Bob Jones University, GRACE, and Controlling Perceptions

My phone rang just at the start of dinner in our house. It my was my long-time friend, Evan, calling to let me know that Steve Pettit, President of Bob Jones University (my and Evan's alma mater), had made an announcement that morning about the administration's response to a formal report composed by GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment). I had been hearing through the grapevine that BJU was about to blow critics away with a complete apology and overhaul of their harmful counseling practices.

Due to unrest regarding mismanagement of sexual abuse incidents in the greater Bob Jones University constituency (BJU operates much like a denomination among its supporting churches), the school commissioned GRACE to comb through the school's response to sexual abuse, since it was apparent that some of these victims had studied and graduated from BJU. Bob Jones University is more than a university, it is a boarding school with strict standards for living and a faculty/staff/administration that seeks to involve themselves in the spiritual development of each student. Naturally, many students accepted BJU's offer to seek spiritual help for a wide variety of issues.

BJU was to be congratulated for initiating the GRACE report, until it unexpectedly fired the GRACE team just before the results were published. An immediate uproar by interviewed victims and their caring church leaders motivated BJU to re-hire GRACE to finish the report. What the report found was not a rare two or three incidents of alleged mismanagement of abuse victims, but a devastating trail of tears from dozens of interviewed victims that sought refuge in the counseling staff at BJU and received verbally gruff counseling that made the victims feel at fault for the abuse that they received. GRACE made many specific recommendations, as was stated in their job description and as they had done for ministries in the past.

Steve Pettit communicated the administration's standing on the GRACE report by handily refuting each recommendation that the GRACE team had carefully offered. Pettit asserted that BJU's own qualified team had rendered GRACE's recommendations to be over the top. In a personal letter to a confused sexual abuse victim, Pettit declared,

"Please know that higher educational institutions are held to a variety of state and federal laws, including Title IX and Clery, which GRACE did not take into account at times in several instances  where they said we did not report. During the interview phase, GRACE represented to BJU employees a greater responsibility for reporting instances of sexual abuse/assault than the law requires—or even permits. Because of this representation, there were instances in the report where employees were made to believe their responsibility to report was greater than what the law required—when in fact, they were in compliance with the law... GRACE comes from the perspective that we have a 'moral obligation' to report every instance; however, to do so would put us in violation of the law."

The GRACE team was made up of a former prosecutor with over a decade of professional experience; "a mental health professional [with] over 30 years of experience in the field of psychology and sexual abuse"; a seminary professor and pastor with 20 years of experience dealing with matters of sexual abuse in a church context; a project coordinator; and a project director. The BJU administration put together their own team immediately after the GRACE report went public with the perceived intent to make amends for the relational sins uncovered in the GRACE report. Instead, according Pettit's words in his public announcement and in the personal letter above, BJU was held to a great standard than was fair. GRACE's objective, external assessment, according to Pettit, was not so objective and accurate as was the assessment made by BJU's internal team of lawyers and constituents. 

The one glimmer of hope in Pettit's announcement on March 11, 2015, was BJU's admission that "our system of discipline created barriers with many of our students." The loyal constituency of Bob Jones University has a long history of defensiveness whenever they perceive organized attacks against the school. Some argue that this small morsel of an apology is very telling, as an apology in the smallest doses would prove unsatisfactory to BJU's more hyper-loyal constituents.

This whole situation is extremely tricky to process. Pettit handily moved the issue away from obstructing justice (telling the occasional victim to NOT report) and emotionally damaging counseling to the insinuation that everyone expected them to run all accusations of sexual abuse straight to the police without anyone's consent. This was a brilliant yet tragic PR move to put BJU back into victim status, as it had done in the days when BJU lost its tax exemption status for its ban on interracial dating among the student body. Pettit's interpretation of GRACE's recommendations are that they are ill-informed, thus they are mostly irrelevant and untrustworthy.

The science of Spiritual Abuse (SA) is in its infancy, and professionals are learning that SA comes at the hands of intentional abusers as well as unintentional abusers. The intentional spiritual abusers apply great energy to control their followers and are more easily detected. But sometimes intentions are somewhat wholesome, and those unwittingly guilty of SA look to a greater cause for the justification of harmful actions against a few. Regardless of intentionality, SA is at its root a release from the obligation to obey the greatest commandment: to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Who is my neighbor, you may ask? Your neighbor is the one you meet on the side of the road, beaten, bruised, and avoided by the spiritual elite of your day. Your neighbor will sometimes be a friend you know, but he/she may also be someone you just met, socially a bit outside of your comfort zone.

BJU judged its behavior by its own set of moral obligations and the justification that its attorneys found would easily hold up in a court of law. The administration does not intend to further harm their neighbor, they just fail to involve themselves in the needs of those whom GRACE revealed had been poorly helped (the report found that many victims had been re-victimized by austere counseling measures).

"One method of manipulation [in cases of SA] is in challenging an individual's perception of reality. A common experience is the distortion of personal experience by the abusive individual attempting to alter the perception of a negative experience or encounter. This results in the 'retelling' of the incident to portray the abusive individual in a positive manner and the target of abuse as negative, weak or inaccurate, thus placing the abuser in a position of control... It is suggested that individuals' own reality testing becomes damaged in the abusive context and this damage is seen to result in an inability to be objective, critical and analytical... Thus, the individuals report their perception of an abusive event and this perception is denied and an alternative, often altruistic, version is provided by the abuser. This results in confusion for the individual and self-doubt which often results in acceptance of the alternative reality. Benyei (1998) suggests that the distortion of reality is a fundamental part of the abusive system rendering individuals unable to define reality and therefore unable to challenge the abusive process" (Lisa Oakley and Kathryn Kinmond, Breaking the Silence on Spiritual Abuse).

The process under discussion looks like this. A young lady confides in a counselor that she has been sexually abused, but her abuser is in a position of prominence in the greater BJU constituency. This young lady is told that she must keep silent for the greater good of the BJU constituency. This hypothetical is not so hypothetical, as the GRACE report reveals. The victim is forced to conform to this "alternative, altruistic" perception of her abuse. This "alternative perception" continues with the affirmation of harmful counseling practices as having helped many, according to the BJU administration, and that the confused sexual abuse victims must conform again to this "alternative, altruistic perception."

The BJU administration would further have us conform to the "alternative perception" that the GRACE investigative team is not to be trusted, that they were poised to hold BJU to a higher "moral obligation," that GRACE themselves forced their own "alternative perception" whereupon "employees were made to believe their responsibility to report was greater than what the law required." Perhaps, given GRACE's credentials and experience, that "higher standard" was not one which sought to mercilessly beat down God's servants into unreasonable reporting standards, but to hold a group of Believers to God's standard of loving one's neighbor as oneself. Perhaps, given GRACE's credentials and experience, GRACE sought to introduce BJU to a world that was wildly foreign to them, a world where victims are those little ones, the ones who were made to stumble, that ought to move us beyond any normal dose of compassion with the result that we lay aside all personal agendas to tenderly uplift that trembling soul with love, a love generous with speechless, tearful hugs.

BJU's own investigative team proved itself vastly more qualified than GRACE. GRACE brought the perspective of law AND Christlike compassion. BJU trumped GRACE with their own limited perspective of law and public image. In this contest of apples (Christlike compassion) and oranges (legalese), oranges won out.

To the victims who are further confused by Pettit's attempts to force upon you an "alternative perception" of your tragic memories, consider yourselves victors. You have survived and re-survived ugly circumstances, and you are still standing. As more and more organized religious camps in the United States flex their institutional muscles and add to the congregations of disenchanted former-church goers, you will find a new and powerful grace to love your neighbor in ways you know they need to be loved into the Kingdom. While you wait for this grace to flourish, look away from the Bob Jones University constituency to the thousands behind you who want to hear your story and shower you with love and compassion. Forgive us for holding back our compassion until this day.

Institution versus Community

Since the close of our church in Sneads Ferry, my wife and I have worked through a massive amount of theological and emotional struggles. Our view of church was shattered after we essentially learned that the American Church was less about fighting for people and more about fighting for a system. Naturally, cynicism begins calling the shots, where we suspect the evil in others rather than prepare ourselves in love for the evil in others. The real struggle has been to patiently allow all the struggles to remain until they are finished maturing us. Many family and friends seem Hell-bent on seeing our struggles end so that we are "useful" and meeting their own emotional needs of seeing us "get right with God."

Thankfully, God has NOT been so rigid and callous. He has been patient and enlightening, which is so merciful of Him to do. Surprisingly, God has also given us more questions with more doubt and despair. On the surface, this would seem to undermine God's will for our lives, but it is actually quite liberating. We ask the hard questions, feel the discomfort, and we awake to a new day of mercy and grace. The gifts of God are not exhausted but empowered by our weakness.

My wife and I know our Bibles very well, having been well-trained to memorize it and use it to debunk liberal viewpoints on philosophy, religion, socialism, and politics. What we are green at is Christian community. Without the wide array of Christian communities in Wilmington coming around us with patient love and care, we would be very bad place. The wealth of personalized Bible knowledge was not enough to help us. But Christ claimed that He would never leave us or forsake us. We realize Christ's faithfulness through the love and support of a handful of Christian communities in the Carolinas. The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate (CMA) have shown us a great many things about God and ourselves in such a way that gave us spiritual safety.

At the risk of "franchising" a good church, there are several common characteristics that these churches share, and they are miraculously affecting change in the American Church, slowing the wide-spread disenchantment and making new disciples in surprising places. To my former-Fundamentalist friends, I think you will find these thoughts helpful in finding a healthy church and avoiding the dangerous ones.

They talk about the Holy Spirit....a lot

The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate are more nervous about impeding the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of Believers than they are about "guiding" the Holy Spirit's work. They argue that the book of Acts is descriptive, not prescriptive. Thus, they want to see God do unexpected things and not fit Him into a system. They do not de-value the inspired Word of God, but they worship God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit...not a book with white pages and black letters. The Word of God informs all men about how to know God. It is not meant to restrict the power of God into a rigid school of biblical perspective that permits institutional systems to unveil the mind of God for the masses.

Your story is important

Before I can know what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life, I need to know who you are and where you come from. Details are important. You might be lying about some things, you might be 100% truthful. Regardless, you say what you say about yourself and life for a reason. With each new day, there is more about your life that transpired, so there is always more to learn. I need to listen. I need to pay attention to your emotions, your hobbies, your dislikes, and so on.

The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate place a great deal of emphasis on individual stories rather than the church's expectations. As pastor of The Anchor likes to say, "Life is not made up of atoms: it is made up of stories." Lest this sounds as though church is all about you and me, there is a surprisingly high participation rate in non-programmed ministry: initiative to start Bible studies in the local community gathering points; evangelization; spontaneous prayer meetings; adopting foreigners brought in from the local refugee ministry; and so on. There appears to be a direct correlation between receiving the gift of being heard and desiring to give of yourself to others in need. Armed with intimate knowledge about their members, The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate are quite efficient in seeing spiritual gifts used to their fullest extent. 

Confusion is part of the journey

In most churches, spiritual confusion is uncomfortable for disciple-makers. The American Church demands that you are "on board with the mission." Therefore, your spiritual confusion must be resolved as soon as is humanly possible. If your confusion is not resolved quickly, it must be because you are not submissive. 

The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate dig out your spiritual confusion as part of hearing your story. Your spiritual insecurities are part of God's journey for you. This helps them pray for you. This helps them know God better, because they get to see the Holy Spirit cut through the crap of a fallen world and redeem one more soul from destruction. This helps them love you with understanding in such a way that adds to the grace of God in your life rather than frustrating the grace of God in your life.

Membership is too obvious to be forced upon regular church attenders

Of The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate, some of them offer official membership, and some of them do not. To them, membership is merely a formality for living Gospel together. Where membership exists, it defines relational accountability. Where membership does not exist, the group is already obedient and does not need the state to sanction their obedience to God and one another as a 501-3C Not-for-profit.

For most American churches, regardless of what the leadership might say, membership is for the numbers. They look to numbers in order to judge their effectiveness as a church. Litmus test: attend a church for ten straight Sundays, do coffee with the pastor, get involved with other members, and refuse to sign any philosophy of ministry documentation. An involved church attender messes with numbers if he/she is not a member. Most churches are also suspect of what you think until you join and sign their philosophy of ministry documents. Such a litmus test will show whether the church is more interested in institutionalization rather than Gospel-centered community. 

Decentralization, Decentralization, Decentralization!

Since the Holy Spirit is real, and the Great Commission literally commands Believers to scatter,The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate consider Sunday gatherings the powow before real church starts (Monday thru Saturday). Church happens between smaller groups of church members showing grace and mercy to one another. Church happens when a Believer behaves as the Samaritan who found a man robbed and beaten on the side of the road and nursed him back to health at the Samaritan's expense. Church happens outside of the church walls where Believers are talking less and acting in love toward God and their neighbors more.

The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate have little issue creating minor (or sometimes major) discomfort for the "members" in order to pull the sticks out of their you-know-wheres and motivate them to scatter. In contrast, most American churches spend thousands of dollars each week to service the preferences of their membership.

The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate place heavy emphasis on small groups, not to be a cool Acts 29 or Gospel Coalition church, but because small groups operate like little churches. These little churches grow up to be mature churches that create little churches of their own. Regardless of the labels (community groups, missional communities, satellite campuses), small groups are their key to decentralization, not necessarily a key to numerical growth.

Passion for a geographical area and everything within

If you visit pastors' offices at Summit Church, you will see an entire wall displaying a local map and red circle outlining a 5-mile radius from the church location. Everything within that circle is the church's realm of responsibility: neighborhoods, schools, businesses, other churches, etc... Their resources are poured into loving that 5-mile radius to death (figuratively, of course). Summit occasionally dedicates a Sunday "service" to putting together and then delivering gift baskets to any employees working at a business in that 5-mile radius. They do other "crazy" things like this regularly, and Summit pastors have to begrudgingly handle phone calls from other local pastors who want to know the ROI on such activities. 

The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate expend grace recklessly and don't ask the community for anything in return. They don't avoid certain groups in their realm of responsibility. They don't try to squeeze a white-collar culture into their area of responsibility. They just love on everyone within.

Team players

The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate consider other local churches assets and hope that those churches reciprocate. Unfortunately, they end up loving on other churches without always receiving the same courtesy. To them, buildings, numbers, and money are unnecessary. We don't need any of those things to make relationships and see the Holy Spirit work in the lives of others. Unfortunately for most American churches, sharing resources and building relationships with other churches threatens their resources and whatever power they think that they have in the community. 

There will come a day when the American Church looks different, and we take these characteristics to an unhealthy extreme. But that day is far away. Today, the American Church cares about the health of the institution and relationships come second. Christ began his earthly ministry under similar circumstances. The religious system of Christ's day was overwhelmed with institutional pressures, political-entanglement, and hoarded resources. Christ was far from kind to the religious system and sought out the weak and made disciples of them. I am thankful for the example of churches like The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate who break the mold and obey Christ with simplicity and lean resources.

Conversation Between Church and the Hurting

Church: Dear Believers, do not worry yourself with the evil in this world. This evil is powerless to stop the amazing plan of God upon your life and even upon the history of all mankind. Because of Christ, evil is merely a pawn in the hand of God to show off the glory of redemption. Be encouraged, and know that all things, even the evil of the curse, work together for good, to those who love God.

Hurting church member: Thank you, Church. I needed this encouragement, because I have experienced a lot of pain lately.

Church: Tell me more about this pain.

Hurting church member: Well, a general mixture of church and non-church people have successfully abused me emotionally and physically, they have slandered me and those that I love, they have imposed harmful expectations upon me and those that I love (expectations not in the Bible), they have raised their voices in anger against me, and several other things. My pain is deep and real. Can you speak more comfort to me of this loving plan of God to use this evil for good? Can you embrace me with safe and kind words for a bit? I am afraid, angry, and confused.

Church: Well, this may be challenging.

Hurting church member: Really? Why?

Church: I know of those that have abused you, and I do not doubt that a few of them did the wrong thing. From what I’ve learned from you in the last couple minutes, I can tell that you probably provoked this abuse in some cases.

Hurting church member: Really?

Church: Regarding the others that you feel abused you, many of them did not intend to abuse you as you say. You ought to forgive them for the evil you perceived that they did to you. You also must know that it was never about you anyway.

Hurting church member: I imagined it?

Church: I know of those that slandered you, and you have to understand that their words are simply a matter of perspective. If you understood their perspective, you would better understand why the things that they said were at least a little bit true.

Hurting church member: I feel like this is something you should share with them, as well. The slander that they spread came as a result of misunderstanding my perspective.

Church: You see, that is the problem. You “felt like” they did you wrong. You ought not to live by your feelings.

Hurting church member: I’m just explaining myself….

Church: Now you are just getting defensive. Obviously, something else is going on here, and you need to go to the Word of God and grow in your relationship with Christ. You see, I also know those that imposed their standards on you and those you love. The truth is that they read the Bible, and their conscience feels strongly. You ought to be more patient with their conscience and not seek to offend. You ought to be more teachable, even if you do not agree. 

Hurting church member: I did not mean to offend anyone or be unteachable.

Church: Whether or not you meant to offend, the fact is that they are offended.

Hurting church member: But then maybe they should understand that I did not intend to offend them. Didn’t you tell me that it wasn’t about me? The way that I live isn’t about them either. My understanding of the Bible leads me to act in this way, and I gave no thought that anyone would be offended.

Church: You should be more careful.

Hurting church member: This is all very overwhelming. I could really use some words of assurance and comfort.

Church: You seem very argumentative.

Hurting church member: My mind is a bit mixed up and confused right now. I’m just trying to make sense of things.

Church: You shouldn’t be trying so hard. The Bible is clear about what God wants from us.

Hurting church member: Well, there seem to be a lot of different opinions flying around about all kinds of things.

Church: If you read the Bible more, you wouldn’t be so overwhelmed with different opinions.

Hurting church member: When I read the Bible for myself and acted in obedience, then several church people stood up and spoke harshly to me. I wish that they would not have done that.

Church: I can already tell from this conversation that you are a very argumentative person. They probably felt attacked. MacArthur wrote a really great book about this. You should read it and better understand what God is saying here.

Hurting church member: But I thought you just said to read the Bible for myself.

Church: You will not be taught. You will not let go of your anger. You are choosing to be hurt, and you are bitter. People are not perfect, you know. You should forgive and grow.

Hurting church member: It seems like you think that no one really wronged me, that I just imagined it?

Church: Well, you sound a little bit hypocritical right now. Are you saying that you didn’t sin?

Hurting church member: I don’t know. I’m confused and devastated.

Church: Take your pain and confusion to Christ.

Hurting church member: Would you say that Christ is your leader?

Church: Why are you being so accusatory? Of course we follow Christ.

Former church member: Just checking. 

Amazing Grace

            I lay on my rack on board the USS Nassau as a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps Infantry. We had been circling off the coast of Yemen for a few months. Our AC was down, and our berthing quarters (where we slept) fluctuated between 95 and 100 degrees. I, along with a group of about twenty Lance Corporals and PFCs, were affectionately known as “boots,” meaning that we were new to the Corps. “Seniors” (those with a few years and deployments under their belts) dominated us with extra working parties and occasional secret hazing sessions, as was tradition among infantry units. As I lay in my rack, I hated life, but more importantly, I hated Corporal Davis. Earlier that day, it was just me and Corporal Davis in the showers. Davis called over from his shower and asked if he could come over and “f…k” me in my shower. Davis was not homosexual: he just loved domination. I rejected his half-joking, playful offers and finished my shower as quickly as possible.

            Corporal Davis was a tall, muscular (rumors were that he was on roids) NCO in my company who was the unspoken leader behind most hazing sessions. I hated him so badly that as I lay on my rack dreading another day in fear, I prayed for God to judge Corporal Davis. Maybe God would let us into Somalia tomorrow, and Corporal Davis would take one to the chest. I wanted Corporal Davis to die. I must have pled with God for almost an hour to judge this man. The next morning, I went on with my day – working parties, PT, Bible studies – with hardly a thought about last night’s merciless prayer.

            Two years later back home in Camp Lejeune, NC, I came into the office early to find most of my superiors hard at work, exhausted from having pulled an all-nighter. My superiors were preparing to brief the Battalion Commander of a Marine's death and to inform the family. Davis, now a Sergeant, had perished just a few hours ago from a motorcycle accident. Surviving two combat deployments, a MEU, and getting away with numerous hazing sessions without any repercussions from the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), Davis died on an obscure curvy road while speeding on his bike. Was this an answer to prayer? Was this just God’s justice? Was this just chance?

           No one will ever be able to convince me that I did not have a part in this man’s death. I hated Davis. Is not hate equally despicable as murder in the sight of God? I know that most counseling would assure me that I had nothing to do with Davis’ death. But sometimes our counseling betrays such naiveté: there is some guilt where cliché phrases are as useless as a squirt gun to a bonfire.

            My guilt expands far beyond this spiritual, first-degree murder. I have lusted for years, a private stress relief that temporarily silences my deepest fears that I am a huge failure at life. I am a control freak, and sometimes my motives are shady. My guilt does not end there, as I have many more urges that would keep church busybodies active for years. I am just one big scandal.

            Coming to terms with all this guilt opens a whole new world of understanding. Embracing the hypocrite in yourself gives you a sort of x-ray vision, because now you instantly identify the scandal and hypocrisy in everyone around you. The hypocrites hate this, because if you are new at using your “x-ray vision,” then you will be innocently reckless. You notice, you speak, and you get pounded. Very soon you understand that the whole world (church members, too) is either equally or almost as scandalous as you are. As you become more skilled with your “x-ray vision,” you have to make a choice: get angry and point out everyone’s hypocrisy en masse; do your best to define tact and implement tactful pleas for transparency and risk being called “angry” by hypocrites refusing to come clean; or shut up and start decorating the outside of your sepulcher as fast as possible.

            Guilt heaped on more guilt as I vacillated among all three choices, sometimes daily. For some time now, I have begun feeling like a fourth grader who is completely exacerbated over a complex math problem that is due in class the next day.

            Funny - at this point in your life, hypocrites come running from all directions in an effort to “help” you with your problems. If you get lucky, a hypocrite or two might come sit down beside you and empathize with you while praising God in almost hysterical joy. Thus a ray of hope: a group of people who embrace the reality that they are a great scandal, living freely in the joy and confidence that not one ounce of their valid guilt has any bearing upon their identity in Another. This group of people is the true Church with Jesus Christ the Head. 

            Jesus Christ pulls me to Himself and introduces me to something new. The black-and-white-word-on-a-page is not new to me, but the reality of the word is. We refer to this word as Grace. As I come to a deeper understanding of this word, I come to realize that I will never be able to fathom all the earth-shattering implications of the word. Grace introduces me to the most beautiful attribute of our Savior, where all my hypocrisy, guilt, and scandal are swallowed up in the wrath of God upon Christ and remembered no more. The consequences of sin are tragic:

Then the earth reeled and rocked;

                        the foundations also of the mountains trembled

                        and quaked, because God was angry.

            Smoke went up from His nostrils,

                        and devouring fire from His mouth;

                        glowing coals flamed forth from Him.

            He bowed the heavens and came down;

                        thick darkness was under His feet.

            He rode on a cherub and flew;

                        He came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

            He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him,

                        thick clouds dark with water.

            Out of the brightness before Him

                        hailstones and coals of fire broke through His clouds.

           

            The LORD also thundered in the heavens,

                        and the Most High uttered His voice,

                        hailstones and coals of fire.

            And He sent out his arrows and scattered them;

                        He flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

            Then the channels of the sea were seen,

                        and the foundations of the world were laid bare

            at Your rebuke, O LORD,

                        at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

The destruction of David’s enemies in Psalm 18 barely holds a candle to the wrath poured out upon Jesus Christ from Heaven. My scandal did this. God the Father attacked Jesus Christ with vicious wrath and thus Christ became my propitiation.

            Where sin abounds, Grace abounds far more. It is and will always be one ounce of sin becoming overwhelmed with a million ounces of Grace. “Grace must raise the temptation to think we can sin as we please; if it does not, we have not understood the true extent of grace” (Derek Thomas). Paul must discourage a mentality of license to sin, because Believers coming to terms with the abounding power of Grace requires it. Grace is so amazing and overwhelming that sin’s vocal chords are torn out forever, never to make a sound but only to move its mouth for the voice-overs of the Great Accuser.

            Grace begs me to grab all this guilt, scandal, lust, murder, and dishonesty – to pick it up and lay it at the feet of Christ on the cross. Grace invites me to stay and watch the filth pile removed. Grace clothes me in righteousness and silences me from ever breathing a hint that the filth pile any longer exists.

            On earth, the guilt and scandal bring earthly consequences as real as the physical consequences of defying gravity. But just as God smiles no less upon the Christ-bought righteousness of a Believer who accidentally falls off a cliff to his death, God smiles no less upon the Believer who meets earthly consequences for his sin. After all, the consequences of infracting against God’s physical and moral laws have no bearing upon what Grace has done in permanently identifying us in Christ. License to sin is truly an improper response, but the power of God (Grace) to overwhelm all sin past, present, and future is that amazing.

            As I lay my guilt, scandal, lust, murder, and dishonesty at the feet of Christ, more sin appears: sins of pride and fear. You see, long before I came to embrace my guilt for all the “nasty stuff,” I lived a life of meticulous spiritual pride and fear of being touched and infected by the “nasty people” doing “nasty stuff.” There exists a middle road of sinlessness, and erring on the side of obvious sin is just as evil as erring on the side of legalistically living extra-carefully. The pious Pharisee, whom my “x-ray vision” has taught me to hate more than any other sinner, is who I truly am deep inside. If I fight to let Grace overwhelm my pride and fear, then I find myself fighting Grace to also overwhelm the “nasty stuff.” It’s all or nothing. I either let Grace abound as it intends to do or I fight Grace on all fronts.

            Christ takes my sin, all of it. He pours Grace upon it all. I look up and around and see throngs of others. Some are “nasty” people like Corporal Davis who victimize others, and I must make room for them next to me at the cross. Some are Pharisees who led many astray in pride and fear, and I must make room for them next to me at the cross. And now God has done what the Law could not do. Grace abounds upon my soul, and I find that almost without my knowledge, Grace has calmed my heart to forgive all mankind for all its hypocrisy and scandal.

For more reading:
Fundamentalism, Make It Stop!
Fundamentalism Breaks the Rules of Organizational Behavior
OCD Theology
A Culture of Protection
An Idolatry of Excellence
The Upside Down Pyramid

An Argument from Organizational Behavior

Stephen Robbins, MBA textbook author on the subject, defines organizational behavior as "a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization's effectiveness" (2014, page 11). It is a combined discipline of psychology, sociology, and anthropology as it relates to groups as part of a larger group. Leaders use the principles of organizational behavior to inject the strategy and mission of an organization into that organization's DNA. A leader defines effectiveness by how closely the organization operates in accordance with its mission and strategy. 

           

An organization can go to great lengths to build a mission and strategy but neglect to bring that mission and strategy to bear on every task, objective, department, and member. When this happens, the tasks, objectives, departments, and members create waste that perpetuates the organization's ineffectiveness. Tasks become superfluous to the mission and strategy. Objectives become shortsighted. Departments tenaciously compete with one another due to the present leadership's inability to remain true to the mission and strategy. Finally, members become victims of superfluous requirements, shortsighted objectives, and other members exerting their control in an effort to fill the perceived leadership void.

           

Self-coined, Modern-day Fundamentalists (the intentionally conservative, independent Evangelical brand of Christianity) by and large reflect a severe lack in understanding of the principles of organizational behavior. Despite the emphatic profession to be always adhering to the "fundamentals of the faith," they have neglected the pure mission and strategy of the Gospel for a practical theology that allows for Gospel rhetoric but adds subtle burdens that not only visibly discredit the Gospel but also quench the Holy Spirit from accomplishing His purpose in individual members of the local church.

           

Christ's mission to the members of His Church is simple yet potent enough to redeem a fallen world: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Christ's strategy to His Church unfolds the mission:

•       Submit to Jesus Christ as the One to Whom has been granted power in Heaven and on Earth;

•       Cast your sin under His blood and receive His righteousness;

•       Love others as you would love yourself by serving them with compassion and making disciples of Jesus Christ;

•       Grow together in your knowledge of and love for Jesus Christ; and,

•       Be led by the Spirit, Who will never leave us or forsake us.

           

In secular organizations, leadership takes stock of its members, seeks to align those members to the mission and strategy, analyzes strengths and weaknesses of members, equips and assigns those members to appropriate tasks that accurately fulfill the mission and strategy, all the while recognizing that diversity among members must be encouraged (rather than squashed) and channeled towards effectiveness (as defined by the mission and strategy). In the Church, Christ does exactly this through the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God. This makes perfect sense, seeing as how God created the science of organizational behavior. Scientists are only privileged to discover it. A key to understanding organizational behavior is the God-given need within each person to be valued and enriched by the organization in which he/she exists. Without individuals being allowed to embrace their diversity as an important part of the team, they are listless, frustrated, confused, and often left feeling guilty for not fitting in.

           

Ephesians expresses these truths through word pictures such as a building with many stones in their own place uniquely crafted by the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians also compares the local church to the human body, all parts necessary and uniquely gifted by the Holy Spirit. Communication among Believers in a local church should exalt this diversity both verbally and nonverbally. Using communication, verbal and nonverbal, to squash this diversity is not only unkind but is an obstacle to the work of the Holy Spirit in the midst of that local church. This diversity is deeply unified, not around gifts and personalities but around the Gospel (as is declared in Corinthians). Diversity is not only permissible, it is vital if we desire to see the Holy Spirit equip and grow the Church.

Understandably, any local church or brand of local churches will naturally have their own flavor as they seek to carry out Christ's mission and strategy in their community. But each and every local church ought to accurately reflect Christ's mission and strategy for His Church, which is inflexibly Gospel-centered. When principles of organizational behavior are applied to the current Fundamentalist Movement, four key characteristics emerge to challenge both the unity and diversity of the Church. These characteristics are certainly not limited to Fundamentalism, but they provide a clear framework for understanding and explaining the practical theological errors within:      

• Fundamentalism empowers loud consciences.

• Fundamentalism endorses a culture of protection.

• Fundamentalism betrays an idolatry of excellence.

• Fundamentalism reacts to organizational flaws by improving the presentation.

           
These behavioral characteristics are not unique to Fundamentalism. Many individual churches and denominations will naturally exhibit one or more of these behavioral characteristics. 

           

The warped practical theology of modern day Fundamentalism can be primarily credited to a deviation from Christ's mission and strategy for the Church. While there are increasingly more high-profile cases of physical, sexual, and spiritual abuse within Fundamentalism (and other evangelical brands), we will not explore the obvious moral infractions exhibited by extreme cases. Instead, my purpose is to venture deeper into the less-obvious (until exposed) philosophies within Fundamentalism that are producing hundreds and hundreds of spiritual abuse victims each year. Many of the subtleties of the behavioral characteristics described above may not be visible from the pews but become quite obvious as one enters the "belly of the beast." The practical theological errors are so much more than shallow arguments over musical styles and dress code: they are misconceptions that have been profoundly installed into our rational cognition. Mere pulpit preaching did not do this, but the powerful reinforcement of these practical theological errors through the organizational behavior of modern day Fundamentalism did.

           

As my wife and I hosted Sneads Ferry Fellowship Church in our home in its infancy, we ministered side-by-side with a great group of military families. The Holy Spirit miraculously kept us unified even through challenging circumstances. I am sorrowful to recall moments where I fell prey to my own Fundamentalist mentality and effectively quenched the Holy Spirit at Sneads Ferry Fellowship Church. At a time when my own ambitions for the future of our church got ahead of what God intended to do, the Holy Spirit used Jim (a dear friend and vital member) to make quiet suggestions that, had I listened, would have saved us from unintentionally hurting two families in the church. Jim holds no seminary or counseling degrees from a liberal arts university, but he was a member of the body, and the Holy Spirit used him just as powerfully as any evangelist or pastor. At least two other scenarios burn in my brain where the Holy Spirit offered practical wisdom through unexpected people, and instead of listening and watching for the Spirit to work, I reverted to endorsing some form of quenching the diversity and unity of Sneads Ferry Fellowship Church. Thankfully, there are also many wonderful memories where diversity and unity were upheld through the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. My wife and I were so blessed to have been a part of SFFC before the church closed its doors.