All That Remains

Sifting through the ashes of our faith

It’s the same story. Again. I hate that it is the same.

I learned a couple of weeks ago that several women have made serious accusations of sexual and spiritual abuse against Mike Bickle, founder of The International House of Prayer in Kansas City. The abuse has apparently been going on for decades. Of course it has.

Are we even surprised any more? Have we become callous to this story?

When we find out that public Christian leaders have been abusing people? And that the organizations and churches want to cover their behinds, throw out Christianese phrases, encourage spiritual bypassing, and move on?

Do our spirits still burn when we hear well-meaning Christians quickly say that:

• We are all sinners and no one’s sin is any bigger than anyone else’s.

• God can use anything for His glory.

• We shouldn’t give the enemy power by talking about these things.

Do we recognize the emptiness and devastation in these words?

Photo by Josh Applegate

These things should not keep happening. They are exposing some massive flaws in our Evangelical Christianese systems. We are doing it wrong.

I’d been following some former IHOPKC staffers for a while now. People who were trying to speak out about the high-demand, high-control environment they experienced while serving there (as support-raising missionaries of course). Their stories are all too familiar.

Every Christian organization and church that burns to the ground due to abuse of power, sexual scandal, or extreme misconduct leaves people and their faith in flames as well. But sometimes I think it’s better if it burns to nothing. When these places smolder and then are rebuilt as something else, it’s even more depressing and confusing.

• Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church

• Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles

• Ravi Zacharias and his Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

I’ve heard stories from young people who experienced high-demand, high-control environments at WYAM bases and on The World Race. These places collected passionate young adults, gave them a list of expectations and demands, filled them with formulas, heaped rules, shame, and guilt, and then left their faith in tatters. Some never recovered.

Photo by Dave Hoefler

When our leaders (either well-known or unknown) fail to protect us and teach us truth, and our faith disintegrates as a result, what are we supposed to do? How do we rebuild a faith that is so close to the lies they taught us? A faith that uses the same book as they used? Where words might have different meanings, but sound the same?

It is no wonder that people walk away from Christianity all together.

After coming out of Gothard’s IBLP, I would have. After going through a horrible year of spiritual abuse in a local church, I would have. After being disillusioned by yet another church I thought was safe, I would have.

Except for one thing: I met Jesus.

Had I not known Jesus for myself I would have walked away too. But as I sifted through the ashes of my faith, I found something—Someone—who wouldn’t burn.

• Someone who had his own issues with religious leaders.

• Someone who understood how Scripture can be twisted until it’s unrecognizable.

• Someone who stood up to a high-control environment and told them they were wrong.

• Someone who was so different than what the religious leaders expected God to be that they called him the devil and had him killed.

• Someone who showed me what the Real God looks, acts, and sounds like.

If your faith turns to dust, but in the center of the ash you find the gold nugget of Jesus, you have something to rebuild around. But when it all burns and there is nothing left, you have a choice. Walk away, or recognize that maybe you missed something the first time around and begin to search.

Photo by Kunj Parekh

This is why I wrote my book Religious Rebels. I have a whole chapter dedicated to lies about the gospel and the clarifying truth of just what it takes and doesn’t take to know Jesus for ourselves. The church hasn’t been great about being clear and simple over the years.

I also talk about the great value of losing our faith and starting over because the Real Jesus is worth it!

I hate that the power-hungry abusers keep creating Christian environments where they can hold power and abuse others, but I’m happy that one-by-one they are being exposed.

I hate that people keep getting their faith torched, but I know from experience that sometimes that’s the only way to see the difference between truth and lies.

I hate that Christians seem to be so gullible, and I hope that it brings us to a place where we choose to dig in and know Scripture for ourselves. I hope that we will be better at spotting the liars and their twisted versions of truth.

It’s not okay and we shouldn’t quickly brush off the brokenness and pain that people are feeling as their organizations and churches burn. God is using this to draw people to Himself like He always does, but that doesn’t mean that we should fail to acknowledge the wrong done or work to make sure it doesn’t happen again. There is a better way in the tension of both.

What do you think? Why does this keep happening? What can we do about it? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook, my website, and on my podcast Looking for the Real God. I’d love to connect with you on any of these places!