Read This Verse
Jeremiah 5:26 (The prophet speaking for God):…” for wicked men are found among My people…they set a trap, they catch men.” Then, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority.” (vv. 30-31)
Jeremiah 6:13-14 For from the least of them to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. And they have healed the brokenness of my people superficially saying, “Peace. peace,” but there is no peace.
(special thanks to The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen)
Soon after I became a Christian, I spent five years at a wonderful church in Boston called Park Street Church. This church had a remarkable missions program for both college students and young singles groups. Acknowledging the fact that most younger church members would go on to live elsewhere, the ministry decided to equip them to be givers rather than takers in the life of the church, wherever that might be.
We were trained in how to plan an evangelistic event which meant writing up a booklet with goals as well as the getting together the materials and people needed to make the event a success. They taught us how to lead Bible studies and conduct group meetings. They even had us rotate on and off various ministries and boards within the church, such as missions, in order to understand how healthy churches evaluate and conduct ministries. I was fortunate to serve on the missions committee of this fine church.
Once my husband and I married, we travelled a great deal around the country so that he might get the training he needed for his profession. Fortunately, most of the churches we attended had the wonderful combination of internal discipleship and external evangelism and missions.
However, I would like to focus on the aspect of what might constitute a church that is an unbalanced system. The following quote is from Jeff Van Vonderen, one of the authors of The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.:
“Jeff: Unbalanced systems are those that focus too much on certain aspects of the Christian experience. The two examples we picked are objectivity and subjectivity. Objectivity means that everything is so black-and-white that there is no room for people’s individual experiences, talents and things like that. People have to just fit into the system or they are not acknowledged, get neglected or are told that they are divisive, demonic or something like that. On the other side are systems in which people’s gifts and experiences are given the ultimate authority. Extreme examples of this would be situations where you objectively know from Scripture or your own experience that something is misguided, but when you say so, you find that the subjective experience of a person in authority takes priority. That gives the ultimate authority to man rather than to God.”
You can find the entire interview at:
http://www.spiritualabuse.com/?page_id=58
There are two examples of unbalanced churches I would like to discuss.
The first experience happened at a well-known church In Texas. This church started as a “mission” church for a large denomination. During the one and a half years my family and I attended this church, the membership grew from about 500 to over 2,000. Surprisingly, there were no domestic or foreign missions supported by the church except for a Christmas program to bring presents to poor families. When I inquired about the obvious lack of outreach, this now famous pastor told me that the church itself was the mission!
Interestingly, there were many well to do folks who attended this church, and the budget was rather large. This pastor spent his time trying to get famous people to stand up and pray for the church on Sundays. He coupled this with a showman like atmosphere in which he did anything he could to capture the attention of the attendees and the local news. He considered the church “seeker-driven” and never opened his Bible in the pulpit because he claimed it might “turn some people off”.
Based on outward appearances, his church is successful. The crowds he draws today are enormous! But this success has come at a great price. One attendee left to attend a smaller church. When I asked which one, she replied, “The Unity Church. You would love it. It's just like X church. “ This poor woman did not know the difference between an orthodox Christian church and one that is not considered an “historical” Christian church. However, the pastor himself gave the reason why this mistake was easily made. He explained to a reporter at the large newspaper in the area that doctrine just confuses people, so he chooses not to emphasize it.
Another lack of imbalance I have observed is that of the New Reformed (or Calvinsta) movement. Churches that belong to this movement have a peculiar emphasis on the role of women. As one reads the various statements of belief in these churches, one thing jumps out. When they list the more common beliefs that are found in ancient creeds such as the Apostle’s Creed, they add one specific item to the agenda. Gender roles, and in particular, the role of women, are emphasized. It is believed that women have stepped out of their God designed roles and that they have trampled on the leadership role of men in the church.
It is puzzling that they single out this issue over a number of other important issues that have as much, if not more, effect on the church. For example, the sexual abuse of children by pastors is on the rise in churches. Here are two links with current information on this crisis within Christianity:
http://www.snapnetwork.org/
http://stopbaptistpredators.org/index.htm
However, men (and a few women) within the Calvinista movement believe the real plague affecting the advancement of the Gospel is feminism. On various influential web sites such as the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (www.cbmw.org), women are labeled the “more easily deceived” sex. Here's an interesting quote from an article on the CBMW web site entitled "Younger Evangelicals and Women in Ministry: A Sketch of the Spectrum of Opinion" (link is also provided):
http://www.cbmw.org/Journal/Vol-12-No-2/Younger-Evangelicals-and-Women-in-Ministry-A-Sketch-of-the-Spectrum-of-Opinion
"Driscoll's droll interpretation of 1 Tim 2:12-14 is precisely what makes his application of the text so surprising. Mars Hill Church endorses gifted (but apparently "gullible" and "easily deceived") women to lead and to teach men so long as such women are not ordained as pastor/elder."
The Calvinistas believe that because Eve was created after Adam, women are always to be subordinate to men. Have you heard of the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father? Check out the following links which discuss this critical issue.
http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3655&Itemid=53
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/octoberweb-only/141-53.0.html
http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/Eternal-Subordination-of-the-Son-The-Basics-Part-I
The reason Dr. Bruce Ware, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and his colleagues argue that the Jesus Christ the Son is eternally subordinate to God the Father is to justify their claim that women are eternally subordinate to men.
Isn't it odd that women are considered to be the “most easily deceived” sex by this crowd; yet women are the ones who are most often in charge of raising the children. Aren’t children easily deceived? So why put those who can easily be deceived in charge of our most vulnerable members of society? Also, why did Jesus first reveal Himself to a woman and not a man after His resurrection? In the coming months, we will be focusing on the God ordained roles of women in the church; however, suffice it to say that we believe the gender issue shows a startling example of the lack of balance in some evangelical churches of our day.
It is our hope that all of our readers will look closely at their own churches and make sure there is a balance between the doctrine and the ministries of the church.