As a follow up to last week’s essay and articles on the dark side of organisational sacrificial, I wanted to add a couple of thoughts on the dynamics of organisational wounding. Because I think there are two main reasons we might find ourselves sacrificed for the building of something.
Firstly, we may feel it is our duty to voluntarily lay down our lives for whatever structure is being built that we are connected with. This could be a church, ministry, company, youth group, etc. History tells many stories, some are fact, some are legend, of people who were willing to literally lay down their lives in the foundations and walls of a structure – some even being buried alive. Legend has it that Odran of Iona was willingly buried alive by the great mystic Saint Columba of Iona into the walls of a church because it kept crumbling (an interesting read if you research it).
Secondly, we may feel we have/had no choice in the matter. We may have been coerced or forced to forsake truth and life for the building and maintaining of a structure/organisation. And this may be because you are a powerful threat to the status quo (think Joseph and his brothers) or because someone is looking for powerless pickings and you happen to suit the payment necessary (Lev18:21).
Each of these two ways come with their different motivations and dynamics. Some MAY be: lack-of-boundaries, co-dependencies, wanting-to-be-the-noble-martyr, theological understanding, lack of self-in-Christ worth, shame, bitter root judgments+expectation, being a peacekeeper (not peacemaker), or misunderstood obedience to name a few.
Whichever of the two camps you found yourself in – having felt shattered and stolen from, I pray that you lay hold of the resurrection power of Christ, which is available to you, and allow Him to minister truth and justice into your heart and situation. I pray you simply don’t gloss over it with the veneer of denial but you get to the core of the matter and see it for the abuse and spiritual abuse that it may be. And I pray your journey to healing is so real that you are able to see honest threats ahead and supernaturally navigate through them with Jesus, your covenant defender.
Shalom ~ David
#heartformation #church #life #healing
P.S. I taught a healing series on church wounding a few years ago called Out of the Tombs. It expands on this dynamic, and more
