the devil. Even our first introduction to the enemy is in the book of Genesis, where the Bible frames that context as a garden. The Bible says that the enemy shows up like a serpent. We don’t know if that’s literal or metaphorical, but here’s the point we need to pull from that passage: if you’re in a garden, a snake doesn’t look out of place. The enemy shows up looking like he belongs because if he appeared to be an enemy, he would have never gained Eve’s ear. So, in the garden, he looks like a snake; in the church, he looks like a Christian. God creates, but the enemy clones, and he wants to pervert the purpose of what God creates.

This is the case in our lives and with God’s primary instrument of transformation in the earth, which is the church. Regardless of our feelings about the church, God has chosen to use the church as the primary instrument of transformation on earth. The church is the embassy of the Kingdom of God; the church is the body of Christ. Christ is the head; he does the thinking and the directing, and he holds the authority. But the church is the body, and we execute the commands we’re receiving from the head. We are Jesus’s hands and feet on this earth. There is no Plan B; there is no other dispensation coming where God gives something else to accomplish his agenda on earth. Because the enemy is aware of this, in his attempt to pervert God’s purpose for the church, he infects and affects the church to the degree that the church does not effectively carry out its assignment. It is God’s intention that his ecclesia, his church, be an instrument for the development and discipleship of his people. That’s Matthew 28, what’s called the Great Commission. Before Jesus experiences his ascension, he leaves instructions. Now, if I’m getting ready to leave you, the last thing I tell you is important. This is crucial for us to wrap our heads around because if not, we’ll start imposing our priorities on the church instead of receiving Jesus’s priorities for the church. Jesus prioritized not just getting people to heaven. See, come on, no, no, no. He said, «I want you to make disciples of all…»