Religion | Healing: Healing from Toxic Religion - Part 3

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HEALING
Healing from Toxic Religion – Part 3
Springcreek Church | Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
July 28, 2024
#realspringcreekchurch #healingfromtoxicreligion #healing #toxic #religion
https://www.springcreekchurch.org/
If you carry scars from a toxic church or leader, those wounds won't heal merely by the passage of time. It takes intentionality to heal. Issues like the betrayal of trust, manipulation of our thoughts and emotions through the toxic tools of guilt and shame, and degradation of our God-image must all be exposed to the light of God's truth. Jesus once said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). In this next installment in our series, we'll examine what it takes to heal from some of the worst damage caused by toxic churches and those who lead them.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. We often only associate grief with the losses we face in death but grief is God’s way of healing us from all of the losses of life. What sort of losses have you grieved? What feelings get expressed in grief? How has God met you in your grief?
2. Forgiveness is often misunderstood and therefore resisted. What separates real forgiveness from stereotypes and misunderstanding? Have you ever needed to forgive someone? What made it challenging? Take some time to discuss the following quotes;
“[Forgiveness means becoming] a hero instead of a victim in the story you tell.” – Dr. Fred Luskin, Stanford University Forgiveness Project
“Forgiveness is not a one-off decision; it is a journey and a process that takes time, determination, and persistence. Forgiveness is not forgetting; it is simply denying your pain the right to control your life.” - Corallie Buchanan
3. Trust is often violated in instances of toxic churches and toxic leaders. Trust is something that’s never commanded in Scripture. Are we appropriately cautious in new relationships to extend trust only when it is earned as opposed to leaving ourselves vulnerable? Have you ever had someone violate your trust? What effect did it have on you? How did you deal with it? How does it affect your present relationships? What did you learn about scars as it relates to trust wounds?
4. When people use the feeling of guilt to manipulate others, they are most definitely using guilt in ways that Scripture never does. The Biblical word for guilt only deals with the fact of guilt. When it comes to the feeling of guilt, Scripture uses another term “worldly sorrow” which only produces death. How is godly sorrow different from worldly sorrow? When you feel guilty or are made to feel guilty, a child of God can reject that feeling as not from God. Have you ever been in an environment, church or otherwise, that heavily used the feeling of guilt? What effect did that have on you? What would you suggest to someone coming out of a toxic church that regularly practiced guilty their members?
5. As a group, take some time to read through the out true identity in Christ. How would your life be different if you lived like each and every one of these truths were also true of you? Print this list and post it where you can see it, read it, and remind yourself of its truth daily.
My True Identity in Christ:
• You are not condemned (Romans 8.1)
• You are accepted (Romans 15.7)
• You are ransomed - "restored to favor" (1 Corinthians 1.30)
• You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5.17)
• You are the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5.21)
• You are liberated (Galatians 2.4)
• You are chosen, holy, and blameless before God (Ephesians 1.4)
• You are redeemed, forgiven (Ephesians 1.7)
• You are alive (formerly dead in spirit) (Ephesians 2.5)
• You have boldness and confident access to God (Ephesians 3.12)
• You have all y