The 3 - February 4, 2018

This week in The 3, spotlighting three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there are over a dozen house church leaders in China who are apparently in the custody of the government there.  Also, there was a brave faith statement made by an abused former gymnast.  And, the U.S. Senate failed to approve a bill that would protect unborn children at 20 weeks from being aborted.

3 - Chinese house church leaders apparently in government custody

The organization ChinaAid reports that 14 house church leaders in China have apparently been apprehended and imprisoned, according to a press release on the Christian Newswire website. Bob Fu, the President of ChinaAid, is quoted as saying, "This massive, enforced disappearance of 14 peaceful church leaders shows the Communist Party has no regard to rule of law and its citizens' religious freedom rights. The Chinese government should be absolutely held accountable for this incident and immediately disclose the whereabouts to the families and their churches."

These house church leaders have "vanished" from the Zhejiang province, where, according to the press release, "Christians have faced harsh persecution and discrimination in the past few years, as the province has been the focal point of a cross demolition movement and a follow-up surveillance camera installation movement."

As of last Thursday, there had been no announcement of what the charges are.

2 - Christian perspective on display in Nassar trial

John Stonestreet said in a recent Breakpoint testimony, "It was the most amazing courtroom testimony I’ve ever heard. And if you haven’t heard it yourself, you need to."

He was speaking of the words spoken in court by Rachael Denhollander, a former gymnast who was abused by a physician named Larry Nassar. Stonestreet said, "A year and a half ago, Rachael bravely filed a police complaint that has ultimately led to his conviction on sexual assault charges and a prison sentence of 40 to 175 years."

I quoted from an article from Esther O'Reilly of The Stream in a recent Front Room commentary - the article quoted these words from Denhollander as she issued a statement against her abuser, the final courtroom statement.  Rachael said to Nassar:

Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.

I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt, so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me — though I extend that to you as well.

A Christianity Today article from which I quoted featured a Q&A with Rachael about her involvement in speaking out on behalf of sexual abuse victims in the Church.  She had mentioned in her victim impact statement that she had "lost her church," and she elaborated:

The reason I lost my church was not specifically because I spoke up. It was because we were advocating for other victims of sexual assault within the evangelical community, crimes which had been perpetrated by people in the church and whose abuse had been enabled, very clearly, by prominent leaders in the evangelical community. That is not a message that evangelical leaders want to hear, because it would cost to speak out about the community. It would cost to take a stand against these very prominent leaders, despite the fact that the situation we were dealing with is widely recognized as one of the worst, if not the worst, instances of evangelical cover-up of sexual abuse. Because I had taken that position, and because we were not in agreement with our church’s support of this organization and these leaders, it cost us dearly.

Rachael Denhollander represents someone who has delivered a powerful, thought-provoking message and set a strong example for the Church, challenging Christian believers to seek to minister effectively to those who have been abused.

1 - 20-week abortion ban defeated in Senate

The Charlotte Lozier Institute, which is affiliated with the Susan B. Anthony List, shares these observations about the development of an unborn child at 20 weeks after fertilization:

Babies as young as 20 weeks post-fertilization can survive and thrive with appropriate care and treatment...

Unborn babies are treated as patients by fetal surgeons, and receive pain medication...

Unborn babies can feel pain by 20 weeks post-fertilization or earlier.

Despite this medical evidence that has shown that a child at 20 weeks can feel pain in the womb, 46 U.S. Senators voted against a bill that would prevent a child at that stage of development from being aborted.  51 voted in favor, but that fell short of the 60 necessary to move the bill forward.

Penny Young Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America, stated:

“The United States calls itself a champion of human rights but is one of only seven nations to allow abortion after 20 weeks when it has been proven that babies feel extreme pain. Today, we continue to align ourselves with countries such as China, North Korea, and Vietnam."

As Penny acknowledged on a recent Meeting House program, Alabama Senator Doug Jones voted against the bill.  On the CWA website, she said:

“Senators like Doug Jones (D-Alabama), Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota), and Claire McCaskell (D-Missouri), who represent states where voters overwhelmingly support life, will have much to answer for in their next election. 

“Today, these senators had a chance to stand for life. They chose to vote against life. They had a chance to defend the dignity of both children and their mothers. Instead, they voted without regard for the most vulnerable among us."