Below are some examples of "spiritual abuse". Would anyone wish to share what they have experienced? Have you been spiritually abused? Or more importantly... are you being spiritually abused? (I've bolded my experiences.)
Apotheosis of the leadership — exalting them to God-like status in and over the group;
Multi-level authority/government hierarchy;
Absolute authority of the leadership;
No real accountability of the leadership to the corporate body;
Hand-picked sub-leaders, based on their demonstration of submissiveness to the ultimate leader rather than on the basis of their leadership skills, spirituality, and anointing and appointment by God;
Pervasive abuse and misuse of authority in personal dealings with members;
Paranoia and insecurity by the leaders;
Abuse, misuse, and inordinate incidence of "church discipline;"
Personal materialism, covetousness, and self-aggrandizement by the leaders;
Members and/or sub-leaders must make a "spiritual covenant," sometimes a signed covenant agreement, pledging their total commitment and financial support to the leadership and church/ministry;
Partitioning of the group into smaller groups that are led by internally "raised up" lay-leaders who have not been anointed or appointed by God for leadership within the church;
Financial exploitation and enslavement of the members;
Inordinate attention to maintaining the public "image" of the ministry;
Doctrinal demeanment and devaluation — the requisite of espousing and teaching "sound doctrine" is demeaned and devalued;
Theological incompetency by the leadership, especially with respect to the rules of hermeneutics and Bible exegesis employed in the formulation of doctrine, giving license to twisting and adulteration of Scripture in order to provide proof-texts for unorthodox and invented doctrines;
Spiritualism, mysticism, and unproven doctrines;
Abuse and misuse of prophetic giftings as a means to dominate and intimidate;
Devaluation, disallowance, disregard, and displacement of the true Fivefold Ministry within the church;
De facto legalism, or works mentality, and its resulting loss of the "joy of salvation," though "freedom" is forever preached from the pulpit and the church is constantly touted as being a "safe church" by the leadership;
Esotericism —hidden agendas and requirements revealed to members only as they successfully advance through various stages of "spiritual enlightenment," i.e., unorthodox, unproven indigenous doctrines;
Isolationism — corporate and individual, especially with respect to exposure to outside ministry sources;
Performance-based approval and promotion system of members predicated on "proven" "loyalty" (i.e., submission) to the leadership;
Devaluation, suppression, and non-recognition of members' bona fide God-given talents, abilities, gifts, callings, and anointing, as a means of subjugation;
Requiring members to perform menial tasks, such as cleaning toilets, setting up chairs, and acting as the leader's personal valet or slave, as a supposed means to humble them and teach them to "obey their leaders;"
Constant indoctrination with a "group" or "family" mentality that impels members to exalt the corporate "life" and goals of the church-group over their personal goals, callings, and objectives;
Members are psychologically traumatized and indoctrinated with numerous improper fears and phobias aimed at keeping them reeling in diffidence and an over-dependence or co-dependence on their leaders and the corporate group;
Corporately, there eventually develops an inordinately high incidence of financial, marital, moral, psychological, mental, emotional, and medical problems, including sudden deaths and contraction of "incurable" and "unknown" diseases;
Lack of true personal spiritual growth and development, especially in terms of genuine faith and experiencing the abounding grace, forgiveness, goodness, blessings, kindness, and agape-love of God;
Members are required to obtain the approval or "witness" of their leader(s) for decisions regarding personal matters;
Frequent preaching from the pulpit regarding not getting out from under the "spiritual covering" of the leadership;
Members departing without the prior permission and blessing of the leadership leave the group under a cloud of manufactured suspicion, shame, and slander;
Horror stories frequently told by leaders about individuals or families who left the group without the prior permission and blessing of the leadership, and the terrible consequences and curses they suffered as a result;
Departing members often suffer from various psychological problems and display the classic symptoms associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
No one wishes to share their experiences with spiritual abuse?
OK. I have said before that I don't think I've been particularly abused, spiritually, but I actually have experienced several of the things you listed. The problem is that I hardly ever took them seriously. E.g., a pastor told us, from the pulpit, about someone at his last church who gave him "a hard time". Then, with a slight pause for effect, he added "and he died". Puhlease!
This is not to diminish the importance of things on your list. Preachers usually expect to be believed, when the spew such nonsense, and I'm sure a lot of people do. When that happens, the results can be devastating.
I don't want to give the wrong impression, here. I am steadfast against all kinds of abuse, and am hoping that there will be more and more accountability for it, and less and less occurrence of it, as people start standing against it. And when applicable, criminal charges should be filed.
And the bad guys are making the others look bad! Stop protecting the guilty! You know it happens. But the good ole boys club should be dismantled.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
No one wishes to share their experiences with spiritual abuse?
Trying to do homework. :P
And weighing how much I want to share here (where the people I'm living with know to look for it) when I haven't shared in person.
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You become free from who you have become, by becoming who you were meant to be. ~Mark from another forum I post on
God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. ~Romans 3:24 from The Message
There was a study just released from the APA about church and health, saying something along the lines of those who attend church regularly have higher life expectancy and then proceeded to break-down the data in terms of physical, mental and emotional health.
In other words, it's healthy in general. But it may not be healthy to attend the Jim Jones Congregation of "because I said so" either.
Aquila, for every incident of spiritual abuse is just a reality of the ugliness of people. If you aren't abused in the church (where you shouldn't be!) there is surely abuse outside of the church. The only reprieve some have is to isolate themselves into a small apartment of computer websites, games and doing whatever they can to avoid that which can possibly hurt them: people -- which ironically, is also the healthiest thing for us (social relationships).
I endured spiritual abuse. Because of my faith, I am better for it. Church gathering is deeper than people gathering together, but is both corporate and private. Those two elements provide somewhat of a buffer for many who should be worse off, but because their corporate gatherings and love were an outflow of a private offering of love, they survived. Scars? Yes. Survived and lived to tell about it? Definitely.
Aquila, for every incident of spiritual abuse is just a reality of the ugliness of people. If you aren't abused in the church (where you shouldn't be!) there is surely abuse outside of the church. The only reprieve some have is to isolate themselves into a small apartment of computer websites, games and doing whatever they can to avoid that which can possibly hurt them: people -- which ironically, is also the healthiest thing for us (social relationships).
I endured spiritual abuse. Because of my faith, I am better for it. Church gathering is deeper than people gathering together, but is both corporate and private. Those two elements provide somewhat of a buffer for many who should be worse off, but because their corporate gatherings and love were an outflow of a private offering of love, they survived. Scars? Yes. Survived and lived to tell about it? Definitely.
I get this.
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