Turning Anger Into Action

When the news broke about Penn State and Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing boys he met through his charity, The Second Mile, I was livid. My anger burned hotter as the story and the cover-up surrounding the scandal unfolded. How could so many people turn the other way? How could people not do something? Earlier this year, I read the book Silent No More about Aaron Fisher's (victim one) fight for justice. Thankfully, in this story, justice was served and Sandusky will spend the rest of his life in prison.
But story after story floods the news nightly. Teachers seducing students. Pastors preying on children. Each incident is met with outrage and public cries for justice. And yet it still continues.

Would you Turn Your Back on Your Own Daughter?

King David was a man after God's own heart. Yet he was far from perfect. Fresh off the heals of his sin with Bathsheba being exposed, his son Amnon rapes his daughter Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-22). Verse 21 reveals David's reaction:

When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.

And rightly so. Stuff like this should anger us. Especially when it happens to our own children. What's curious is that the Bible says nothing else about David's response. Some versions include the words "But he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, since he was his firstborn." So here we have the king, having the authority to see that justice was done, who then does nothing. Maybe it was because he cared about his son (as some versions indicate). Maybe he still felt guilt over his own episode with Bathsheba (which likely involved coercion as well). Maybe he just didn't want people to think less of him and his family. But the fact remains the same. He. Did. Nothing.

Joining David in Passive Anger

Turning a blind eye to abuse of any variety is to join David in his failure. But it is not much better if we do nothing to prevent it in the first place. Often times we see the news, we are outraged, justice is served, and then we go on with life as usual. It's now a thing of the past.
But abuse is very real. And it's happening everywhere. Schools. Sports. Churches. Homes. Nowhere is exempt. No one is exempt. Abuse is nondiscriminatory - it happens in all classes, races, genders, etc. Yet so often, we see it on the news and think that's an isolated incident. That couldn't happen in my family or community. So we do nothing to prevent the crime from continuing.

Moving to Action

The stories we see on the news are a call to all of us. Will we sit idly by while abuse destroys lives? Will we, by our silence and inaction, let it continue? How are we going to protect our children from it? What are we doing to end it?
The Church of God should lead the way in this area - in protecting and fighting for justice. After all, we have the command of the Almighty God to lead us in this fight in Micah 6:8:

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God? (emphasis added)

We know that God is a just God. He is righteous, and he will do what is right. God will let no sin go unpunished. Even when God shows mercy to sinners, he does not compromise his justice. Jesus died for the penalty of sin so that we could be forgiven. God is just in everything that he does, even when he forgives.  As his image-bearers on the earth, we should likewise seek to live justly in the world, even as we show mercy.
Let us be angered when we hear about abuse happening in our communities, and let that anger drive us to action. Let's work together wipe out abuse.