NW Tasmania's Abused Generation

The local paper recently carried it on the front page - a report on the conviction of a man who was a youth group leader in a Burnie church in the 1970's for abusing a young girl in his youth group.

Those who are associated with the Anglican church will know of our own sorry history with a former rector of Burnie currently in jail for abusive actions towards members of his youth group in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

I recently heard of another situation - a man in his late thirties who was active in his NW church at a younger age but left after a person with pastoral authority abused a member of the youth group.

The stories abound and cross every form of denomination. In each case the victims belonged to the so-called "Generation X" - the current parents of children, the generation to which I belong, the generation that is so absent from the church and amongst whom gospel ministry is so hard and fraught with opposition and apathy. Considering the history, in such a small connected community, should we be surprised?

The facts about, and the existence of, these situations are only recently being made clear in many cases. And with that comes, for myself at least, a heavier burden for my generation.

When we were "little ones" we were damaged by those who wore the name of Christ but did the work of the enemy. They will have their millstone. But where does that leave us who currently stand under that banner which for us stands for life but for many others is now a sinister symbol?

We are recognising at Connections the immediacy of the imperative to evangelise - to gospel people, to share the good news of life in Jesus. And our heart is for this same Gen-X.

And while we don't yet know what that might look like in terms of programs or strategies or events. We must now realise that such a task of speaking life where there is none, light where it has been snuffed out, is a spiritual task of eternal substance. Without spiritual, substantial grounding our efforts will be useless, counter productive, perhaps even re-abusive.

This widespread painful story must drive us to prayer, to intercession and to travail. It must call us to cry out for collective mercy for the church that has so betrayed the name of God. It must make us yearn for a sanctification that we would so be able to model Christ that this particular gate of hell will be well and truly overcome with love and grace and life-giving trust in a loving Lord. The tears of Christ are a call to spiritual warfare that has healing at its end. And we must answer that call.

And it is a particular call to the members of that self-same "Gen X" - a number of whom have grown into leadership in the Body of Christ. We must be the wounded-healers and the speakers of truth - making no excuses, dealing with reality, patient, gentle, wise, vulnerable because we can rest in God. We must run towards purity so that we are without blame. We must drink deeply of God's Word so that our words are words of life. And we must be God-reliant, and bold.

Please pray for us and the generations of the North West of Tasmania.