A pastor friend of mine called the other day to ask for my prayers. He had been part of a youth confirmation weekend, in which the culminating event was an evangelistic rally. We all know the sort. Confess your sins, humble yourselves, and believe the gospel. That sort of rally. Thing is, one of the youths, as a product of said rally, reached a spiritual crisis. She saw herself as a sinner -- specifically an "unclean" girl because of sex -- who was a victim of sex abuse by an older teen, not in the group. So that got me to thinking. How do we resolve the theological dilemma of "taking up the cross" for victims? What does kenosis, humility and "taking up the cross" look like for a person in locations of abuse and oppression? Since "descending" to a place of "lower status" presupposes that the person is "high status" and on the top. Thus, to be a Christian in these locations is to let go of and to empty oneself of...
A "restless" theologian in service to the church of Jesus Christ