On Abusive Pastors

For a variety of reasons, this topic has been on my mind lately, and I wanted to highlight a recent article by Cameron Buettel at Grace to You. 

"Throughout the history of the church, God has set aside men to faithfully preach the Word, care for spiritual needs, build up the Body of Christ, and protect it from the influence of false teachers and their heresies—in essence, God has called them to shepherd His sheep. But recent decades have seen the rise of church leaders who see themselves, not as servants and protectors of the flock, but as visionaries whose flocks exist to support them and their visions.

Whenever pride and self-will become confused with spiritual reasoning, you will have an abusive pastor, and recognizing such a pastor is important for the church today. Here are three main indicators by which 3rd John says you will recognize them (cf. comments regarding Diotrophes in 3 John):

Answering a Crisis of Authority

Many years ago I started blogging and writing on matters that were important to me and the church where I was pastoring. I was among a group of young fundamentalists that were pejoratively labeled, "Neo Fundamentalists" by the most conservative wing of evangelical Christianity, so my blog became "NeoFundamentalist" and I used to go by the screen name "NeoFundy."

Among fundamentalism (the most conservative side of Evangelicalism), the rise of the internet and blogging proved to be a serious challenge to the status quo. During the early 2000's, one blog / forum ("Sharper Iron") became the fast moving hub for those who wanted to think through and challenge the standard narrative of why young fundamentalists were abandoning their separatist roots. Since that time, it has slowed down and become more of a news and views forum.

Blogging during that time initiated several friendships that happily remain to this day. Those friendships were forged in the shared belief that something had to change in our circle of churches, ministries, and conservative evangelicalism as a whole. We came together as co-belligerents in a conversation that still reverberates today. However, critique and analysis cannot sustain a movement, and while blogging served a useful purpose in highlighting the problems, it did not offer much in the way of constructive solutions.