Stuck in the Mud; What Happened to Matthew 18?
I find it irritating when you moving forward on something (or you think you are) and suddenly you find everything has stopped. To me it does not matter if the issue is physical or spiritual, the irritation is the same.
That is why in the winter I often carry tire chains, a shovel, extra weight, and more for my truck. The last thing you want to be is stuck somewheres when all you need is something simple like a shovel to get you moving again because you “assumed,” everything was going to be alright.
From a spiritual standpoint, many older ministries have assumed that they can keep playing the same game, in the same way without a need for change. As a result, they now experience less and less traction as their voices only become relevant to their age groups. I remember the late John Wimber saying, “that any ministry that fails to bring the youth in is setting an expiration date on their ministry.”
Case in point for this article, I recently did a deep dive research into my former employer that I was on staff with, MorningStar Ministries. Right now the demographic of their internet reach is highly shifted towards seniors. And from what I am seeing their primary target group (whether they realize it or not) is 55+ women. Now to be fair it’s not just them as you can see from the graph I provided. Many well-known ministries are simply not making an impact on younger crowds.
Add to this the reality that between Oct 23 and Nov 23 the MorningStar website viewership dropped by around 100,000 people. And that the majority of viewership is not coming out of the US but Indonesia, but even that is falling. Well then… could the ship be having problems?
Spiritual Manipulation
Recently with the exposure of Mike Bickel as a possible sexual predator, a new name is starting to rise to the surface. Blaise & Christine Foret, Blaise was on staff at IHOPKC for almost five years, he and his wife now have an insurance business in the Carolinas, leaving ministry behind.
The Foret’s have now, with their podcasts become a beacon for people to look towards. They are young, saying what their generation needs to say and hear on the issue of Spiritual manipulation. In his first podcast, he described in detail how being a victim of spiritual manipulation left him unable to enter a church for years, something I can identify with after leaving my former employer as my wife and I have had our own troubles for a few years in this area.
What the Forets have done is become a beacon on a stormy sea for victims and former staff members to find. And along the way they are imparting courage to people, and people are becoming brave to speak up.
Part of the reason for this is the generation above them, playing the same game, the same old way. The “good old boys” can not understand why so few are taking their advice these days to just fall silent and “trust the process.” In effect, they have become stuck in the mud, and the more they spin the narrative. The more mud will be flung, digging the tires of their ministry deeper, and deeper.
Younger generations don’t do silence, they talk things out because their core is to be social, and talk is social. Not talking is like saying, “Bird, you can never fly. You can never be the bird the creator designed you to be.”
I applaud what’s happening now, after the Todd Bentley fiasco it seems to me that the IHOP crowd is generally more brave than our MorningStar crowd was.
When you take a close look at the Matthew 18 principles that Jesus laid out for correction. You will quickly notice a progression toward greater and greater levels of transparency. (Matthew 18 is included at the bottom of this page for reference.) Jesus wanted transparency before the people, but out of grace, the sinner could stop the process at any moment if they repented. This was justice, with grace added for the sinner. The Todd Bentley fiasco never saw this, all the information was locked down. No one got to find out who any of the tribunal judges were. Sure there were rumors, I heard a few but no real facts.
In effect, especially as the Mike Bickle event progresses, conflicts of interest are constantly being exposed. How do we know that the Judges over Todd did not present a conflict of interest? What if one of the Judges was Mike who some of his own people have now called him a predator? Would not his presence on the tribunal be grounds for dismissal from the board?
All in all the tribunal’s final comment was that they had no confidence in Todd…? And to this day he has served no time in a jail cell for rape, even though it was established there were victims.
Why?
Well, there are a lot of rumors of victims getting paid off, intimidated into silence, and other things. But those are the rumors that law enforcement should have checked out, not a tribunal. That is why people should have taken their accusations to the police.
This is one of the reasons why so many ministries are slowing down, and becoming more gray-headed. Integrity and respect have become a banner to wave when needed, but not lived. As a result, a fast-sounding ministry impresses not as many as it once did.
Personally
Now I can hear some of my former co-workers say… “your just bitter.” Fair statement, but to be honest I am one of many. But any form of bitterness is not a biblical qualification for you to close your ears. The reality is if you do a search for bitterness, then you’re going to search for a while to find any biblical qualifications.
It would be far better to do a search for the sweetness of the Spirit, let me give you an excerpt from my book, “My Fathers House,” concerning the issues of spiritual control and manipulation. That I wrote was a kind of personal therapy for myself after leaving MorningStar.
“First of all bitterness is not the same as hardness. And hardness can easily be corrected by God (Ezekiel 36:26) One example often used within church is, “Oh, they’re just bitter!” This is often an extremely effective way of quietly discrediting a person who brings up morality issues within a body. But what is true bitterness? Have you ever heard anyone give a sermon on it? Chances are you have not.
First of all, if bitterness was challenging leadership, then the majority of the Old Testament prophets would qualify as bitter who spoke before Kings. And if that were the case, then according to many modern standards implied in Christian circles we should ignore those prophets.
But challenging leadership is not bitterness, nor should we accept some off-handed comment from a leader claiming this or that person is. Bitterness is the absence of spiritual sweetness and there are many things that can sour our spirit before God.
“Or do you not know that unrighteous individuals will not inherit God’s kingdom? Stop being deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor those who are of a voluptuous nature, given to the gratification of sensual, immoral appetites, neither men who are guilty of sexual intercourse with members of their own sex, nor thieves, nor those who are always greedy to have more than they possess, nor drunkards, nor revivers, nor extortioners, shall inherit God’s kingdom.“ (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 WET.)
The fact is, if we are living a life pleasing to God, then we are a sweet aroma before him. And is that not what really counts?
But let’s take a closer look at the subject itself. Many subjects within scripture can be examined closely by looking at its equivalent within Biblical symbolism. One of the strongest symbols for sweetness is honey. This is a complex and wonderful symbol that has two sides to it.
Honey often is a sign of delight because of its sweetness, and everything sweet in the natural world often corresponds to what is delightful and pleasant in the spiritual world. This is because Honey is seen as a blessing, scripture, wisdom, and anointing. “How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103 NASB).
But it is also connected to Judgement and Repentance. Matthew 3:4, Mark1:6, Rev10:9-10, Ezekiel 3:3
Because of sweetness’s connection with wisdom and the word in general, sweetness in my opinion is therefore connected with Truth, and truth has two sides to it (Hebrews 4:12) It cuts, divides, and separates. To the righteous it brings delight but to others, it is harsh and judgmental because truth exposes all things to the light.
That is why so many people with a correctional word can be perceived as harsh and bitter. Because it exposes the dark, and so is painful to them. This is one of the many reasons to make sure you are right before God when you deliver the message.”
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It’s been a few years now since I left, and the Lord kinda tricked us into getting us back into a fellowship by making me the leader of this new fellowship. So now, after my past experiences, I watch my own actions even more closely as I have no desire to end up like the leaders we now see falling.
For a time I wanted nothing to do with anything from my former employer. But then the Lord sent a dream concerning life and destiny. In this dream, the former vice president Steve told me something very important. “What Rick and I built is worth fighting for!”
This tells me that it’s time to “eat the meat and spit out the bones.” I am starting to look closely at old things, ponder, and consider them. All in all, I am chucking out a few bones like the Knights of Malta stuff that I was warned about. Not only in a dream but by my fellow co-workers.
But I am also finding real meat.
Be Brave
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“Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Matthew 18:15-20
