What Do You Do When an Abusive Leader Is Allowed to Remain in Ministry?
A couple of weeks ago, I watched with great interest how the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) would handle some particularly tough issues during its annual gathering in Nashville. Like any such gathering, there were things that were encouraging, and there were some things less encouraging.
But, I was particularly encouraged to see the SBC decide to do a real, thorough investigation of how it has handled abuse claims in the past. For those who watched, it was clear that there were many present on the floor of the gathering, mostly women, who had never received justice for the abuse they had endured at the hands of an SBC leader … Continue reading...
Does Grace Oppose Hard Work? My Upcoming Conversation with Jen Wilkin at the @TGC National Conference
So, today I am headed to Indianapolis for the TGC Women’s Conference (April 9-11), and the TGC National Conference (April 12-14). So excited to be in-person again, talking to real people.
I am speaking three times across the two conferences, so here’s the line-up:
1. Saturday, April 10, 4:30PM, I am doing a session entitled: “Can I Lose My Faith? Understanding Apostasy.” Over the last few years, I have been tackling this theme of apostasy, or “deconversion,” through my new commentary on Hebrews (which will be a book give away at the National Conference), as well as through several blog articles on deconversion in the evangelical world. I hope this … Continue reading...
Why Don’t Churches Stop Spiritually Abusive Pastors?
For the last couple of months I’ve been making my way through a blog series on spiritual abuse which I am calling “Bully Pulpit”. You can see the prior installments here , here, here, and here.
Part of the goal of this series has been to lead up to my session on spiritual abuse at the TGC National Conference. I will be leading a panel discussion on this topic with my friends Dan Doriani and John Yates, at 11AM on April 12th. Please join us if you will be attending TGC, or you can tune-in online.
With the conference right around the corner, this will … Continue reading...
Key Signs of an Abusive Pastor #3: Overly Critical and Harsh with Others
I’m continuing my blog series on spiritual abuse in the church which I am calling “Bully Pulpit”. You can see the prior installments here , here, and here. Since spiritual abuse is not as easy to spot as other forms of abuse, I am working my way through a number of key signs that churches should be on the watch for.
We come now to a third sign of a spiritually abusive pastor, namely that they are known for being overly critical and harsh with those under them. As Chuck DeGroat observes in his book, When Narcissism Comes to Church, abusive pastors are known for … Continue reading...
Key Signs of An Abusive Pastor #2: Hyper Defensive About Their Own Authority
“All who gain power are afraid to lose it.”
So said Darth Sidious (aka, Chancellor Palpatine) in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. And despite being from the dark side, he was correct. The biggest motivator for those in power is often their fear of losing it.
Sadly, that is also the case with abusive pastors. Wade Mullen in his book, Something’s Not Right, makes a very similar observation: “The chief desire of abusive individuals and organizations is to attain or retain power” (15).
If Mullen is correct—and I think he is—then we come to another key sign of an abusive leader, namely that they are often hyper-defensive about … Continue reading...