Spiritual Abuse (spir’-i-choo-el a-byoos’). Wouldn’t it be great if it was as simple as looking it up in a dictionary? But nothing about spiritual abuse is simple.
Spiritual abuse occurs when someone in a position of spiritual authority, the purpose of which is to ‘come underneath’ and serve, build, equip and make God’s people MORE free, misuses that authority and misuses God’s Word, placing themselves over God’s people to control, coerce or manipulate them for seemingly Godly purposes which are really their own.
Those who have experienced it know it is powerful enough to cause them to question their relationship with God, indeed, the very existence of God. And it is subtle too! The perpetrators of spiritual abuse are rarely the sort of characters who announce that they are going to drain your spiritual energy or your pocketbook. They may be people who seem like they are seeking to guide you to the deepest levels of spiritual maturity but, in reality, they may be more interested in draining your pocketbook. They may be more interested in ‘growing’ their church. They seem to believe that the more church members that they have, the better church they have ÔÇôthe better pastors they must be.
You are told you must give more to God or you may lose His love. You give money to the Church that should be used to pay your bills, to buy food for your family, to buy new clothes or school fees and clothes for your children. You give cattle to the Church. You may even give your farm to the Church.
The result? You have less in your pocket ÔÇô the Church has more in its pocket. God loves you the same amount whether you can give a lot or a little.
Who controls the money of your Church? What is done with the money given to your Church? Is the Church helping the poor in Botswana? How? Is the Church helping those who are HIV Positive or are those who are HIV Positive full of fear that the Church will find out? Is the Church lying to the HIV Positive by telling them that the Pastor can cure them? Is the Church telling the HIV Positive to believe that they are cured by faith and that they should stop taking their ARV medications? Are the HIV Positive told that they should begin taking TB medications through IPT?
Have you seen or experienced, by asking these kinds of questions, the risk of being misunderstood, misjudged, or worse, characterized as rebellious or bitter?
Find a Safe Church by visiting and asking those kinds of questions and watching the response.
The damage that has been done is not irreversible. It is possible to feel safe again. It is possible to learn to rest again. It is possible to regain that sense of blessing you once had when you first realized that God’s love towards you, God’s ‘yes’, was not based on your performance, but rather on God’s very own performance, that of Jesus, signed, sealed, finished, available in gift-form only – the ‘gift’ being the life, death, and resurrection of Christ himself. The ‘gift’ of Grace ÔÇô the unearned, undeserved, unmerited favour of God that is ours when we believe and accept the truth about Jesus Christ. God’s Grace has nothing to do with how much we give to the Church. Jesus has set you free!
You can learn more about Spiritual Abuse online, on the internet at http://www.christianrecovery.com/
If you need someone to talk to about Spiritual Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, etc, call Rev. Jim MacDonald at 240-1777. No cost ÔÇô no obligation. No ÔÇô I do not Pastor a Church.
