He Stepped Toward Us and Drew Close

by Mike Rehm

At our last MTS training event in May we were given the opportunity to view selected excerpts from the film An American Crime. I held my breath in suspense as two sisters, abandoned by their parents, found themselves enmeshed in an abusive family. For those few moments, the racing of my own heart reminded me of my own vulnerability in the face of abuse. My mind searched for ways to coach one of the sisters out of her predicament. “Be careful Sylvia don’t go through that door…oh no, don’t say that or she’ll get more angry…what? She’s crazy. Hey, get away from her you beast!” My initial reaction to what I was witnessing was a familiar one. If only the course of events surrounding the abuse could be redirected, I reasoned. If only there was more forethought or planning in how to avoid the pain, then all of this could go away. Then, I realized that my well intentioned, silent suggestions would not change anything! In a moment of clarity I realized that my thinking strategies were not so much a way to help or protect the girls but more an attempt to shield my heart from their pain. In my early adult years, I came to know this strategy pretty well. But for those of us who are called to minister to the broken, it will never do. 

Indentifying with abuse in our heads alone is likely to foster the idea that what has happened could or should have been avoided. But living life in the careful confines of always-playing-it-safe has never been a guarantee of an abuse-free life. We have been called to a far more risky and loving approach as modeled by the Lord Jesus. When, as Spirit-lead people helpers, we follow Christ’s example and come along side survivors, we will experience a measure of their pain. We do this not because we are in any way masochistic, but because we are privileged to be called into the incarnational work that Jesus is famous for. “But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His foot steps” (I Peter 2:20,21). If anyone could have kept his distance, it was the Lord Jesus. But instead of backing away and changing things from afar, He stepped toward us and drew close. He did not shield his heart from our pain but took it upon Himself. Amazingly, His suffering on our behalf brought healing - and by love left us an example.