Written by John Upton, BGAV executive director

Rereading the story of Jesus in the wilderness being tested by Satan reminded me of the harshness of that story. I could feel the harshness in the verb, “the Spirit drove him out.” It didn’t say the Spirit let him out, or invited him out, or called him out. The Spirit drove him out into the wilderness.
 
That is our story too. The mind we have been given is not meant to always be peaceful; it is also meant to grapple with painful circumstances and difficult questions. Life is not always smooth sailing—sometimes we must face the tough stuff.

I believe God is currently driving us out into a wilderness of church life that we have wanted to avoid, but we can’t. In recent weeks different newspapers across the country have forced the church—particularly the Baptist church—to face the truth that many people have been sexually abused and assaulted within our churches either by clergy, deacons, Sunday School teachers, youth ministers, and others. Over 700 people have reported they were sexually abused or assaulted in Baptist churches in the past 20 years. The truth of this will make you sick on one hand and angry on the other. This is one of the most urgent items we need to address and own. This is our moment to start to get it right and make our churches the safest places a person can be. I regret it has taken us this long to own this crisis.