Thieves and
Robbers
"Son of man,
prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the
Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the
flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the
wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed
the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have
you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken,
nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what
was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled
them." (Ezekiel 34:2-4, NKJV).
This week yet
another personality-cult’s guru, leader and tyrant died
in spite of his belief that God was obliged to heal him.
This stimulated me to once again think about the
dynamics that make these organizations and their leaders
tick and what lessons there may be for each of us.
Unfortunately Christendom is filled with leaders who
abuse their followers to various degrees. The abuse
includes emotional, spiritual, financial and sometimes,
physical and even sexual abuse. Invariably if the leader
is abusive in one area, he will abuse his followers in
more than one way.
What are the
differences between strong and abusive leaders? The
following is a partial list of descriptions. If a leader
exhibits any one, or more of these attributes, he is
abusive. How good a preacher or how powerful and
influential he is has nothing to do with the issue.
There is no cause big enough to warrant the destruction
or hurt of the very people Jesus died for.
The abusive
leader uses pressure to manipulate people into doing
what he wants under the guise that it is “for the Lord”.
This will range from subtle psychological blackmail for
the leader’s approval to outright humiliation of those
who do not comply with his wishes. Many Christian
organizations operate like this and it is wrong. Leaders
are to be servants of the people and not the other way
around because the very word “minister” means servant
and not master. Any leader who makes people feel
inferior, privately, is not fit for leadership let alone
leaders who humiliate their followers publicly.
Autocrats
intimidate their followers. They use fear to beat the
people into submission, this can include fear of not
being accepted or of being humiliated, fear of the
leader’s wrath, fear of excommunication or even fear of
being barred from heaven. If you serve the Lord because
of fear of your leaders, you are in a bad place and need
to re-evaluate your whole Christian walk.
Often abusive
leaders will threaten to withhold their services either
by threatening to leave the church or to not preach if
their standards of giving, attendance or some other form
of participation are not met. Jesus did not impose any
conditions on mankind before He would be willing to come
to earth and neither should men make people’s response a
condition to their being “blessed” by the leader’s
ministry. A sub-set of this kind of action is the leader
who pouts and sulks when he does not get his way.
Leaders should be mature and not exhibit this kind of
behavior which is to be found in spoilt children
Abusive leaders
have to be the focus of attention all the time. They
like to speak about themselves, their achievements and
what they said or did. They can often be identified by
their need to dominate the conversation with many words
and the fact that they, as the gifted ones, have all the
answers to every question on earth. Good leaders listen
more than they talk and when they talk, they talk about
the Lord and His Word, not about themselves. A result of
this kind of domination is that others are not
cultivated in leadership roles because the moment new
leaders begin to emerge, they are sidelined, discredited
or pushed out by the dictator. Tyrants do not like to
share the limelight or feel threatened by anyone who
could take their job.
Dictators do
not listen to advice or submit to authority. All leaders
should be under some kind of authority. This is the
biblical pattern. Preachers should be in submission to
local elders as well as to other ministries in churches
that are in relationship. Elders must be in submission
to one another and to the preachers and, ultimately, to
the church. Be very careful of the leader who is a loner
and above all forms of authority. Often preachers will
hide the fact by having a fa硤e of accountability – don’t
be fooled. Check if he is truly accountable to anyone.
Good shepherds are not afraid of answerability; in fact,
they welcome the protection that comes with it. The
minister who will not seriously listen to council from
the least in the fellowship is not worthy of his
position, not even to speak of the one who will lash out
against anyone who dare bring some form of correction to
him.
Tyrants have
different rules for themselves and their inner circle
and for the people. This is most visible when the
leaders expect the people to make huge sacrifices of
time and money while they live in luxury and ease. These
differences in rules will include some of the following:
Members have to dress modestly while leaders dress
extravagantly; members have to be on time when leaders
arrive when they wish; members are expected to maintain
certain levels of “holiness” while leaders live immoral
lives; and the list goes on.
There are many
more criteria like these, but here is a last one for
today. Watch what happens to those who disagree with the
leader, even better, what happens when someone leaves.
Are they shunned, bad mouthed and slandered? Are they
used as examples of what happens when people are
disobedient and non-submissive? Are their private
affairs exposed for all to see? If so, these are sure
signs that you are dealing with a leader who is
inherently weak and can only feel good and strong when
he runs others down and who can only move ahead while he
steps on the bodies of those he destroyed!
Jesus never
used any of these tactics in his relationship with his
disciples. The very opposite is true. He said: "I am
the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for
the sheep." (John 10:11, NKJV). Any shepherd who
wishes to serve God’s people must adopt the same
willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of the
sheep and not the other way round.
I am writing
this to those who may be followers of abusive leaders.
It is pointless writing to such leaders as they will not
listen to advice or accept correction. So what should
you do if your leader(s) are abusive. Run for your life!
I mean this very seriously. Such leaders build their
followers around themselves and not on Jesus Christ.
They will make you dependant on themselves and not on
the Lord and they will use you for their own ambitions
instead of developing you and your talents. In the end
they will suck any form of real spiritual life from you,
not to mention leaving you financially bankrupt and
possibly with a broken home and life. Get out of there
as fast as possible. Flee to Jesus the Good Shepherd and
ask Him to lead you to a healthy church with shepherds
after His heart.
Anton
Bosch
antonbosch@sbcglobal.net
www.abcd.co.za/offi
www.abcd.co.za/plumbline
Tel 818 846 5520
Fax 818 846 4357
3310 West
Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, California
91505-2907
USA