Freedom From Spiritual Abuse & Controlling Leaders Part 2

I hope you were ministered to by my Part 1 blog – if you haven’t read it, I would recommend you read it first.

I wanted to share some more about this surprisingly common problem in the body of Christ.

First, be encouraged. If this is you to any extent – THERE IS TOTAL FREEDOM – YAY! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there IS freedom – that is one of His calling cards (2 Corinthians 3:17).

I wanted to unpack some more red flags in addition to the ones I gave in Part 1.

Here are some more red flags for abusive leadership – spiritual or otherwise:

• Loyalties constantly being questioned (making their leaders suspicious of one another)
• An elitist spirit discourages church members from visiting other churches or receiving counsel from anyone who doesn’t attend their church.
• People leaving that body never having good reasons; they are routinely touted to be in disobedience and under God’s wrath, rebellious or offended
• Serving is a way you prove your loyalty rather than a joy to give and freedom to not give

Here are some tips if you think this may be your situation:

• Make sure you draw upon the grace of God to forgive – releasing all your hurt and emotions to God. There’s enough sin potentially going on without adding yours to the list
• Pray for any leader and the people caught up in this
• Don’t assume there is no health body for you: God has a healthy body for you to be a part of.
• Seek counsel from a mature, objective leader in another church or another mature Christian. It is possible that what you have perceived as a controlling attitude may be a genuine concern – so pray for discernment.

The Bible says that “in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Prov. 11:14). Go seek counsel from multiple people outside the church. Remember the church is not an elite group. Jesus died for the sins of the entire world!

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2 (KJV)

His offer of salvation includes the entire world. And, while people can refuse Him, He is pretty sneaky, masterful, and relentless at wooing every person made in His image! Ask me how I know! He had to pursue me a whole lot because I was really mad at Him for a long time!

What that means is that NO PART of the body, including me, has the lock on salvation. Jesus is bigger than ALL of us – hallelujah!

That also means there is a place in the body for you – even if you have been really hurt. Jesus the healer of the broken and brokenhearted and He is masterful at His job!!!

Stay Tooned for Part 3.

As I mentioned in Part 1, for those of you who can get yourselves to the Colorado Springs, CO area on May 12, 2018, I will be doing a Ministry Burnout & Spiritual Abuse Workshop with a bonus Prophetic Journey with Jesus at Pulse Church. You can click here for more information. I also will be recording the whole workshop, which will be available for purchase here.

Believing and standing for YOUR freedom – love you guys!