Joseph Prince’s possible fear of his critics, evades answering his critics & falsely teaches that God cannot send sickness to us – By Rev George Ong (Dated 28 Oct 2023)
Announcement:
Don’t miss Michael Brown’s article,
which is featured in the Appendix, titled:
Everyone’s an Apostle These Days,
And his comments on
“Grave soaking” or “Grave sucking”.
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
There are 4 Parts to this Article:
Part 1: Joseph Prince’s fear shouldn’t be his critics but God who could cancel him
Part 2: Joseph Prince’s argument that God cannot send sickness to us is illogical & his doctrine contradicts 8 godly men and the Historic Church
Part 3: Joseph Prince’s sly effort at complicating a simple issue to evade answering his critics
Part 4: Joseph Prince brought in irrelevant issues to evade answering his critics
Part 1: Joseph Prince’s fear shouldn’t be his critics but God who could cancel him
In a Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 22 Oct 2023, 6 days ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 30-second video:
“We’ll cancel you.
My Bible says God says He will blot the name.
Only one person can cancel.
Our hands are not too strong to cancel.
Only God can cancel.
You can cancel for a time, for a season.
God cancels eternity.
It’s in His cancellation.”
In a previous sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 40-second video:
“The world, they don’t like you only, they cancel you.
Rewrite history, you know.
Imagine history can be rewritten. That’s funny.
What I thought, something happened, something happened already.
You know what I’m saying; but you can rewrite history. Amen.
And people want to cancel you and all that.
Just that I think that you must be powerful enough to cancel someone
because in the first place, you didn’t give birth to him, and then you didn’t give him the ministry.
You didn’t give him the anointing.
You didn’t give him the blessings and all that.
How can you cancel him when God gave him all these things?
I think there is a saying that says that when God opens a door, no one can shut.
I think today’s vernacular will be what God has written no one can cancel.”
In these 2 short videos, Joseph Prince used the word ‘cancel’ 12 times.
This shows that Joseph Prince is somewhat fixated and overly preoccupied with the possibility of him being cancelled by his critics.
Is Prince driven by fear that something ominous will to happen to him, or what?
Joseph Prince said:
“We’ll cancel you…
Our hands are not too strong to cancel…”
“And people want to cancel you and all that.
Just that I think that you must be powerful enough to cancel someone…”
Joseph Prince is implying that his critics’ hands are not strong enough and that they are not powerful enough to cancel him,
(not that his critics are trying to cancel him as they are only obeying God and the scriptures to contend against his heresies, but that’s his accusation).
But come to think of it, if his critics are not strong enough and if they are not powerful enough to cancel him,
why did Joseph Prince mention them in the first place in front of his congregation and announce this to the world?
If his critics are not strong and have no power, Joseph Prince should have just kept quiet about the issue,
as these critics are no threat to his ministry at all,
and hence, they are not even worth mentioning – worse, saying it in public.
If his critics are not a bother to him, why did Joseph Prince make this known at a public forum during a worship service?
Is it because his critics have now posed a credible threat to his ministry, and that’s why he has to take them on out in the open to the public,
by painting his critics as the bad guys who are out to get him as they want to cancel him?
If that is the actual story, our thanks to Joseph Prince for his high regards for what his critics have done so far.
We are indeed honoured by Joseph Prince for paying so much attention to his critics in his other sermons,
and especially in this sermon 6 days ago, on 22 Oct 2023, for giving us so much ‘airtime’.
We must thank Joseph Prince for giving us free publicity, and as a result of him giving us such a high profile, we have become more famous and known to the public.
Next, Joseph Prince gave the impression that he will never be cancelled nor will he fall, when he haughtily said:
“How can you cancel him when God gave him all these things?
I think there is a saying that says that when God opens a door, no one can shut.
I think, today’s vernacular will be what God has written
no one can cancel.”
Wow, that’s sheer arrogance!
Joseph Prince must humbly remember that while God can open the door, He, too, can shut it anytime,
and when He chooses to shut, no one can open it.
If God decides to cancel Joseph Prince one day, His plans will never fail.
More so, his critics believe that Joseph Prince is empowered not by God but the devil.
Joseph Prince constantly alludes to his success – to his big church and gigantic church premise – to the many so-called healings that take place in the worship services;
but is Joseph Prince not aware that the devil can also give him success?
God is so patient and kind to Joseph Prince.
But Prince had better not take the patience of God for granted.
And just because his critics cannot cancel Joseph Prince, doesn’t mean they cannot contend against his heresies.
But Joseph Prince is such a slimy guy – he is implying that those who contend against his heresies are effectively trying to cancel him.
Hence, from now on, according to his logic, we cannot even contend against his false teachings
– for to contend against his heresies, is amounting to cancelling him.
Why did Joseph Prince say something so obvious that everybody knows – that God, and not us, is the one who can cancel anybody?
Who doesn’t know that?
Athanasius knew that.
If you haven’t read John MacArthur’s account of Athanasius’ battle with the heretic Arius,
Please click on the link below:
Athanasius knew that it was God’s prerogative to deal with the heretics of his day in His own sovereign way and according to His divine timing.
Did Athanasius obey God’s call to battle against Arius, the heretic
only because God promised Athanasius that Arius and his heresy, which had widely spread,
would be cancelled or brought down in his (Athanasius’) lifetime.
No.
The truth is Athanasius died before seeing the full fruits of his labours.
He didn’t live to see the eradication of the heresy of Arianism from the Christian Church.
But his job was to obey God’s call to battle Arius, the heretic, and contend against Arianism.
His job was to persevere in obeying God’s call no matter what it would cost him and no matter what the outcome would be.
Indeed, his calling costs him as he was forced into exile at least 5 times by several Roman emperors who has sympathy for the heresy of Arianism.
We must never be that naïve and simplistic to obey God’s call only because we expect Him to show us the results of our call in our lifetime.
Just do your part to obey God and leave the rest to Him.
That was my attitude the first day when I launched out in obedience to God’s call to combat against Joseph Prince’s heresies.
I’ve never entertained the idea that Joseph Prince would suffer a fall or be cancelled, and his heresies would be pushed back all because I have obeyed God’s call to contend against his heresies.
I just have to do my part and leave the rest in the hands of God.
Perhaps the only comfort for Athanasius was that Arius, the heretic, died 37 years before him when he was struck with a sudden attack of cholera.
And because of that, Arianism was now without an official head.
But did Arianism die instantly with Arius’ demise?
No.
Arianism continued to spread for several decades after Arius’ death.
At one point, it ominously appeared that the whole Church might have succumbed to Arianism.
Though Arius had died, the heresy continued to trouble the Church for at least a generation afterward.
Even though its founder Arius had passed away from the scene, the continuing spread of Arianism, holds many pertinent lessons for the Singapore Church.
Once a generation of the Church has embraced the heresy of Joseph Prince, it will take a few generations to recover from the curse.
When will the Church of Singapore start to wake up before Christianity becomes ‘Gracetianity’ and the Prince of Peace is usurped by Joseph Prince?
That was why Paul said,
“But we refused to give in to them (heretics) for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you” (Gal 2:5 NLT).
As elders and pastors of churches, are we concerned for the next generation of believers that they, too, will receive the same Faith that is being passed down to us from the apostles?
If the Pseudo-grace doctrine of Joseph Prince is corrupting the gospel and the Christian Faith in our generation, in the next generation, Christianity may metamorphosise into ‘Gracetianity’.
The prevalence of false teachings in the Singapore Church is not hypothetical; it is happening right under our noses in the person and ministry of Joseph Prince.
The pervading influence of Joseph Prince’s Pseudo-grace theology would not simply go away even after his death but may balloon to alarming proportions in the days to come.
If Joseph Prince’s Pseudo-grace teaching that has influenced many is not decisively dealt with and curbed, it will set Christianity on a harmful and irreversible course for our future generations of Christians.
We must not be short-sighted and be deceived that things will die a natural death, but we ought to take the view of the long-term harm that heresies, especially that of Joseph Prince, can do to the Church of Jesus Christ.
Be that as it may, may the fearless and persevering spirit of Athanasius be with the Church of Jesus Christ in this sense:
When, to intimidate him, Athanasius’ judges warned him
that the whole world was against him,
he dared to reply,
“Then is Athanasius against the world!”
Similarly, like Athanasius,
William Tyndale didn’t live to see the fruits of his labour.
If you haven’t read Steve Lawson’s account of how William Tyndale persevered and paid with his life in his task to translate the Bible into English,
Please click on the link below:
“Tyndale’s final words before the chain around his neck strangled him to death were, ‘Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.’
That dying prayer was answered two years after Tyndale’s death,
when King Henry VIII ordered that the Bible of Miles Coverdale was to be used in every parish in the land.”
William Tyndale couldn’t have imagined that because of his persevering efforts at translating the Bible into English, which ended in his subsequent martyrdom,
the world today will be filled with Christians reading their Bibles in English.
And the lesson – don’t focus your eyes on the results of your call, but keep your eyes on faithfully doing the mission that God has called you.
But all is not lost – because on the day of reckoning, you will hear the glorious words of Jesus,
“Thou good and faithful servant enter into my presence.”
Part 2: Joseph Prince’s argument that God cannot send sickness to us is illogical & his doctrine contradicts 8 godly men and the Historic Church
In a Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 22 Oct 2023, 6 days ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 15-second video:
“If you want to see what God is when He has full control, full reign, heaven.
If heaven has sickness
then I will believe with you that God sometimes gives sickness.
But there is no sickness in heaven
and there is no death in heaven.”
Joseph Prince is effectively and nonsensically arguing this way:
“If heaven has no sickness,
then God shouldn’t sometimes give people sickness on earth.
SO, if heaven has no marriage,
then God shouldn’t institute marriage on earth (which He did).
SO, if heaven has no sex,
then, God shouldn’t devise sex as an enjoyment between husbands and wives on earth (which He did).
SO, if heaven has no sea,
then, God shouldn’t create seas for people to have a relaxing swim and for ships to travel on earth (which He did).
SO, if heaven has no death,
then God shouldn’t send death to people on earth (which He did to both believers, Ananias & Sapphira, and unbelievers, King Herod).
If Joseph Prince can’t even get his basic logic right,
he has no business to delve into Bible exegesis and doctrines.
Besides logic, Joseph Prince has no biblical basis to teach that God cannot send sickness to people on earth.
His erroneous teaching is contradicted by 8 men of God.
In a sermon, Derek Prince said;
Please click here to view the 10-second video:
“That sickness could be a chastening.
But this is very clear.
Paul is speaking about people who get sick (1 Cor 11)
and he says they are being chastened by the Lord.”
In ‘Sermons of Martin Luther Vol. 5,’ Martin Luther said:
“For if I love God, I love also his will.
Now, when God sends us sickness,
poverty, shame and disgrace,
that is his will.”
In ‘Works of Martin Luther, Vol. 2,’ Martin Luther wrote:
“Give us grace willingly to bear illness,
poverty, shame, suffering and adversity,
and to know that these are Thy divine will,
for the crucifying of our will.”
In a sermon delivered on 26 July 1874 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle,’ Charles Spurgeon said:
“Do you know how the Lord chastens churches?
Paul says,
“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Cor 11:30).
Bodily sickness is often sent in discipline upon churches…”
In ‘Reclaiming Christianity, A Call to Authentic Faith,’ AW Tozer wrote:
“The churches believed through the centuries
that the Lord sometimes chastens His people by letting illness happen to them.
You will find that in 1 Corinthians 11:27-34 (Holy Communion),
and you will find much else in the Scriptures that would teach the same thing.”
In ‘Pauline Christology, An Exegetical-Theological Study,’ Gordon Fee wrote:
“Paul sees the illness and death of some members of the community
as evidence of God’s present discipline of the Corinthian believers (1 Cor 11:30-32).”
In “Great Doctrines of the Bible,’ Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:
“Illness is a part of God’s process of discipline.
… There is also no doubt that death, like illness,
is one of the means that God uses to sanctify us.”
In ‘How Long, O Lord, Reflections on Suffering and Evil,’ DA Carson wrote:
“God’s discipline may include war, plague,
illness… and death.”
In ‘Acting the Miracle,’ John Piper wrote:
“That’s what 1 Corinthians 11 says.
He (God) makes some of us sick (and eventually dead)
so that we won’t be condemned with the world.”
Who are these men such Derek Prince, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, AW Tozer, Gordon Fee, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, DA Carson and John Piper?
For new believers and younger Christians, please ask your Pastors about these men.
In no uncertain terms, they would tell you that these are well-regarded Bible teachers that cut across every denomination.
If every one of these esteemed men of God contradicted Joseph Prince when he said that God cannot send sickness to us,
Joseph Prince is obviously a charlatan, and you had better run far away from him.
What these 8 men of God teach that God can send sickness to us is the same doctrine that the Church have taught throughout the centuries of Christianity.
The only one who differs is Joseph Prince.
Once again, I have proven that Prince is indeed a Lone Ranger.
Part 3: Joseph Prince’s sly effort at complicating a simple issue to evade answering his critics
In a Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 22 Oct 2023, 6 days ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 1-minute video:
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper.
And every tongue which rises against you in judgement (Isa 54:17).
That’s why I don’t worry about people who come against me or my teachings or whatever. Alright.
If they are right, they are right.
May their words never fall to the ground.
But if they’re wrong, this promise applies.
And every tongue that rises against you in judgment,
you shall condemn.
In other words, it’s not like I condemn it.
But the idea there is that you were proved to be wrong.
Let time pass.
Let time pass.
Was this group right?
Was that group right?
Let time pass.
You will know who is right and who is wrong.
There used to be a situation down here, alright.
And this group believes in this,
that group believes in this.
Let time pass.
Let time pass.
You will see.”
It is evident that Joseph Prince is trying to evade the issue of answering his critics by craftily making a simple issue complicated.
And Prince said that because different groups hold different views, time is needed to decide who is right.
That’s why, in a short speech, Joseph Prince said 5 times,
‘Let time pass.’
Let me expose Joseph Prince’s wily ways.
You don’t need much time to settle the many issues his critics have levelled against him.
We just need a simple answer from him on most issues.
Let me give you 2 concrete examples.
First, I accused Joseph Prince of being a serial liar.
And one issue I brought up was that he lied about preaching every Sunday during COVID.
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 10-second video:
“You know I have never taken a sabbatical for years ever since I went to ministry as a young man, never.
During COVID,
I was preaching every Sunday, every Sunday.
Joseph Prince blatantly lied that he preached every Sunday during COVID-19. This is because
there were 7 times in 2020 that Prince didn’t preach:
(26 Jan, 26 Apr, 7 Jun, 14 Jun, 2 Aug, 25 Oct, 29 Nov).
there were 14 times in 2021 that Prince didn’t preach:
(24 Jan, 14 Feb, 14 Mar, 18 Apr, 23 May, 20 Jun, 4 Jul, 8 Aug, 12 Sep, 19 Sep, 14 Nov, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 26 Dec).
there were 6 times from 1 Jan to 26 Apr 2022 that Prince didn’t preach:
(6 Feb, 13 Feb, 20 Mar, 27 Mar, 10 Apr, 24 Apr).
(Note that COVID-19 hit Singapore from the beginning of 2020, and it was reported in the Straits Times that Singapore had announced a major easing of rules of COVID-19 from 26 Apr 2022.)
All Joseph Prince needs to do is to come clean and answer my accusation – whether he did preach every Sunday.
And if he did, there must be proper records on the preaching schedule from New Creation Church to back up his claim.
But because he is guilty of lying 27 times, he has no choice but to stay silent.
So, can you now see that it is not about the fact that we need a lot of time to decide on issues,
but it is Joseph Prince’s cunning way to deflect a simple issue which he is guilty of
to one which is complicated that requires time for the truth to be known.
The second example is contained in a previous article I wrote.
If you wish to view, please click on the link below:
In that article, I wrote the following:
“Kong Hee, Peter Tan-chi and Lawrence Khong’s view on the necessity of repentance for saving grace
represents the view of all Singapore evangelical Pastors and churches and the Historic Church:
which includes the Apostolic Church, the Early Church, the Reformation Church, the Puritan Church, etc.
The view of Kong Hee, Peter Tan-chi and Lawrence Khong is also the view held by every evangelical denomination:
Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Brethren, EFC, Assemblies of God, Charismatics and Pentecostals, etc.
So, Joseph Prince, who holds the view of an only-belief and a no-repentance gospel,
is clearly and doctrinally, the odd one out.
That is why I have always said that as far as the many heretical doctrines that Joseph Prince preaches,
he is indeed a Lone Ranger.”
All Joseph Prince needs to dispute my contention,
is to produce concrete evidence of many church fathers that support his view
of an only-belief and a no-repentance gospel.
He also needs to show proof that a few denominations have the same stand as him,
of an only-belief and a no-repentance gospel.
Can you see that this is a matter that can be so easily settled.
Would this take a lot of time?
Of course not.
Joseph Prince flippantly said:
“That’s why I don’t worry about people who come against me or my teachings or whatever. Alright.
If they are right, they are right.
May their words never fall to the ground.”
Does Joseph Prince know what he is saying?
This is because if we are right that Joseph Prince is a heretic and a wolf in sheepskin,
then he would be doomed to eternal destruction for all of eternity.
Part 4: Joseph Prince brought in irrelevant issues to evade answering his critics
In a Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 22 Oct 2023, 6 days ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 40-second video:
“So, you don’t try to justify yourself
because when you try to justify yourself,
you are actually becoming your own righteousness.
Your own justification.
No, say, just say, you know when the person attacked you,
and someone tell me,
O Pastor Prince,
What do you think of so and so, attacking you and all that?
I don’t worry because Jesus is my righteousness.
The Lord Jesus is my righteousness.
… When you feel like some mere human being, mere mortal,
whose breath is in his nostrils.
I don’t care his position at work or whatever.
If he says something against you and you feel crush and all that.
Just stop and say,
I am the child of God.
I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
Who is he?
What then does his words matter compared to the one?”
What Joseph Prince has done is that he has brought in irrelevant issues to evade from answering his critics.
What have all the issues that his critics have brought up
have to do with whether Joseph Prince is the righteousness of God in Christ?
They have nothing to do with the issue of salvation
but everything to do with what Joseph Prince said in his videos and wrote in his books.
Are these accusations about him true or not?
If not, Joseph Prince has the right to reply and clarify.
By bringing in an irrelevant topic about the righteousness of God in Christ,
he is trying to evade answering his critics
for the simple reason that all or most of these allegations are true,
as they are based on what Joseph Prince said in his videos and what he wrote in his books.
Rev George Ong
Appendix
In ‘Playing with Fire, A wake up call to the Pentecostal-Charismatic Church,’
Michael Brown wrote:
“Grave soaking” or “grave sucking”.
“On a regular basis, Charismatic critics ask me about the practice of “grave soaking” or “grave sucking”.
This refers to believers lying on the graves of departed men and women of God in order to “soak in” (or “suck up”) their anointings or mantles.
So just as the bones of Elisha brought resurrection to a man thrown into his grave (2 Kings 13:20–21), the graves of departed saints are thought to carry anointings or mantles that can be transmitted.
Leave it to us Charismatics to devise a practice like this.
Now, it’s true that leaders of the major ministry often blamed for this practice categorically denounced it, saying it was nothing they ever taught or modeled.
So it is erroneous to accuse this ministry of aiding or abetting this practice.
And I have no problem with praying at the gravesite of a departed leader for the purpose of sober reflection, even asking God to impart some of what He imparted to that person.
But the idea that by lying on a godly person’s gravesite we can suck up his mantle or anointing—what can I say?
Such a practice deserves to be ridiculed.
This may even border on consulting with the dead.”
Everyone’s an Apostle These Days
“There’s another factor today adding to abusive leadership, and it’s the idea that a disproportionate number of leaders are modern-day apostles.
To be sure, I do believe in apostles today, meaning “small a” apostles as opposed to “capital A” apostles, such as Peter and John and Paul.
And I believe there have been true apostles throughout church history. We just didn’t give them that title. (I’m thinking of leaders such as John Wesley or Hudson Taylor or William Booth.)
At the same time, I believe it’s important to recognize true fivefold anointings so each leader can fulfill his or her calling in the Lord.
If my primary calling is evangelist, I will not be the best local church pastor unless I get the help of other shepherds in our midst.
If my primary calling is prophet, I will not fit comfortably in the role of teacher.
In the same way, if I’m called to apostolic ministry—to birth new works, to be a spiritual father to other leaders, to build Jesus-centered foundations—I can feel constrained by the limited expectations of some local congregations.
So I’m thrilled to see people discover their callings and anointings, and I’m all for releasing leaders into fivefold ministry.
But here too the pendulum has swung, and too many pastors now call themselves apostles, leading to a further abuse of authority.
It’s bad enough to differ with your pastor, but you don’t dare mess with an apostle!
And it’s a short step from proclaiming yourself to be an apostle to thinking that you carry the same authority as the first twelve apostles.
That is a very serious error.
I’ve also seen what I call “apostle by acquisition,” referring to leaders taking over other churches or ministries, thus expanding their “network.”
After all, doesn’t every pastor need an apostle?
So if you’re an independent, nondenominational church, and I claim to be an apostle, perhaps you should be submitting to me (and tithing to me).
I have my sales pitch ready to go!
When I served as a leader in the Brownsville Revival, people came flocking to the services from more than 130 nations, and every week thousands of people were impacted, including hundreds of leaders.
To this day, twenty years later, I regularly meet people around the world who joyfully tell me they were transformed at the revival, many wanting me to know I prayed for them or they attended my day sessions.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and all of us were amazed that we were allowed to take part in such a sacred, world-impacting event.
One day, after teaching day sessions for leaders, a man came up to me with a big binder in his hand, the kind I used when I was a traveling salesman decades ago.
He said to me, “What you’re doing here is great, but I want to talk to you about doing something really big, touching a lot more people.”
I immediately knew what he was after and said, “So you want me to come under your apostolic network?”
When he responded in the affirmative, I politely told him thanks, but no thanks.
What in the world was he thinking?
We had no relationship whatsoever, I was exactly where God wanted me to be and serving with other amazing leaders (to whom I was accountable), and we were at the hub of a world missions movement, especially through our school.
Yet if I’d joined his group and submitted to him, I’d be part of something really big?
This is not what it means to be an apostle.
Real apostolic men will have leaders flocking to them for counsel, oversight, and encouragement because they see the heart of a genuine spiritual father.
A colleague of mine is a truly apostolic man, recognized even by his critics for the incredible gospel work he does, and in his home country he is deeply respected.
A few years ago he felt called to serve the church in another nation, spending the summer there with his wife and children.
Every year he would tell me with excitement about the souls who were getting saved and how the local church was getting involved with his mission.
But I was absolutely shocked when I visited there and saw what was going on.
To explain briefly, when he and his family stayed in that country a few months every year, he became part of one local church, and he was helping their people do outreach.
It was a fairly affluent church, and I just assumed they were backing his work.
It turns out that he and his family initially lived in one tiny room—somehow, a church member thought it would be very generous to let them live there—and the church itself was not contributing a dime to his work.
He and his wife provided the food for outreach and did all the legwork themselves.
In other words, the congregation had no idea they had a modern-day apostle in their midst, a leader of international stature, a true man of God.
He just started attending there, told the pastor he had a burden to reach the homeless and lost, and that was it.
He never announced who he was, and he never expected special treatment.
That’s why I was so shocked when I saw things with my own eyes.
The church had no idea whom they were hosting.
Once I realized this, I said to the congregation,
“Do you have any idea who this man is? Do you know he’s one of the most respected leaders in his home country? Do you know his own government honors him? Do you know he has preached to more than one million people at a time?”
After that they treated him differently,
but for him it was all the same. He came to serve, not to be served. His example certainly challenges me!
And his example reminds us that true apostles are not abusive.
The higher in the Lord you go, the less you will take advantage of others and the less you will need to announce how powerful you are.
A Checklist to Help Identify Abusive Leaders
How, then, can you determine if you are sitting under abusive leaders? You can use this as a simple checklist:
• Do they put you under pressure (even with embarrassment or threats) if you don’t unquestioningly follow their lead (or, worst of all, if you contemplate leaving)?
• Are they getting rich off your giving (especially your sacrificial giving)?
• Are they lording it over you rather than leading by example?
• Do they constantly speak about their special gifting, calling, anointing, and authority?
• Do they tell you how privileged you are to have people like them at the helm?
• Are they lone rangers, lacking accountability?
• Are they harsh, mean-spirited, short-tempered, and insulting to any whose allegiance they question?
If you answered yes to any one of these questions, you might want to pray about moving elsewhere.
If you answered yes to two of these questions, you should strongly consider leaving.
If you answered yes to three of these questions, I’d seriously urge you to make a change before you (and/or your family) get seriously hurt.
If you answered yes to all of them, by all means run for your life.
This applies to you all the more if you’re not a rebel at heart, meaning that you love godly authority and want to be a committed part of a local congregation and that you’re willing to serve and submit.
If that’s the attitude of your heart, you need not fear the threats coming your way.
Just quietly move on and submit to a shepherd who is there to strengthen the flock.
A final word to my fellow leaders:
If you find your security in the Lord and walk intimately with Him, He will announce to others, “This is My son [or daughter], with whom I am pleased. Listen to what he [or she] has to say!” (See Matthew 3:17.)
As you diligently follow Him, others will gladly follow you. (See 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Philippians 4:9.)
The Lord Himself will be your biggest backer.”