I suspect there is some confusion about trigger warnings. A confusion that exists in Christian circles as well as in wider society.
Increasingly, trigger warnings are being described – and used – as if they were a kind of worldwide version of film certification: "Today’s Old Testament reading is Certificate 12A, but the New Testament reading has a U certificate and is suitable for all." Now, if that is what we were dealing with – and if the basis for a higher certification was simply because the content was contrary to liberal Western thinking – then it’s not hard to see the problem.
Rightly understood, however, (and rightly used), trigger warnings serve an entirely different function.
Trauma and flashbacks
Some years ago, I met with a man who had served as a soldier, and, in active service, had been caught up in a terrible military incident. In a matter of moments – and under overwhelming air attack – he watched as most of the members of his squad were killed alongside him. The horror of those few minutes was etched on his mind. And every autumn, as Bonfire Night approached, he made plans to do all he could to avoid the bangs and flashes that would be lighting up the night sky. For the pyrotechnics that were to most of us a happy delight were to him a trigger of the past.
Those who have lived through trauma often experience what are described as "flashbacks." In this experience, a person who has lived through a horror doesn’t simply remember the event, they re-live it. Some working in the field see this as a kind of problem with memory; the traumatic experience was so overwhelming it prevented a memory being laid down in the usual way. In place of an organised and sequential memory, there are multiple disorganised shards of experience – something like a shattered mirror. And because they have been processed in an unusual way, they are recalled in an unusual way as well. Not as a memory of the past, but as a re-living of it. As if it is happening all over again - which is why my friend did all he could to avoid Bonfire Night.
Triggers and protection
Working carefully with someone who has experienced trauma can help them overcome this, but uncontrolled exposure to situations which cause a person to revisit the trauma just makes things worse.
Rightly understood, a trigger warning is offered to help someone avoid this re-living of past trauma. A woman who has been violently raped will, understandably, avoid anything that might cause her to relive the assault. Listening to the account of the rape of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13 is something that might well evoke the past. It would serve as a "trigger" for a "flashback" - when she would not simply remember the rape but experience it afresh, as if it were happening all over again.
Compassion, Christ and the church
Jesus demonstrated extraordinary care and compassion for those who were suffering. Famously, Warfield, in his essay on the emotional life of Christ, noted that the emotion most often ascribed to Jesus in the gospel accounts was that of compassion. Jesus is moved by the crowd which seemed to him like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6v34); He is moved by the death of Lazarus and the grief of His sisters and weeps (John 11v35); His heart goes out to the widow of Nain (Luke 7v13); He comes as the one who will not break a bruised reed (Matthew 12v20).
The epistles call us to compassion. We worship a God who is the Father of compassion (2 Corinthians 1v3); Paul calls us to be kind and compassionate (Ephesians 4v32) and to clothe ourselves with compassion (Colossians 3v12). Peter writes: "Finally, all of you, be like minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble" (1 Peter 3v8).
Those affected by trauma have experienced some of the very worst kinds of suffering – terrible accidents, assaults, violence and losses. Even though loving pastors will work hard to know their flock, certain past hurts remain unknown. Sexual violence is not something people easily disclose. Trigger warnings, rightly understood, are not some kind of accommodation to woke culture, rather they offer compassionate care to those who have endured severe suffering. Such warnings need not be complicated. A week or two in advance (which is better than at the start of the service, and much better than just as the reading begins!) we can let people know that a future sermon will be engaging with a Bible passage that includes an account of sexual violence and we appreciate that some may want to know that in advance.
Past trauma often leaves people feeling isolated and overlooked. Alerting people in this way communicates that we are a church community that both sees and cares. This simple provision can be a first step in communicating the compassion of Christ.
When darkness is your only friend
God assures us that His written Word is not only absolutely reliable, it is also profitable: “All Scripture is God-breathed …