Abuse

The Use of Scripture in Cases of Abuse (with Steven Stracy)

Kirk E. Miller

God’s Word is meant to be a source of life and healing. But when misused, it can become a weapon to inflict harm. This damage is all the more the case when Scripture is mishandled to justify, excuse, or shield abuse.

When done by spiritual authorities (pastors and churches), such misuse scripture is itself spiritually abusive and thus deeply harmful in its own right. As Steven Tracy helpfully put it,

While any type of abuse can be extremely damaging, we have found that spiritual abuse is often some of the most damaging due to the way it shatters the very resources we need for health and healing.1

In this episode of Logos Live, I sit down with Steven Tracy to talk about how to use Scripture to heal, not harm, especially in instances of abuse.

Check out the full episode and accompanying article.

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  1. Personal correspondence over email. February 5, 2026. ↩︎

Is It Wrong for Victims to Be Angry at Their Abusers?

Kirk E. Miller

In To Heal or Harm: Scripture’s Use as Poison or Medicine for Abuse Survivors, Steven R. Tracy asks the question, “Is it acceptable for abuse victims to be angry?”1

He observes, “Countless times, I have seen abuse survivors condemned by church leaders for being angry at their abusers or those who failed to protect them from their abusers.” They are indicted “for their ‘victim posturing’ and … ‘sinful anger and bitterness.'”

“Many argue that virtually all anger over what others have done to us is sinful.” As one author contends, “Ninety-nine percent of my anger is sinful; I don’t want to give tacit permission to my frustration by calling it righteous indignation. … If I am angry because of what someone did to me, I am always wrong.” Yet, while recognizing that we should be on guard against the potential dangers of anger—for instance, “Jesus condemned anger in Matthew 5:22;” likewise we are told to “refrain from anger (Ps 37:8), put it away (Col 3:8), and not make friends with someone given to anger (Prov 22:24)”—Tracy nonetheless poses the question, “Is it always sinful to be angry at injustices we suffer?” (emphasis mine). He answers,

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On Spiritual Abuse (with Michael Kruger)

Kirk E. Miller

What is spiritual abuse, and how should we respond to it in our churches? In this episode of Logos Live, I talk with Mike Kruger, author of Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church.

Check it out!

4 key insights from the conversation

1. Spiritual abuse often won’t be obvious to onlookers

[S]piritual abuse isn’t always obvious. It doesn’t appear with twirling mustaches and overt villainy. … Sin is universal, and as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said, ‘The line separating good and evil passes … right through every human heart—and through all human hearts.’ A problem with assuming spiritual abuse will always appear obvious is that we blind ourselves to its many less-than-obvious occurrences. As Jesus himself said, wolves won’t appear as wolves, but as those dressed in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15). And often our own self-interest and confirmation bias make it difficult to acknowledge that a beloved leader would act so harmfully.

2. Abusers often manipulate by appealing to sound principles

Good principles can be weaponized: calls for unity can stifle dissent; appeals to authority can be used to demand trust rather than earn it; submission can be coerced instead of cultivated. The result is a spiritually oppressive environment, often masked by theological correctness, appeals to trust leadership, and a sense of legitimacy.

3. Spiritual abuse is deeply damaging

[Consider] the deep damage spiritual abuse can cause, taking things that are so vital and good (e.g., Scripture, one’s relationship with God, the church) and twisting them into a source of agonizing pain and confusion. Symptoms can include the following: physical symptoms (e.g., PTSD-like stress), emotional and relational trauma, social ostracization from their church, [and] doubts about God, faith, and the church.

4. We must prioritize people over reputations and institutions

Many victims never come forward—and those who do often regret it. Time and again, … the ecclesiastical process (e.g., investigations) proved more traumatizing than the abuse itself. Victims are often disbelieved, maligned, attacked, or pressured to remain silent. Churches often protect their leaders or institutions rather than those abused for the sake of “carrying on with the mission.” [Churches must] put people above institutions (see Isa 1:12–17). Protecting the church’s reputation cannot come at the expense of the wounded.

A Concise Explanation of the SBC Guidepost Abuse Report

Kirk E. Miller

Note: The above diagrams are admittedly simplified, obscuring two things.

First, for most participating churches, their financial contributions do not go directly to the “Cooperative Program” or its entities. Rather, their financial contributions are made to their respective state convention, which then collects some of those funds for its purposes and then passes on the rest to the “Cooperative Program.” It’s not required to give this way. A church can give directly to the “Cooperative Program,” or select “Cooperative Program” entities, by sending their money straight to the Executive Committee and bypassing any state convention.

Secondly, although LifeWay and Guidestone are entities that serve participating churches, they do not actually receive financial support from the “Cooperative Program.” I nonetheless included them here though to make you aware of their existence within the “SBC ecosystem.”

I’ve heard things about abuse in the SBC. What was that all about?

In early 2019, an investigative journalist published a report detailing cases of abuse that occurred in churches that participate in the “Cooperative Program” (often less precisely referred to as “SBC churches”).

Participating churches grew in concern over how abuse was being handled within the association. More and more victims continued to speak up. And suspicions eventually emerged regarding how the Executive Committee (EC) in particular handled (or better, failed to handle) reports of abuse they had received.

So at the 2021 annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in June 2021, the church delegates voted to hire an independent entity to conduct a thorough (and very costly) investigation into the Executive Committee’s handling of abuse claims.

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God Cannot Make a Mistake; God Cannot Waste Our Suffering

Kirk E. Miller

This sermon was delivered during the Coronavirus “stay at home” order, and so was conducted virtually as we held our services over Zoom.

God Cannot Make a Mistake; God Cannot Waste Our Suffering
CrossWay Community Church
April 26th, 2020

Podcast link.

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God Cannot Make a Mistake

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’” – Romans 11:33-34

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Think back over this past month, or even this past week: How many times do you reckon you said the words, “I’m sorry”–and not even for those things you did intentionally; but just for mistakes you made, despite your best intentions. Maybe things you intended to do but forgot; things you attempted but failed; or even just “accidents” (misfortune) that foiled your plans. When we look back, we see that we leave behind a wake of mistakes in every area of our lives, everything we touch.

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