Episode 60: Julie Roys on Holiness, Humility and Dangerous Secrets
Can airing the church’s “dirty laundry” really lead to better witness?
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Shownotes
Julie and her team publish their work on The Roys Report.
Learn more about their newest project at restoringthechurch.com.
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Introduction
For nearly a decade, Julie Roys' name has been synonymous with sharing stories that make the church look bad. But her commitment to covering abuse and corruption in evangelical institutions proceeds from her own (politically and theologically conservative) evangelical faith. Earlier this year, she joined us for a conversation about the nature and history of her work, the new life she has seen blossom in victims of abuse, and her own history of falling in love with Jesus overseas.
NOTE: Owing to technical problems, nine seconds of this interview had to be re-recorded after the fact. The section in question runs from 38:09 to 38:18.
Prayer
God,
Your word says that anyone who is in Christ is grafted into a new tree. That anyone in Christ is part of a new people. That in the church you show no favoritism. That there's no man or woman, Jew or Greek free or slave. That our lives are all hidden away in Christ. That we should not fear people who can harm our bodies, but instead only fear the one with the power over body and soul.
And yet too often we keep our heads down. We go along to get along. We hide our lives away in our social, cultural or political tribes instead of hiding our lives away in Christ. We even hide our lives away in our Christian communities, our churches, our movements, our favorite ministries.
Forgive us for Jesus's sake. Teach us to follow in the footsteps of the one who preached against his own people to the point where they found common cause against him with their own enemies. Your word tells us that he did this for the joy set before him, and that the joy set before him was a body of people who took their solace together in him, even when doing that cost them so much.
Thank you for people like Julie who offer us opportunities to receive hard, sad, or scary witness. Who call us to holiness before you when we're tempted toward being holier than thou toward others. Who call us to righteousness rather than self-righteousness. Give us ears to hear the voices that the world would tempt us to ignore, eyes to see the log in our own eyes, and minds to understand that growing in this way, even when it is painful or difficult, like a child's discipline or an athlete's training, growing in this way is helping us to enjoy you and to share you with others.
We pray these things in the name of Jesus, who calls all of us to repent, who will reveal everything we try to hide and who will one day make all things new.
Amen.
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