Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry

Chaplain Chris Haughee 4/27/1612:53 PM

As I start to talk with pastors about why ACEs matter and why they should inform themselves and their congregations, I regularly hear something like this: "But why does it matter? What difference should it make in ministry? Can't I simply preach and teach the Bible and leave the results up to God?"

By way of answer to these questions, I am starting to put together a training called "10 things that kid with ACEs would like you to know: moving your church toward greater empathy." The following is from my second point in the presentation: "The traumatized are biologically wired to worry." I hope you find it helpful, and if you pass this on to a pastor-type person, please do so in the context of want to raise their awareness to an issue, not in a judgmental way. Having been a parish pastor, I know all the demands on their time. The hurt that a pastor might do to someone with ACEs is unintentional... they just don't know what they don't know! Finally, this was prepared as a spoken presentation rather than written, and rather than have to rewrite the whole thing, I hope you picture the setting and glean the same truths.

Thanks, Chaplain Chris Haughee www.intermountainministry.org

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While we may have all been created equal, that does not make us the same, nor does it change the fact that we have all had different childhoods.

Toxic stress wires a child’s brain to be in constant vigilance against potential threats… Pastor, consider your most stressful situation, perhaps a time you really thought or knew your life was in danger. Remember that adrenaline rush? Now, imagine that in even a heightened, regular rate, let alone anything close to constant. Can you see how this might affect a child’s brain? Can you see why toxic stress--a prolonged heightened sense of fear from a potentially life threatening situation--can be so damaging?

So, because of what we know about ACEs, especially here in Montana—where 17 percent of children have experienced three or more ACEs, and 1 in 10 have four or more (the "tipping point" for all sorts of negative consequences statistically, including a 1200% increase in suicidal behavior) how might that change the way you preach and teach?

Raise your hand if you have ever taught, preached, or heard taught or preached a message on Jesus’ teaching about worry from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-34)? How many? Look around.

Okay… next question: How many of you, leave your hands up if this is you… How many of you heard from those messages, or taught from that passage that the main lesson was: “Worry is bad. You should worry less?” Look around… lots of hands.

Telling the survivor of ACEs to worry less, and that’s what Jesus wants you to do, is about as sensitive as telling the child in the wheelchair that they need to stop using their wheelchair and that Jesus wants them to walk. (Unfortunately, having had a brother with Muscular Dystrophy, confined to a wheelchair most of his life until his death at age 20, this message is sometimes taught from 'Christian' pulpits).

Think I am overstating the case? Then ask yourself, "Do I lend more validity to the child in the wheelchair, considering their limitations because I can see them while discrediting the limitations of child with ACEs?" And, if so, ask yourself the follow-up question: "Is this because the effects of their trauma are in their nervous system and endocrine system, remaining unseen and hidden?" Pastor, teacher... if someone's infirmity doesn't scream out to your sense of sight, touch, or hearing you shouldn't assume it is less significant. The child with six or more ACEs dies 20 years early than the rest of the population. That's significant.

As you prepare your sermon, remember this: your worries and anxiety, as someone without a rewired brain or a hyper-vigilant endocrine/nervous system, cannot be compared to those who have experienced toxic stress as a result of ACEs. It just can’t.

Back to Matthew 6: Jesus was teaching less on worry than on recognizing our dependence on God. What did Jesus speak to? Worry about food and drink, about clothes. Does anyone without a traumatic childhood REALLY worry about these things? We worry about our jobs, our mortgages, our children's behavior. There are few in our churches that truly worry about food, clothing, and their thirst (though that may be another issue to address... our missional impact... but that's for another time and place).

Food, drink, and clothes are not pressing issues for us. But, for the child who truly didn’t have enough to eat as a child, who learned to hoard when food was available, just might have food issues in adulthood… and, that’s just one common example I see in my ministry. Try preparing a lesson on this passage for these children rather than the kids that argue about how many stalks of broccoli they might have to eat in order to get dessert. Changes things a bit, yes?

Lastly, the same person that gave this teaching about worry also prayed in Gethsemane, troubled ("depressed and dejected"-ademoneo in Greek) to the point of sweating blood! Dare we say that Jesus was “worried” or anxious about the manner of death that lay before him? This level or worry or anxiety is a better corollary to what children with numerous ACEs might have experienced.

Imagine if those sleepy disciples in the garden had quoted Jesus back to himself: “Jesus, why are you so worried? Can you add a single hour to your life? You said it yourself!” I am not so sure that would have gone over well, and I don’t think our admonishing those with anxiety issues from very troubled childhood experiences goes over any better.

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Chaplain Chris HaugheeMember

Thank you, Dimitrius! I always appreciate relevant and concrete examples when I am learning a new concept, so I always try and include them in my trainings/teachings/preaching! Your words are a great encouragement.

Chris

5/10/1610:08 AM

Dimitrius StoneMember

Excellent blog with great advise on making the case for more empathy using relevant examples while remaining sensitive to religious beliefs. Thank you Chaplain!

5/10/169:46 AM

Chaplain Chris HaugheeMember

Elizabeth,

Thank you for your kind words and for sharing from your heart.

As a minister in Christian churches, preparing sermons and lessons for a variety of audiences for over 20 years, I can assure you that balancing all the needs of the audience is very difficult. As you say, quite the balancing act, and perhaps simple awareness is a place to start.

I recently spoke with a small group of evangelical pastors and asked them if they knew the statistics in our state as to how many children under the age of 18 have had at least 3 ACEs (after explaining briefly what ACEs were)... they were shocked to know it was 17%, and 10% have 4 or more (making 1 in 10 children in Montana 1200% more likely to exhibit suicidal behavior). This, coupled with other statistics about the prevalence of domestic abuse and sexual abuse, I said, should change the way you preach and teach... never forget, we preach a message of healing and hope the VERY hurting people, whether we see that hurt on their faces Sunday morning or not.

I had a seminary homiletics professor ("preaching" teacher) who told us to identify in our minds 4-5 representative members of the congregation as consider how they might hear the message we were preparing... he was thinking demographically and where they were in terms of age-related life cycle troubles/concerns. Never once, as a young seminarian, did I think about the role adversity or trauma might have played out in each of these populations, nor was I encouraged to... which would have changed a lot. I think mixing into that pool of congregants considered in the sample audience, a teen with 6-7 ACEs would be a brilliant mental exercise for most as they prepare their messages... not the focus of all the sermon preparations, but right along there with the other 3-4 people the pastor/priest might consider as representative of the breadth of their "flock."

4/28/163:37 AM

Chaplain Chris HaugheeMember

Lecky, I would agree with your conjecture... a faith-based communities ACEs survey would be interesting. My guess is that there might be a higher than average ACE score in most church populations. So, all the more reason that it should be a topic of conversation and on the minds of pastors, priests, rabbis, etc.

The reality of abuse in churches, spiritual, physical, or otherwise persists because the church is unwilling to bring some of the hard and harsh realities forward into the light to discuss them. We can all be part of changing that, not by condemning the Church, but by loving it into the light... asking that it be the best version of itself that it aspires to be.

4/28/163:24 AM

Leckey HarrisonMember

There is also the reality of spiritual abuse, and as we have seen in the Catholic church, sexual abuse done by those in places of power. I have a rather full file of such stories, most of them non-Catholic. It is a reality even in the church.

It has been my conjecture, based on my years as a charismatic fundamentalist, that many in the church have high ACE scores, and that dogmatism in many forms, like the one pointed out in this article, makes for a large group of very hurt people.

Being trauma informed throughout society can in no way hurt us.

4/27/164:45 PM

Elizabeth FitzgeraldMember

"Food, drink, and clothes are not pressing issues for us. But, for the child who truly didn’t have enough to eat as a child, who learned to hoard when food was available, just might have food issues in adulthood… and, that’s just one common example I see in my ministry. Try preparing a lesson on this passage for these children rather than the kids that argue about how many stalks of broccoli they might have to eat in order to get dessert. Changes things a bit, yes?"

I love this passage in Matthew for its encouragement to have faith in the provision of God, but have often struggled with it for the same reasons you highlight here. For so many, worrying about basic needs is a real, true, daily struggle. If this message is wrapped in trauma-informed awareness and compassion it has the capacity to provide the reassurance, I believe, it was meant to offer.

My guess is that faith communities serve the full range of needs so preparing a message that meets all of these needs is a good trick, to say the least! Acknowledging that challenge and the array of needs, is a good place to start.

I was reading something similar during Lent/Passover season about the connection between affluence, minimalism and faith communities encouraging their members to use the season to pare down their belongings. How do I express the conviction of my faith along with others in my church if I have little possessions to give away or pare down?

Thanks for another thought-provoking post.

4/27/164:37 PM

Keith oleMember

We are Circles of hope Circlesofhope.net We love the people we work with and we know that from truma a young child can be lead in drug and alcohol addiction just by self medicating. ACES is so important for everyone to understand.

4/27/161:36 PM