When Leadership Fails A Congregation

Video Presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvHs2i4S92k

When leadership oversteps their bounds there is a compounded effect upon the lives of the people they once served.

Most recently the news has highlighted a minister who has engaged in certain nefarious activities for over twenty years without any oversight. The devastation that has occurred has no doubt impacted the lives of those who were victims of his misconduct. Then again, the leader’s whole congregation also became a victim based on association alone. No doubt about it; long lasting scars can be the result of such mishandling of the people of God.

Does that scenario sound familiar? Have you at one time been the recipient of abuse due to having placed too much trust in leadership? If you felt the pain and the regret of having participated in leadership’s destructive behavior then it is possible to still be owned by that person; even years later. So when thinking back on an uncomfortable situation do you still find yourself responding with physical, emotional, or spiritual flutters? That in its own way is telling you that the matter has yet to be fully resolved and you remain wounded.

What we are actually dealing with is “a stronghold called authority”.

However it becomes a stronghold by choice. You see, we choose to follow certain people that we perceive as able to add something of value to our way of life. As these people are granted access to us we allow their influence to permeate various aspects of our person. This is a common human response which is known to all. Once choices are made we then begin to reflect certain leadership qualities for better or for worse. We can start to look like them, act like them and in most cases are obligated to conform to their way of reason.

Now no one is perfect and we all have a past that needs redeeming. But it is for this very reason that we want to challenge how dominant figureheads gain control and what we can do about it. So where did this stronghold first appear in our lives?

Our view of authority began in the home and taught us to accept a parent’s direction, counsel and way of life. When home life was healthy we learned to not only respect the chain of command, but we also gained stability in how we approached future interests. A healthy view of authority taught us the meaning of self governance and a reverence for the fear of God.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

However damaged home life doesn’t produce the same assurances. Poor examples of leadership in the home have conditioned us to simply comply in the face of parental instability. In a general sense, this trains us to approach life with an over developed propensity to follow the leader; no questions asked.

Likewise even healthy upbringing can follow a similar path of obligation, but for different reasons. Since leadership did such a good job of taking care of us while growing up, there is a mindset that believes authority will never do us harm.

Both examples reveal a vulnerability in our way of thinking. We fall into a lifestyle pattern of “subjection and submission”.

On one hand we can find ourselves subject to the things of the earth simply by being born into a fallen world. We didn’t ask for this trouble, yet it came with the package.

“Subjection” is then a matter of being under the power of something or someone and is often the result of being forced against our will.

On the other hand, we can also find ourselves subject to things based on an exercise in “freewill”. In this case:

“Submission” represents a willingness to give away aspects of our authority in order to gain some perceived benefit.

If as believers we remain in either of these camps we can find ourselves pressed by a lesser quality of life and frequently “under” the control of a lesser god. For this reason any hope of prospering in life requires that we be more mindful of the choices we make. It also requires that we give thought to whether “improper” ownership is already leading us down a destructive path.

Notice I said “improper”; this is not a call to dishonor authority, or deny them a place in our lives, but since Christ has offered us a new life and access to His throne we are in need of some renovation. In other words, though we once had an obligation to be submissive to leadership as a child, we aren’t children anymore. Our expectations need to grow as we mature in our faith.

Why “faith”?

The Christian is now governed by a connection with the King of Glory. Once we partake of a personal salvation experience with Jesus, He makes all things new.