Did I React Too Quickly to Platforms Exposing Christian Leadership Scandals?
Is the public outcry against Christian leader scandals healthy for the Church?
In this series of posts, I’m responding to the burgeoning Christian leader scandal exposure culture that’s bloomed in the recent months. Several of the people platforming scandal exposure are long-time friends and acquaintances of mine.
Posts to catch up on in this series:
Did I React Too Quickly to Platforms Exposing Christian Leadership Scandals? (current article)
The exposure of corruption, abuse, deception, and other dark dealings by influential Christian ministers may need to come to light FIRST so that we can see what is or isn't God.
Through this process, we will learn some painful truths about our own levels of discernment and naïveté. We will face the test of whether we throw out the baby with the bathwater, or we hold fast to scripture and the demonstration of God's love and power and authority, while realizing that perhaps the methods and structures we've admired were not as God intended.
My objection to the current approach
I have interjected my own voice, perhaps hastily because of the people I know and admire who have online platforms and have recently dedicated significant time and energy and bandwidth to discuss these scandals.
I have a concern for my brothers in Christ who built platforms for the purpose of discussing theology or platforming testimonies of Jesus' authority and power and goodness on the earth, who have shifted gears toward the perpetual discussion of Christian leadership corruption.
Perhaps my concern is born out of the reality that it's not my calling or place to champion these discussions at this time, and so the extreme focus and time being spent on these topics feels like a concerning platform shift to me.
Perhaps this is a service these people provide to expose the wounds that need to heal. And perhaps the call rising up in me to address not the exposure step, but the reorganization and reimagining of church structure isn't antithetical to this exposure stage, but rather the organic continuation of it.
I am pondering these possibilities.
The Kingdom of God will not advance through tweaks and minor modifications.
For it grieves my heart to think of generations of believers living their lives, making these bold prophetic declarations in the church service of all the amazing wonders of God coming to the church, who then grow old and feeble and pass without furthering the body towards that goal .
I don't wanna hear about revivals because the auditorium-centric church cannot properly disciple a harvest if it were to come. It would be utter chaos. Just thousands or millions of new people, singing emotional songs without grounding or discipleship or much fruit of the spirit or connection to the local body.
We experimented with cell groups, 30 years ago. And many churches still have home groups that meet weekly. But these are often either just book clubs or micro church services with the same format that fails to integrate everyone and disciple people and assist them in the exercise and development of their talents.
And so I am convinced that the church to come cannot focus on platforms, and it cannot surround a select few with an audience, because the audience's only practiced skill is to sit still and listen. And that activity does not build muscle and that passive activity does not yield fruit.
So the structure to come, must be collaborative meetings as Paul described when he said each person comes with a song or a hymn or a spiritual song or a willingness to serve with the abilities and talents they have. Each person bears an expectation and responsibility to contribute in a meaningful way that helps the people in their neighborhood or community. This is where life in relationship is built.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, from generation to generation, while expecting different results. 
What topic do we cover next?
While I considered the possibility I overreacted, there are objections to the current approach that will need to be discussed.
Just because the victims of abuse need healing and restoration doesn’t mean that our current methods of handling these topics are ideal.
I’m not naturally an artificially structured copywriter, so you’ll find each response is an organic, winding progression of thought from a point toward a solution.
Stay tuned for the next step in the progression of thought. If you’d like to receive an email when the next post comes out, feel free to subscribe below.