1 Timothy 3 - It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do....and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.
James 3 - Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
The problem with Antioch and many other cell-based ministries is that in their constant desire to grow rapidly, they choose inexperienced believers that don't understand the weight of responsibility given to them. The responsibility is talked about, it is preached about, accountability is stressed, but in the end a lot of new Christians or newly-devoted Christians are put in positions of influence over even newer believers.
The Bible stresses the importance of seasoned followers to become the leaders of the church. Many of the hurtful stories I have heard from Antioch usually involve good intentioned lifegroup leaders making stupid decisions. But since they heard these really cool motivational stories from the front about demons being cast out of the afflicted, they channel this new revelation towards their lifegrouper who is clinically depressed. Lots of zeal - little wisdom.
Ultimately, the senior leadership is responsible because they set up a system that gives counseling roles and spiritual authority roles to inexperienced leaders.
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Once again, I think this mostly has to do with the college ministry at ACC. I haven't really seen any of this happening in the adult ministry. However, the only way to truly do away with all the inexperienced lg leaders in the college ministry is to have a bunch of adults in there as leaders. And with like 700+ college students, I don't think you're going to find enough volunteers.
ReplyDeleteA big part of the problem, in my experience, was the lack of social / relational maturity of the leaders. I brought up the idea of having older generation folks mentor members of the younger generation to an Antioch Movement pastor friend of mine, and he brought up an interesting point: he would be concerned that the adults might end up lording it over the young people even more, because of the sense of respect endowed to the older generation.
DeleteMakes sense.
But, I find that quite telling. It would seem, then, that the real problem is actually probably the pyramidal organizational structure and related doctrines that do a lot to enforce a strict pecking order, rather than even the age or relational maturity of the leaders. Loosen up the pecking order, within reason, with godly wisdom -- make the relationships more organic, less-strict -- and that might start to reduce the risk of spiritual abuse.
But eh, if it's one thing that's really helped me heal, it's been by taking the submission and obedience concepts, and taking them lightly, rather than very seriously, like at Antioch. Yes, they are scriptural concepts; but not when they lead to the extreme of lording it over others. That's what led to the Galatian believers -- among some other early believers, I think -- ending up in bondage. That was never the Lord's plan.
When I was with Antioch-Waco, for some time after the most traumatic portion of the abuse I endured, I would have about a nightly recurring nightmare of Antioch leaders forcefully subduing me, as if I were a slave. Even when I was there, I remember complaining about how trying to reason with Antioch leaders was like trying to talk to a brick wall. You see, when abuses occurred, we couldn't say anything. If we did, we weren't believed -- or ran the risk of ending up silenced, shunned, removed from ministry, even excommunicated and gossiped about by Antioch leaders -- used as examples to instill fear in us about speaking up or leaving.
Glad to be out of that and by God's grace, to have found my voice -- and to be able to recognize that submission and obedience must be balanced out with treating people with dignity and respect.
It feels great not to live in fear of intimidation from Antioch leaders anymore. It feels great not to feel the need to strive -- not to deal with fear and anxiety from trying my best but still falling short of perfection because I'm human. It feels great not to feel as if I am less-loved by God because I can't keep up with Antioch's expectations.
It feels great to be able to rest.
It feels so good to be able to sleep at night without constantly re-living that nightmare. It feels so good to be able to rest -- to be pretty much free.
That's what I knew church to be like before I got involved with Antioch: in churches where church leaders treated me as a fellow sister, not a lesser being who had to meet a seemingly unending list of obligations to maybe finally be accepted.
I think that when we treat people with dignity and mutual respect that that more closely resembles the light burden Jesus was talking about. I'm glad that healthy churches do this.
It happens all the time in adults/families and in young professionals.
ReplyDeleteI have three children attending Antioch churches and am greatly concerned for their spiritual safety, so I find this blog quite enlightening and helpful.
ReplyDeleteAaron said: "I don't think you're going to find enough volunteers."
Issues of pragmatism never permit disobeying the Word of God. You said "volunteers." In the listing of the qualifications of church leaders (elders, deacons), there is no mention of 'volunteering.' Church leaders need to be qualified using the qualifications clearly listed in Scripture. If there is a lack of qualified leaders, then that is a God-given limit on the growth of your church. A church blows by the qualifications for leadership at their great peril. For this reason I believe ACC is in great peril and is terribly misguided in their zeal for God. God will not honor their disobedience in the selection of leaders.
Amen Aaron, newly saved college kids, though wholly saved are not matured and experienced, I used to think it a good idea that being beautifully and wholly save was enough. The I saw high schoolers leave the church distanced from God by the immature leadership they received. Qualified includes 'training to show thy self approved' It takes years of study under those who have studied for years and lived with the Spirit of God shaping them in all the way Aaron alluded to by scripture
ReplyDeleteThank you for these comments. I too am concerned for my children's spiritual safety, as well as their emotional and even physical safety. In defense of negative things that have happened at Antioch or AMI, I have consistently heard people from inside and outside the organization say: "but they are all well-intentioned; they didn't mean for ___ to happen that way." My response is that someone, somewhere in the organization is responsible because it is an all-pervasive structure. As you say, "Ultimately, the senior leadership is responsible because they set up a system that gives counseling roles and spiritual authority roles to inexperienced leaders."
ReplyDeleteMom of 1-6-14, that's just it: we'll be expected to submit to and blindly obey human leaders who aren't accountable to us.
DeleteThey'll want the power and authority over us without the responsibility that comes with it.
I love what you said: "expected to submit to and blindly obey human leaders who aren't accountable to us." That's a very accurate statement from my experience. There is a lot of emphasis on submitting to authority and leadership in the church and it's definitely a one way street so to speak. I know of numerous instances where a member of the church questioned church authority and were rebuked or rejected and in some cases asked to leave the church to keep their "rebellion" from spreading. There really are some dark secrets of things that have happened regarding this issue that most people are afraid to speak of. Sad but true.
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