Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, authors of Rid of My Disgrace, were recently interviewed by Michael Horton on the White Horse Inn about sexual assault and how we can best apply the gospel of Christ to victims and the perpetrators. Here is a highlight from the interview.

Michael Horton: How do you talk about the fatherhood of God, when the [earthly] father is about the worst person in their life?

Justin Holcomb: Most victims have a voice screaming lies to them, and so our job is to do everything possible to proclaim the truth that undermines, annihilates, and shuts that voice up. And so going after the fatherhood of God is a great place to go because you get to say amazing things about the Father who loves them appropriately.

They have a foil. They hear things like, “When you have faith in Christ there is nothing you can ever do that will make him not want you and reject you.” Because of their horrible experience, it makes certain dimensions of the gospel presentation glimmer ever brighter for them. So we go straight to that and say, “He’s strong and powerful, but he never uses it against you because you are his child. You don’t have to earn anything, because you have an inheritance.” And so we pull out all of these great connections to the fatherhood of God. He is loving and powerful always accepts you. All of the “no” goes to Jesus, and all of the “yes” goes to you.

Go to The White Horse Inn for the entire interview or subscribe and listen to it from their podcast.

Are you uncertain how to respond with the gospel to sexual assault? Learn more about Respond’s free one-day conference.