Day 37's topic on pastoral abuse was particularly cringe-inducing, especially in light of the numerous high profile church scandals that have been splashing across the headlines these last, well ... decades. Worse, far from being something that you only hear about happening somewhere else to someone else, it seems as though everyone knows someone who is struggling to recover from an abusive church experience--or are themselves trying to heal from one. Anecdotal evidence, then, would lead to the unavoidable conclusion that abusive shepherds ("butchers") are common.
I imagine that some butchers are comfortably aware of who and what they are. But I cannot believe that most of the pastors who hurt their sheep wake up each morning seething with hatred, muttering as a yawn turns into a smirk, "Ah, another gleeful day of self-serving manipulation and sheep abuse."
Surely every good and decent shepherd grows angry, as I do, upon hearing the latest story of pastoral exploitation. But that anger can be replaced by a cold chill when considering that King David grew angry too, as Nathan told him of a case of abuse. David's blood boiled -- until Nathan got to the punchline.
I think we're all inclined to say, "Surely not I." But sooner or later it comes down to cold, hard math: a significant percentage of shepherds are butchers. And many--if not most--are unaware of it. Perhaps I'm one. Perhaps you are. How would we know? What steps can a shepherd take to avoid an imperceptively slow drift into a bloody career change? How can I ensure that I would say to myself "You are that man!" before somebody else does?
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