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HOW
TO RESPOND WHEN HURT BY AN AUTHORITARIAN? In the late Sixties and early Seventies a lot of people got saved.
You might even say there was a real revival.
A lot of these newly saved folks met in informal gatherings across
the country. Some were charismatic in nature.
Some were a little more Evangelical">
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to Prior Teaching page HOW
TO RESPOND WHEN HURT BY AN AUTHORITARIAN? In the late Sixties and early Seventies a lot of people got saved.
You might even say there was a real revival.
A lot of these newly saved folks met in informal gatherings across
the country. Some were charismatic in nature.
Some were a little more Evangelical, and some were a blend of the
two. They were characterized
by a whole lot of freedom and spontaneity and downright fun. This lasted for a while. Things
changed. Many felt the need
to become more organized. Many
wanted recognition by more established Christian groups. Some group grew
older, married, had kids and wanted Sunday school.
Some sought the security of organized denominations.
When they did, they were often told outright that what they were
doing was wrong. Usually, some kind of leadership emerged. At first, most of these leaders were harmless enough, but
often that didn’t last. One
of the major weaknesses of this last wave was a tremendous lack of
preaching of the Cross. There
was a tremendous lack of living of the Cross as well.
Consequently, many of these new leaders became increasingly
self-serving and ambitious(the previous generation of leadership
hadn’t/t exactly been St. Francis of Assisi, either). Most of these little spontaneous groups began to be reorganized or to
dissolve altogether. The
members were scattered to the four winds.
Some became part of a local existing denominational group. Some became members of para-church organizations.
Some turned these little groups into tax exempt religious
organizations that were called New Testament churches or some such
title…creating in the long run a non-denominational denomination. Within this latter group, you’ll probably find the saddest story.
With no real accountability(not that that really makes a difference
for self-serving, evil men), these groups became a really wicked field of
Christian battle. This battle
was not against the powers of darkness but against each other.
Splits, arguments, excommunications, personality conflicts,
deep-down gut hatred, sexual immorality and worse, all sometimes were
going on in the middle of what looked like a great body of believers. Much of this was hidden for a while, and in the midst of this there were
some really genuine and godly people who got caught up in this meat
grinder. They became the
casualties of the revival of the
Sixties and Seventies. To
these folks, many of whom are no longer in fellowship with any believers,
I address the rest of this stuff. Why did all this happen? The
only answer I have is one I gave to a friend of mine who asked me why this
bad stuff always seemed to happen when a great move of God was taking
place. My answer was a slogan
I saw on a beer mug.(Not while drinking beer mind you, I grew up Baptist!)
It said, “People are no damned good.”
Shocking answer, I suppose, but what do you expect from fallen
human nature? Most of us
don’t really believe how terribly busted our human nature is and how
horribly fallen we are. The people who became casualties of all this and emerged share some common
characteristics. They are
very cynical and critical. They
are bitter and mad with the world, God and everybody else. They also will probably never again trust a Christina worker.
Ever.(And this, my friends, is the real reason we American house
churchers have so much trouble with getting apostles and elders.
The stumbling block is not only doctrinal.
It’s personal. We
need to GET OVER IT!!) They are also not too much fun to be around,
rehashing the old days and the like. I can understand this, because I had this basic experience.
I was part of one of these little groups which became a tax-exempt
religious organization. In fact, the thing became a little denomination. Boy, we have
everything: money problems, morality problems, dictatorship, mind control.
Manipulation, intimidation, you name it.
Am I a casualty? Most
folks I know don’t seem to think so.(But then, crazy people never think
they’re crazy, either.) Let’s
assume, then, that I made it. How
did I survive? What did I
learn? I survived by the eternal mercy and grace of God.
there is no other way. Jesus
kept me out of trouble. I
did, however, make some choices along the way that seem to have helped
out. When I was 19 years old,
I decided that God was right.
I belonged to Him. Whatever
He did in my life was right. Sounds
simplistic, huh? Simple, yes,
but this is a fundamental truth that you must come to grips with. What else? The Bible says
that all authority is from God(see Romans 13:1).
All authority is from God, but not all authority is godly.
Why? Fallen, imperfect
men exercise authority. It’s a little like giving a three year old a hand grenade.
What a mess! I offer to you, O offended one, that not only is all authority from God,
but GOD ordained before the foundation of the world that at some time in
your life you are going to meet some really nasty, bad, abusive,
disgusting authority. I’d
bet the family farm on that. You
have one basic problem that can only be improved by suffering: your human
nature. Your human nature is busted.
The thing is broken. You
can’t fix it. It has to
die. One of the ways GOD has
chosen to kill it is placing you in situations with lousey authority. This doesn’t always happen in the Church.
In your case, maybe it did. In my own experience, I could tell you stories that would curl you hair.
I counted up once all the church messes I have been in, most of the
really major messes, in the 13 years I was part of that non-denomination
denomination. It was
somewhere near a dozen, four of them in the local church I was in.
So what, you say? This
is what. Most people don’t survive one and never make it through
two. I saw four, plus lots of
others around the country in the churches we planted.
So, do I deserve a medal? Probably
not. I was not a saint
through the whole ordeal. I
did not always say or do the right thing.
In fact, sometimes I fouled things up worse.
But through it all, there is one thing I knew for sure.
God was right. What He
was doing is my life was right. I know. Your situation was
different. It was you own
special Hell. No one could
ever understand how bad it was. You
had no one. He was a monster. Your were abused. You were taken advantage of.
You were used. Hooey! No matter
how bad it was, I guarantee that somebody, somewhere can top your horror
story, and mine too. I have
heard some. That doesn’t mean that you pain and anguish was any less real.
Nor does that mean that I have no sympathy for you or compassion
for where you are. God help
you. But, you have to go on
with your life. How? First of all, you have to accept the fact that God is right.
What He does in your life is right and it is good for you own good.
I know that sounds crazy. I
know the fear that rises in my own heart when I realize what things I may
still face in my own life that will greatly attack that conviction.
All I can say are the words of the Lord to Paul,
“My grace is sufficient.”
I have to believe that it is, or I wouldn’t get of bed every day.
What else? This is probably going to be harder.
You have to trust people again.
At least you have to trust the Lord again. For every Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin Christian worker,
there is one who has the character and temperament of the Lord, who only
wants to help. I know
they’re out there because I’ve met them and even served with them.
It’s true that “People are no damned good.” But it’s truer that God in people is always good.
God is a good God. He has blessed your life.
In the midst of all your nastiness, He has brought you good.
Even your Joseph Stalin, Frankenstein had his good points. I say all this because sometimes, you can find in house church people a
reluctance to lead as they should. And
a reluctance to be led. Just
mention the words elder, authority, apostle, submission and they’re out
the back door. If there is
not one, they’ll make one. Those
words are in the Bible. The
early church did have these things. House
churches can have these things, too.
Maybe by the grace of God, we can do something right for a change.
God have mercy on us all, but O OFFENDED ONE, don’t you really
want to give it one more try? Can I guarantee that your troubles won’t happen
again? Can I give you a
pledge that all house church people bear the cross and walk like Jesus?
Are you kidding? There are some real nuts out there. I don’t know what else God has planned for you.
I do know that you can’t let this thing continue to paralyze your
spiritual growth. The people
around you don’t want you to continue to let this thing paralyze your
spiritual growth. In fact,
they are kind of sick of it. For the love of God, get on with your life.
Decide that He is right. Give
Him you life again. Ask Him
to heal your hurt. He is the
only things that’s really important anyway. Back
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