Canon Fodder

Exploring the origins of the New Testament canon and other biblical and theological issues

My New Book Is Here! Announcing the Release of “Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church”

I am pleased to announce the release of my new book, Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church!

Given that it is election day across our nation (Nov 8th), this may seem like a strange date for a book to be released. But since the book is about what godly leadership looks like, election day may be more relevant than it seems.

For those that follow this blog, you will know that the issue of spiritual abuse has been on my mind for the last several years now. Even before Mike Cosper’s excellent podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, put it on the national radar, I’ve been concerned about some trends and patterns I am seeing across the spectrum of evangelical and reformed churches.

As a seminary president, and professor of New Testament, it’s part of my job to think about such things. After all, producing the next generation of leaders is what we are all about. And, more than anything, we want them to be like Christ.

And most of them are. To be sure, there’s much to be encouraged about when I look at pastors today. As a whole, they are a sacrificial, godly, and faithful bunch. Indeed, I am around pastors every day. I love pastors. I am a pastor myself.

But that is not all that can be said. For anyone paying attention over the last ten years, we have also seen the rise of a type of Christian leader that is, sadly, very different than Christ. Rather than being gentle, patient shepherds, some pastors (for a variety of reasons) are heavy-handed and domineering to the flocks under their care.

Of course, such behavior is fundamentally contrary to scriptural teaching about Christian leadership (1 Tim 3:3; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet 5:3). Indeed, Jesus spoke a good bit about such domineering behavior, warning his disciples against precisely this sort of authoritarian model of ministry (e.g., Mark 10:35-45).

Despite these warnings, however, some churches (at least more than we should be comfortable with) have tolerated, and sometimes even celebrated, precisely the kinds of leaders Jesus warned us against.

Indeed, there has been a bit of a “pile up” of churches wrecked by such behavior over the last number of years. Some of the high-profile cases are known to most. But there are countless other stories behind the scenes that we will never hear about.

I have written and talked about this issue before:

  • I have written a lengthy blog series about it (see here)
  • I led a panel discussion on spiritual abuse at the TGC 2021 National Conference (see here).
  • I did a 5-part series on misconceptions about spiritual abuse (see here)
  • And I have already done a number of interviews about my book (see the one with World Magazine’s Warren Cole Smith here).

In fact, my series on spiritual abuse has been, by far, the most read series on my blog. On top of this, the series triggered a deluge of emails, queries, comments, and even personal stories about spiritual abuse from all over the country. It has far surpassed anything that I have ever experienced before.

But there’s more that needs to be said and done. Churches need a resource that can help them understand what spiritual abuse is, how to spot it, how it affects the victims of abuse, and how the church can keep such behavior from happening.

This is why I have written my book, Bully Pulpit. I have written this book out of love for the church. After all, the church is the most important institution on the planet. Not only do we want to see her more and more sanctified as the day of Christ approaches, but we want to protect the sheep in the church from the wolves that Christ warned us about.

While loving the church may involve more than this, it certainly doesn’t involve less.

My prayer is that this book would find its way to the hands of pastors, elder boards (sessions), and other organizations that train and commend Christian leaders.

Here’s the official description: [Read more…]

5 Misconceptions about Spiritual Abuse: #5: “Talking About Spiritual Abuse Will Just Lead to False Accusations Against Pastors”

In anticipation of the Nov 8th release (note: it’s been bumped back a week!) of my new book, Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church, I am making my way through a 5-part blog series on misconceptions and misunderstandings of spiritual abuse. You can read prior installments here, here, here, and here.

We come now to the final misconception in the series: “Talking about spiritual abuse will just lead to false accusations against pastors.”

As I have engaged the topic of spiritual abuse over the last several years, I have observed a repeated sentiment that pops up again and again. It is basically the idea that while spiritual abuse might be a problem, the real problem is false accusations against pastors. The concern is not so much about protecting the victims of abuse, but protecting church leaders.

Now, let me say that I understand this concern. False accusations do happen. People do lie. And churches need to take that possibility very, very seriously.

The problem with this misconception, however, is the way it frames the issue. It is suggestive that our default position should be a posture of suspicion toward the victims—as if the norm is that people lie about their pastors and the accuser is probably yet another person who just hates the church.

Now, to be clear, this is different than saying the accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Of course, everyone should be regarded as innocent until they are proven guilty. But that’s not the same thing as a presumption that the accuser is probably lying. Those are two very different things. And the latter is deeply problematic (not to mention unbiblical).

So, here are a few additional considerations that I think can bring more balance to the discussion. [Read more…]

How Not To Become a Celebrity Pastor

America—and the Western world in general—loves celebrities. That much is not in doubt. Whether they be athletes, actors, or successful CEO’s, we are fascinated with people who are rich, powerful, and at the top of their game.

Indeed, we’ve been taught that the way you make an organization successful is by finding an exceptional person to lead it—a franchise player—who can put it on the map. Whether it’s Lebron James or Jeff Bezos, all organizations need a superstar.

Unfortunately, the church has sometimes adopted this same approach to leadership. If our churches are going to “succeed,” we figure we need our own franchise player to lead us—someone who is strong, dynamic, and inspiring.

Welcome to the era of the “celebrity pastor.”

Of course, anyone paying attention over the last decade will recognize the era of the celebrity pastor has not, as a whole, been a healthy one for the church. Sure, some churches are as big as they’ve ever been. But church scandals are also as big as they’ve ever been.

So, perhaps it’s time the church gives some thought on how not to produce celebrity pastors. And it may also be time for leaders to take the necessary steps to not become celebrity pastors.

What is a Celebrity Pastor?

But, here lieth the problem. Most pastors don’t think they are in danger of becoming a “celebrity pastor” because they miss what a celebrity pastor actually is. [Read more…]

What Does It Mean To Be Winsomely Reformed?

There’s been a lot of discussion in the last year (and the last week) of what it means to be winsomely reformed. And, sadly, the loudest voices have been undeniably against the idea of being winsome. It has been critiqued as wishy-washy, a failed cultural strategy, or as an expression of weakness rather than strength.

While this is certainly an important conversation for any evangelical right now, it is particularly relevant for Reformed Theological Seminary because we have historically emphasized the importance of being winsomely Reformed.

Indeed, I can still remember that I was asked about this issue in my original faculty interview, back in 2001. The concern was not just that we hold firmly to historic Reformed theology, but that we do so with a posture of grace, warmth, and respect—especially with those we disagree with. It was clear to me at the time that this value extended back to the earliest days of the seminary.

So, whatever one might say about the desire that we be winsomely Reformed, I don’t think it can be chalked up to recent cultural pressures. RTS, at least, was concerned about this back in the 80’s and 90’s (and before)—long before social media, Trump, and recent divisions in evangelicalism.

So, I thought it might be helpful to lay out what it means to be winsomely Reformed, and why that matters.

What Do We Mean by “Winsome”?

The English word “winsome” is not a biblical word, per se. That is, it does not appear, for example, in the ESV. But it is typically used as more of a catch-all term designed to summarize the kind of Christian character emphasized in the Bible.

Consider, for example, Paul’s exhortation in Col 3:12-14:

Put on, then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another . . . And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Similar sentiments are found in other places. Christians, particularly Christian leaders, should not lord it over, but be a servant (Mark 10:43–44); not be a bully, but gentle (1 Tim 3:3; cf. Titus 1:7); not domineering, but setting an example (1 Pet. 3:3); and not quarrelsome, but kind (2 Tim. 2:24).

When Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit he includes similar traits: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).

So, the word “winsome” is just a way of summarizing what these verses are describing. In more modern terms, to be winsomely Reformed is to be Reformed but not boorish, curmudgeonly, or quarrelsome.

With a little bit of a definition behind us, we turn to the question of why this all matters. Let me offer a few reflections on why I think winsomeness is important for us to emphasize. [Read more…]

5 Misconceptions about Spiritual Abuse: #1 “Loving the Church Means You Don’t Call Out Her Problems”

Last week I announced the upcoming release of my new book, Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church (Zondervan, 2022). The book releases on November 1st.

As a lead up to the book release, I am launching a new blog series entitled, “5 Misconceptions about Spiritual Abuse.”  In my research for the book, it became quite evident that people have a lot of misunderstandings of spiritual abuse, how it manifests itself in the church, and how it should be addressed. Some of these are rather innocent misunderstandings, and others perhaps less innocent. Either way, it is important that they be addressed for the health of the church.

We begin with perhaps the biggest misconception: “Loving the church means you don’t call out her problems.”

__________________________________________

When it comes to the issue of abuse, it’s been a rough stretch for the church. The last decade has not only seen a rise in cases of spiritual abuse—Mark Driscoll, Steve Timmis, James MacDonald to name a few—but it seems we are hearing about more and more cases, including those of sexual abuse. Beyond the high-profile cases of Ravi Zacharias and Bill Hybels, we have the 6-part Houston Chronicle series, and now the newly released SBC report, showing the problem is much more extensive than anyone even knew.

Every time we think we’ve seen the full scope of the abuse problem, it seems we discover the iceberg just goes deeper below the surface than we even realized.

In light of such revelations, we might hope for the church to respond like Nehemiah, “Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses” (Neh 1:6-7).

And, some in the church have had precisely this response. For instance, I was so encouraged by those in the SBC who chose to waive attorney-client privilege and move toward full disclosure and full repentance.

But, strangely, there’s also been another reaction afoot. Rather than a move towards repentance, others have moved towards a posture of defensiveness. Rather than expressing concern about the abuse, concern is expressed about those who call out the abuse. To speak out against abuse in the church is seen as uncharitable, divisive, and even as evidence that a person doesn’t really love the church as they ought.

In other words, if you really love the church you don’t point out her problems.

Let me say that I understand the concern behind such an approach. We believe the church is vital in the life of every believer, so we don’t want to dissuade people from being involved. And, it’s easier than we think to become disillusioned and jaded about the church. We have to be careful we don’t slide, perhaps imperceptibly, from constructive critiques toward unbridled cynicism.

Yet, the opposite problem is a danger too. Fear over unbridled cynicism has caused some to put on the blinders, refusing to see and acknowledge the problems that are really there. We can convince ourselves that loving the church means we keep our mouths shut about her weaknesses.

But, I think that’s a deeply problematic approach. It falters in three ways: personally, biblically, and practically. [Read more…]

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I am President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC, and husband to Melissa Kruger, Director of Women’s Content at The Gospel Coalition.

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