Monday, July 25, 2005

Spiritual Cutters

Over the course of the past year I have had the opportunity to meet many young people who are cutters. Although it's difficult for me to believe that in today's world there are many people who are unfamiliar with "cutting", let me share a bit with those of you who are unaware of this practice. You see, there are people who are in such emotional and sometimes physical pain that they cut parts of their body in order to feel better. How can added pain be good? The phenomenon is surely not completely understood, but the physical pain of cutting is most often a distraction from the existing physical and/or emotional pain. It's just a means by which people can forget all the other hurts in their lives.

The message in this blog is not so much about who cuts, why they cut, when they cut, etc..., but rather it's about those people I see as Spiritual Cutters. The Bible refers to believers as "The Body of Christ" and Christians themselves refer to churches, denominations, and/or the entire world of believers as "The Body". What drives members of the body to cut other body parts? Many cutters are masters at hiding the wounds while some actually flaunt their cutting. So it is with Spiritual Cutters. Many do it so subtly and to parts of the body which will always stay hidden and they are very good at hiding their destructive behavior. There are others who use weapons of words, judgment, condemnation, and gossip (just to name a few) and the number of bleeding body parts they leave in their wake are many and obvious.

What drives Spiritual Cutters to their destruction? I submit that it is exactly what drives all cutters - they are looking for a distraction from their own pain. Perhaps they are hoping that if they cause a bloody wound to be exposed they will draw attention away from their own gaping lesions left by sin and guilt.

One thing is truth - cutters are in pain. There are healing paths - paths that do not include the infliction of more pain on more body parts.

No comments:

Post a Comment