Yoke of Exousia: The Abuser and The Abused

So, it's sometimes hard to talk about abuse because there is thinking out there which would have us believe that we have somehow brought it upon ourselves - the association of guilt may keep us from discussing it frankly.  I believe this very teaching is a form of abuse!!  Read on.  There are a variety of categories of abusive tactics:

• emotional/psychological
• sexual
• physical
• financial
• identity

Though there may be instances where we might precipitate abuse (note my qualifying with italics), I believe that it is rarer than "they" would like us to believe.  I personally believe responsibility for abuse rests entirely upon the abuser and not the abused.  When it comes to abuses of authority, I cannot think of a situation which stems from this great fallacy that we brought it upon ourselves (I am open to discuss this further).  In the abuse of authority, it often uses the "identity" tactic listed above.  It can take the form of racism, sexism, or ageism.  It can also be used  in relationship to physical appearance, intelligence, position, etc.  Intimidation is often a tool used in the identity abuse tactic.  Suffice it to say that abuse of any type is wrong.  In the sense of abuse of authority, it taints us and warps the appropriate view and right definition of authority which God has designed into His creation.

As a group, we discussed where we fell on a scale of being under or over someone in authority.  We also rated ourselves on a scale of being an abuser or one being abused within a worldly or spiritual setting.  The discussion was interesting in that many placed themselves as being abused by another (both worldly and spiritually).  Some placed themselves as the worldly abuser, however, most placed themselves in the neutral position on the topic of being a spiritual abuser.  I find this promising ... we'll see, as we continue our journey, how appropriate this ranking is.

We finished out our main group discussion with exposure to the truer definition of what a "servant" is.  According to the Greek (G1401), "A slave, one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed in the will of the other" (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament © 1992 by AMG International, Inc. Revised Edition, 1993).  When viewed in a spiritual sense, the "will of the other" is the will of our Lord.  We are NOT everybody's servant, we are the Lord's servant.  However, in service to Him, He commands we serve others - according to His will.  How does this relate to "abuse" and "authority"?  Well, according to 2 Timothy 1:7, when we are intimidated into doing something (or to NOT do something), we need to pay VERY close attention as to who's authority we are serving - another person, or the Lord!  This scripture encourages us to KNOW that we have The Spirit of Power, Love, Self-Discipline.

In His service ...