Why We Shouldn't Follow Abusive and Deceitful Leaders

Why we shouldn't follow abusive and deceitful leaders

IS IT BIBLICAL TO SUBMIT BLINDLY TO CHURCH AUTHORITY? 1
HOW DOES ONE IDENTIFY ABUSIVE LEADERS? 1
WE MUST OBEY LEGITIMATE CHURCH AUTHORITY 2
PREPARE FOR PERSECUTION 3

Abusive, deceitful and hypocritical Christian leaders often teach an authoritarian message to try to obtain absolute unquestioning obedience. Once obtained they can manipulate other for their own benefit (for example in the accumulation of power or money or covering up an immoral lifestyle) rather than that of service Christ or the flock. Disobeying or opposing the leader is considered as if it were disobedience to God.

IS IT BIBLICAL TO SUBMIT BLINDLY TO CHURCH AUTHORITY?

Is it biblical to submit blindly to every instruction of every church authority? No. Not at all! The Bible teaches explicitly that we should test leaders, and not just follow those who assert themselves.

The apostle Paul warns the Corinthians against false apostles and rebukes them for tolerating them. They get absolutely no credit for their suffering at the hands of the abusive and deceitful leaders.

2CO 11:13 "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve..... 19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!"

On the contrary, Jesus commends the Ephesians for testing those who claimed to be apostles, but were found false.

REV 2:2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

The apostle Paul himself:

• Never claimed such absolute authority. When accused of wrong, he defended himself based on rational argument based on scripture - not just by pulling rank and demanding unquestioning obedience.


• Never used church money to enrich himself to live a lifestyle far above his congregation. Rather he supported himself by tent making and encouraged money to be given to the poor. 2CO 2:17 "Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God."


• Never treated people abusively and rebuked those who did.


• Publicly rebuked the apostle Peter, when he behaved hypocritically, rather than blindly submitting to him.

HOW DOES ONE IDENTIFY ABUSIVE LEADERS?

How does one know if a leader is habitually abusive? Every leader will make a few mistakes in dealing with people and at times be too harsh. Nevertheless, a Godly leader will usually apologise after he makes a mistake. An abusive hypocrite will not apologise unless forced to do so and he will keep on doing the same thing again and again to other people. If a leader treats you in a way that is totally unreasonable and disregarding due biblical process, find out if they have a history of such behaviour with others. If so, then get a group to go challenge the abusive leader together.

How does one know if money is or has been greedily wasted? Ask some questions from your church or Christian organisation financial advisory board? Look at the lifestyle of the leader. If you don't get straight answers to your questions, why trust them with your money?

Why is abusiveness often linked to hypocrisy? Answer: Because a hypocritical person is insecure and needs to make people fear him so that they will be afraid to challenge him and ask questions about his behaviour. A Godly man who has nothing to hide will not be afraid of honest sincere question or challenge - he will in fact welcome correction.

Why is a leaders greediness with church money often linked to hypocrisy and abusiveness. Answer: Because in order to hide his backslidden state, the abusive and hypocritical Christian leader needs to make everyone else think he more important than them - so they won't question him. To do this, he need lots of status symbols: e.g. a bigger car, a bigger house, a bigger office etc. These cost money. That doesn't mean that such symbols are always a sign of sin, but when combined with a hyper-elitist infallible image they are often an indication that something is wrong.

Also, abusive hypocrites tend to get a sense of entitlement, that they are so important, they are entitled to anything they want - whether money, power or sex. Thus they fall deeper and deeper into sin. Nevertheless, not every problem leader has all of these problems.

Rather, than spirituality, these characteristics are indications that a leader is at best spiritually immature or at worst false and should not be followed. You are going to get no reward in heaven for giving money to a religious con-man who promises that God will make you rich if you help make him rich. You are going to get no reward in heaven for tolerating the abusiveness of some leader who goes around bullying and trying to intimidate people, while he himself is not properly accountable to others. You will get no reward in heaven for helping to cover up and protect leaders who are immoral, deceptive or abusive.

That is false Christianity. It is a waste of time. It is not serving Christ. If your leader behaves in such a way and is unapproachable, elitist, above question, instills fear - then don't follow him. You have a limited number of years on earth to serve Christ. You have a limited amount of money to give. Supporting such leaders is not following Christ. Find someone else to follow. Support disciplinary action against such leaders. Encourage them to resign and find other jobs. If they have not backslidden too far, then perhaps lend them a book or tape on spiritual abusiveness.

Jesus Christ did not blindly submit to the religious authorities of his day - the Pharisees and Saducees. He publicly rebuked them for deception, abusiveness, manipulation, love of money etc (Matthew 23).

WE MUST OBEY LEGITIMATE CHURCH AUTHORITY

This should not be used to justify general disrespect for Church authority. We should under most circumstances submit to our leaders.

HEB 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you."We should obey leaders within the sphere of their legitimate authority in church governance, within the constraints set out in scripture. The leader must follow due process of discipline (Matthew 18) and must himself also obey scripture.Nevertheless, when such a leader has either committed some scandalous sin or alternatively is repeatedly behaving in a manner that is unChristian such as abusing their authority and/or the money of the church, then one must challenge them according to due biblical process (Matthew 18) and have them disciplined. When a leader simply condemns any legitimate challenge on an ethical issue as a sin and disobedience to God, then he is out of line and needs to be challenged even more forcefully so that he is not able to do so again.

What of a Godly leader who starts down the path of abusiveness and hypocrisy. Do you help him by ignoring such sin? No. If you love them many, you need to challenge him and steer him back towards the straight and narrow path. Get him to repent of whatever he has done wrong.

Is an abusive ministry actually part of God's kingdom - or is it just a human enterprise designed to advance the power and ego of a few arrogant, deceitful and abusive men? Sadly, it is often a mixture of both. The church is often includes God's kingdom at work, whilst also ungodly humanempires at the same time. Try to see that your effort in time and money goes to best build up God's kingdom rather than just human empires. Your tithe money belongs to God - not automatically to the church to which you attend. If your church isn't using that money to employ Godly men who serve God - then you are wasting God's money by giving to them.

Friends, please don't con yourselves into thinking that God is pleased with unquestioning obedience and donation of money towards hypocritical and abusive leaders. Don't expect to get any reward in heaven for such things. How does it help God's kingdom to keep an abusive hypocrite in office? Now there may be people who don't know that their leader is an abusive hypocrite - and still give to and serve his ministry faithfully. In such cases, God will reward the faithful intention, even if it is misdirected.

PREPARE FOR PERSECUTION

Rather, expect to get reward for suffering the persecution that results from opposing such religious abusiveness and hypocrisy - just as Jesus did.

MT 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. MT 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." JN 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

What of an organisation that includes some abusive hypocrites and other Godly leaders? Encourage the Godly men to take a stand against the abusive hypocrites. If they don't, then one must question whether they are truly Godly and/or whether they have the courage to lead. Chose to follow those who are Godly within the organisation and try to donate your money in a way that will not end up in the pockets of abusive hypocrites. Raise issues with the financial advisory board if you have concerns. Perhaps donate directly to sponsor those leaders you know, trust and believe in or some church associated welfare project.

Philip Rosenthal