Parakaleo
Puritan Board Sophomore
I've seen some of these posted before on PB and thought I would add this one from a missions textbook I was assigned in seminary. I know that trying to come up with a "ruling" in a case study is far from perfect, since information has been interpreted and prepackaged. However, beneficial discussion can come from analyzing the principles at work here. What do you think?
CASE STUDY: WIFE BEATING William A. Benner (Hiebert and Hiebert 1987, 57–58)
The Reverend Solomon Begari, chairman of the Pastor’s Disciplinary Committee, looked at the other two members of the committee and said, “We must decide whether Pastor Trombo should be disciplined for beating his wife, and, if so, what that discipline should be. There is no doubt that he beat her, but she disobeys him and embarrasses him in public. The question is, is this something for which we should discipline a husband, particularly a pastor?”
The missionaries who lived by the church had brought the problem before the committee. One afternoon Pastor James Trombo returned home and found his young daughter playing with rat poison, which was scattered on the floor around her. His wife, Paeyam, was nowhere to be seen. He rushed his child to the hospital to have her stomach pumped, just in case she had eaten some of it. When he returned home, he beat his wife after he found out that she had gone to town to buy a dress. She had left their daughter asleep on the floor, expecting to be gone only a short while. Pastor Trombo had scolded his wife several times before this for leaving the child when she was asleep, but Paeyam had taken to ignoring his rebukes and sometimes publicly embarrassed him out of spite.
Immediately after her beating, Paeyam went across the street to the home of Carl and Lynne Hansen, the missionaries in the area. Paeyam had worked for them for several months, ever since their arrival in the South Sea Islands. Carl and Lynne both liked Paeyam and were shocked to see her weeping and bruised. Although Carl had found it hard to work with Pastor Trombo, who seemed to him to be arrogant and authoritarian, he and Lynne had to admit that the pastor’s church was flourishing. Beside the many highlanders who attended the church, Pastor Trombo had a real ministry among the coastal people working in the town.
Carl went immediately to talk to Pastor Trombo, but he would not listen to Carl’s remonstrance. “This is the custom of our people,” he said. The missionaries felt that they could not drop the case, so they reported it to the Pastor’s Disciplinary Committee of the Zion Churches of the South Pacific Islands.
Rumors of the beating circulated among the church members, causing various reactions. Some of the older people felt that Paeyam had finally gotten what she deserved and now would probably straighten up if the committee affirmed her husband. After all, wife beating was common in the highlands cultures. Many others who had been raised in the church were concerned. They felt that Pastor Trombo had done wrong and might even have committed a sin, although they were not exactly sure what kind of a sin. The new converts from the coastal people were generally confused. They liked Pastor Trombo and found him to be a good pastor, but they were used to treating their wives with more equality than the highlanders. Their wives were not beaten, except by an occasional drunk husband.
The members of the committee considered all these facts and the possible consequences of various decisions. They realized that if they affirmed Pastor Trombo, many people, including the missionaries and coastal people, would not understand. It would seem to them that the committee was condoning the practice of wife beating. Moreover, it would cause friction between the church leaders and the missionaries.
On the other hand, if the committee decided to discipline Pastor Trombo, it would cause problems with the older highlanders in the congregation and detract from his ministry. The committee’s decision would affect the future of the church, Pastor Trombo’s ministry, and his relationships in his family. No matter what they did, it seemed as if someone in the church would not understand.
Pastor Solomon Begari looked at the other committee members and said, “As the disciplinary committee of the Zion churches, we must make a final decision in this case. We have talked to Pastor Trombo, to the missionaries, and to our other pastors, and no agreement seems possible. And we cannot put off the decision without seriously hurting the church and the people involved. What should we do?”
Moreau, A. Scott; Corwin, Gary R.; McGee, Gary B. (2004-01-01). Introducing World Missions: A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Survey (Encountering Mission) (Kindle Locations 4497-4511). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition.