I'm not sure theology is the right term. I'm not sure spiritual abuse
is the right term. But there is something big rocking conservative
evangelicalism right now, and it centers around the abuse of authority
by leaders in the Church. I know there is “nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9),
and a cursory look at Church history confirms that to be true,
especially on the issue of spiritual abuse. So whatever name we want
to give to the abuse/oppression/injustice we see in the 21st century
Church carried out by its spiritual leaders, I want to understand the
transcendent principles at play according to Scripture. For lack of a
better phrase, I'm going to call it a theology of spiritual abuse.
In its most basic sense, abuse simply means to misuse. It's using something inappropriately. And in the spiritual sense, it is using an authority, role, or task given by God in unrighteous ways. It is mis-using spiritual authority . Can non-authorities in the Church abuse spiritually? I guess so. They certainly can hurt people. But I'm going to leave out of this discussion inappropriate actions by Christians without particular spiritual authority. So if your sister was a legalistic jerk to you, that's not relevant to this particular discussion because Scripture does not set her up as an authority over you. Parents can certainly spiritually abuse, but I'm going to save them for another day as well. Instead, I want to examine non-familial spiritual authorities – in particular, pastors and elders.
(Edited to note I am NOT talking about issues of sexual or physical abuse by clergy. While that is certainly spiritual abuse, it is also blatantly illegal activity that puts it into an entirely different category in terms of response. For the purposes of this post, I am talking about the misuse of spiritual authority that does not get into illegal behavior.) Keep Reading...
In its most basic sense, abuse simply means to misuse. It's using something inappropriately. And in the spiritual sense, it is using an authority, role, or task given by God in unrighteous ways. It is mis-using spiritual authority . Can non-authorities in the Church abuse spiritually? I guess so. They certainly can hurt people. But I'm going to leave out of this discussion inappropriate actions by Christians without particular spiritual authority. So if your sister was a legalistic jerk to you, that's not relevant to this particular discussion because Scripture does not set her up as an authority over you. Parents can certainly spiritually abuse, but I'm going to save them for another day as well. Instead, I want to examine non-familial spiritual authorities – in particular, pastors and elders.
(Edited to note I am NOT talking about issues of sexual or physical abuse by clergy. While that is certainly spiritual abuse, it is also blatantly illegal activity that puts it into an entirely different category in terms of response. For the purposes of this post, I am talking about the misuse of spiritual authority that does not get into illegal behavior.) Keep Reading...
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