WHY CHURCHES ARE SO SUSPECTIBLE TO ABUSERS

'The danger of environments that are structured around sacred roles is this: communities need someone to fulfil their keystone roles, and narcissistic individuals eagerly search for opportunities to occupy them. We look for charismatic leaders who promise us a grand future. But, once found, we often discover these leaders were looking for us before we were looking for them. We willingly provide them with the power they desire because they provide us with something we want in return. And over time, narcissistic leaders slowly turn their organizations into monuments to themselves. The role becomes their identity, and success means proving through performance their right to occupy the role. Exposure, then, isn't just a threat to the role; it's a threat to who these leaders are. And for systems structured around keystone personalities, exposure threatens the entire system. So together, a narcissistic leader and a system that fuels and enables narcissism cooperate to maintain the performance to keep the structure intact. The show must go on.'

Wade Mullen, Something's not right: Decoding the hidden tactics of abuse and freeing yourself from its power, p.27.

WHAT IS BLESSEDNESS?

'The Bible is filled with promises of "blessedness." The Hebrew word means far more then mere happiness. It means multidimensional flourishing. In Genesis 3 we see that sin puts us in a condition where we are in contradiction with God, our true selves, other human beings, and even nature itself. We are out of alignment with the creation order in all its dimensions, and so our normal human state consists of spiritual emptiness, inner anxiety and crises of identity, conflicts between nations, classes, and races, and the destruction of our natural environment.

To be blessed, then, is to know partial but substantial healing of each of these areas as God's salvation repairs our hearts and out behavior. Spiritually we reconcile with and grow closer to God. Psychologically we come to understand ourselves and find our feelings and actions coming more more under the Spirit's control. Relationally we discover the added depth and dimension that common faith can add to human friendship. Socially we find ways to serve neighbors and the broader civic community, no longer captive to political ideologies. Salvation is not merely forgiveness and admission to heaven. It means life is healed, slowly but surely, in all its dimensions.'

Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller, The Way of Wisdom, p.58.

PACIFISM NEEDS A JUST GOD?

'...the practice of non-violence requires a belief in divine vengeance.'
Miroslav Volf in Timothy with Kathy Keller, The Way of Wisdom, p.54.

CHRISTIAN LEADERS ARE SHEEP FIRST

'Have you been called to shepherd the lambs of God in some fashion? You may shepherd as a pastor, a teacher, a counselor, or a parent. Do not forget that long before God called you to shepherd, he called you first and foremost to be his lamb - a silly, stupid lamb who does stupid things, follows others into ravines, and allows themselves to get devoured. You are a lamb who must stay very close to the Great Shepherd. That is the best and wisest way to lead other lambs. They will follow you there. Your value as a shepherd depends on your life as a lamb, a weak, foolish lamb utterly dependent on the Shepherd. How will you know anything about shepherding if you do not stay close to the Good Shepherd?'

Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power, p.150.

THE DANGER OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE

'Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service to him.'

Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power, p.149.

THE LACK OF PASTORAL CARE FOR PASTORS

'Pastors and leaders often live with little to no oversight. I cannot tell you how many pastors, young and old, have shared with me, often with tears, their longings for good mentors. They long for someone to listen and ask hard questions. They are eager to be taught about faithful ministry and about integrity in ministry and in the home. They have no-one in their lives for whom they are not also responsible as a shepherd.'

Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power, p.131.

THE CLARITY OF SCRIPTURE IS FOUNDED ON THE CHARACTER OF GOD

'...a confession of the clarity of Scripture is an aspect of faith in a generous God, who is willing and able to make himself and his purposes known. God has something to say and he is very good at saying it.'
Mark D Thompson, A Clear and Present Word, p.170. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH FAMILIES

'The loose communities that we find in spiritual or religious gatherings were once entirely ordinary to us, but now it seems like it is more radical to join them, a brazen challenge to the strictures of the nuclear family, the tendency to stick within tight friendship groups, the shrinking away from the awe-inspiring. Congregations are elastic, stretching to take in all kinds of people, and bringing up unexpected perspectives and insights, We need them now more than ever.'

Katherine May, Wintering, p.134.

PRAYER IS A NATURAL INSTINCT

'I struggle to imagine a god that I would be willing to pray to, but still I am drawn to prayer for prayer's sake. It is an act that my mind knows, that happens without my intervention. "Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer / utter itself" begins Carol Anne Duffy's most famous poem. "Prayer," which later goes on to show the faithless turning to piano scales and the Shipping Forecast to capture a little of the quality of prayerfulness. Praying is something that I can do, and so I do it. It seems to represent an atavistic impulse on my part, a desire to find life in the world around me, the trees and stones and bodies of water, the birds and mammals that enter my line of sight. Mine is a personal animism, hushed by my conscious brain, nurtured by unconscious.'

Katherine May, Wintering: The power of rest and retreat in difficult times, p.133.

INTEGRITY

'...our words spoken, no matter how true, are not real unless they are incarnated.'
Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power, p.57.

CHRISTIAN ETHICS 1.1

'There is no human being you will ever meet, no matter however wounded, disordered, or evil, no matter their theology, style of worship, or ways of thinking who was not created by the God we love. Any culture - nation, denomination, city, church, or family - that leads us to treat someone otherwise is seducing us to behave in ways that break the heart of God.'

Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power, p.56.

OUR DECEITFUL WORDS

'People use words to construct promised realities that attach to longings such as freedom, order, protection, work, or love. No abuser says, "Come with me so I can rape you." No-one says, "Marry me so I can batter you." No-one says, "Elect me so I can defraud you." No pastor or counselor says, "Let me counsel you so can sex with you." Instead, we say, "I love you." "I will protect you." "I will help you." "I will bring dignity to you." In Christendom, we can use spiritual language to cloak selfish ambition, hide abuses of many kinds and do incalculable damage in the name of God.'

Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power, p.53.

JESUS WORDS AND ACTIONS DEFINE TRUTH

'...anything that does not look like God incarnate is not truth...'
Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power, p.41.

A CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO POWER

'Are you verbally powerful? The Word gave you that power. Are you physically powerful? The mighty God, who breaks down strongholds and sustains the universe, gave you that power? Do you have a a powerful position? It is from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Do you have power of knowledge or skill? The Creator God, whose ways are beyond finding out, gave that power to you. Do you hold emotional power with others? That power came from the Comforter, the Wonderful Counsellor. Do you hold great financial power? If so, it is merely a small portion from the One who holds all riches. Any power that you and I hold is God's and has been given to us by him for the sole purpose of glorifying him and blessing others. It all power is derivative, then Christians should hold it with great humility. We are creatures, no more and no less,. We follow the one who became flesh.. Jesus models for us the humility of power.'

Diane Langberg, Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church, p.11.

HOW GRACE LEADS TO LOVE

'...loving people without reason, he discovered the unquestionable reasons for which it was worth loving them.'

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, p.1124.

THOSE WHO MAKE HISTORY DON'T KNOW IT?

'In historical events what is most obvious is the prohibition against eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Only unconscious activity bears fruit, and a man who plays a role in historical event never understands its significance. If he attempts to understand it, he is struck with fruitlessness.'

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, p.944.

HERMENEUTICS IS HALF-DRESSED?

The hermeneutical emperor is certainly not naked, but we might say he is not properly attired for a meeting with the word of the living God.'

Mark D Thompson, A Clear and Present Word, p.139.

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS GRACE FROM GOD

'The knowledge of God is a gift not an achievement.'
Mark D Thompson, A Clear and Present Word, p.134.

THE NEED TO BE AWARE OF HOW WORD PLAY IS POWER PLAY

'Awareness of the way an authoritative text, or appeal to the clear meaning of an authoritative text, can be used to coerce or manipulate others adds a somber note to the practice of biblical interpretation. The Bible has been repeatedly misused in the interests of power over the past two thousand years. There have been sub-Christian understandings of biblical authority, which have led to torture, murder and forced conversions. The refrain "this is the word of the Lord" is meant to provoke thanksgiving, yet it can also be used as a weapon to bludgeon people into conformity, to shortcut the process of Christian persuasion. We cannot afford to close our eyes to our own history - even, perhaps, especially, evangelical history. Yet the answer is not to jettison the text or locate real authority elsewhere. This is the word of the Lord. It is his gift to us and by this means he rules his people. Believers seek to be shaped in thinking and behaviour by God's revelation of himself and his purposes. The problem is not with the word God has given, but with the use made of it by sinful men and women. Hard questions need to be asked about just whose interests are being served by our explanation of a particular biblical text. Are we prepared to have those interests challenged by the text? This does not mean surrendering at the first sign questions such as these are asked by those who oppose what we might be saying. After all, the claim that a particular interpretation is in reality a covert exercise of power may turn out to be itself a covert exercise of power. What it does mean is that we should be asking those questions of ourselves.'

Mark D Thompson, A Clear and Present Word, p.131.

HUMAN COMPLEXITY MEETS GOD'S LOVE

'We are complex, a vast immensity, a mystery to ourselves, known only and ultimately by a God who seems fearless in the face of our complexity, capable of loving each of us and all of us in our beauty and brokenness.'

Chuck DeGroat, When Narcissism Comes to Church, p.149.

THE CHRISTIAN'S HEART

'Within the heart are unfathomable depths. There are reception rooms and bedchambers in it, doors and porches, and many offices and passages. In it is the workshop of righteousness and of wickedness. In it is death; in it is life. The heart is Christ's palace: there Christ the King comes to take his rest, with the angels and spirits of the saints, and he dwells there, walking within it and placing his kingdom there. The heart is but a small vessel: and yet dragons and lions are there, and there poisonous creatures and all the treasures of wickedness; rough uneven places are there, and gaping chasms. There likewise is God, there are the angels, there life and the Kingdom, there light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasures of grace. All things are there.'

Macarius in Churck DeGrot, When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing your community from emotional and spiritual abuse, p.149.

MATURITY COMES THROUGH SUFFERING

'Depending on God in trouble is a spiritual skill that can be learned only in trouble.'
Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller, The Way of Wisdom, p.42.

HOW GOD'S SPIRIT DISCIPLES THROUGH GOD'S WORD

The Holy Spirit, therefore, has generously and advantageously planned Holy Scripture in such a way that in the easier passages He relieves our hunger; in the more obscure He drives away our pride. Practically nothing is dug out from those obscure texts which is not discovered to be said very plainly in another place.'

Augustine of Hippo in Mark D Thompson, A Clear and Present Word: The clarity of Scripture, p.110.