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I’ve stated this before; quite frequently actually; there are things that are bad, but they are only truly bad when they happen to you. This was a statement made to me by an individual who escaped persecution in another country but then found relating their story did not truly reflect what they had suffered. It’s such a true statement.
In the ABC I witnessed a number of spiritual atrocities over the years. The earliest being when a man named Gary Larson was accused of, I’m not sure what exactly. Rebellion perhaps? This man, and my father, disagreed on a very minor point that seemed important to both of them. In the end, my father won the argument by having this man publicly shamed, ex-communicated then put out. Over the years I watched as many people were falsely accused of things such as theft from the tithe, blasphemy, rebellion and other alleged sin. They too were put out of the church as no longer worthy, or were humiliated to the point they left. It is self-righteousness on the part of the leaders. In my case I was accused of blasphemy over one sentence I spoke in answer to a question.
The entire sum of my adult Christian experience has been in the ABC, so I found this article I reference rather enlightening. It demonstrated to me my personal experiences are not outliers and the same atrocities happen throughout Christianity, not just in the ABC. I will put the link to this article at the end of this post, but it was posted on Medium, so it may be behind a subscription paywall. Not sure. Lacking permission to reprint the entire article, I will quote briefly from the article as fair use, then summarize instead.
The article relates the story of a man who headed up a church called Elevation. It’s a U.S. megachurch with over 25,000 members. This man, Steven Furtick, put up the Facebook post shown below:
I am not here to condemn or defend the above
statement but, when I read this, it seems rather innocuous to me. Others
did not see it as so innocuous though and this man was quickly labeled as “wicked, evil, lying, a licentious blasphemer, an audaciously
blasphemous man and one who needs to seek to be born again". There were literally hundreds
of persons who said mean and nasty things in hundreds of posts about this man's statement. Now mind you, twenty-five
thousand people were following this man, and saw no problem with him, until he posted this single statement. I don’t know this man; I know nothing
of his church, his doctrine or teachings but what this tells me is this manner
of treatment is indigenous to Christianity as a whole, not just the ABC. The
ABC, another segment of Christianity, has not in any way separated themselves
from this work of the flesh. Where is the love? Where is the longsuffering? Gentleness? Meekness? All absent.
In
the article Foster states, “If you want to upset a Christian, use the wrong words.”
So true. Later in the article Foster writes, “Christians talk a
big game about being the “family of God” but when the rubber hits the road,
they would undoubtedly be prepared to toss someone out of their “family” if
that someone happened to merely use the wrong words”. Or perhaps, even the right words, if it happened
to bring offense to someone. I can relate.
If we are to talk about words, especially
in Greek, since this what the ABC best relates to most, the word offense in Greek is "skandalon" and it means “to be ensnared”. This same word, since we’re addressing Greek words
here, is used when the gospels speak about what the Jews did to entrap Jesus in
the legal system, and allowed him to be executed "legally". It is the nature of man to cover their own inadequacy by ensnaring others in their words, actions, beliefs, etc.
But, aside from defining a word, which just leads to even more argument, here is the basic point I am making. If you, as reader, believe every word you speak, or have spoken, is not only perfect, but is, and has been, accepted perfectly by every hearer, I suggest you beg God right now to take you because, I can assure you, that perfection will not last. When you slip up and speak the wrong words, or if your words are taken out of context then converted to scandal, as happened to me, there are those in the ABC, and in other segments of Christianity, who lie in wait to ensnare you in those words. They will cast you out or flog you with those words. In my case this was an "eternal judgment for all of eternity" This is nothing more than self-righteousness.
I witnessed this happen repeatedly in my time in the ABC but it only became truly bad when it happened to me. I assure you, no one is exempt from this type of treatment. Those fellowshipping in this type of environment should be cautious of what they say, for their own spiritual and emotional safety.
Here is the article link:
“Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.”– André Gide
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