Church scandals have rocked Tim Boxer’s faith in the past. But as new allegations emerge surrounding Bethel Church, he believes speculation is unhelpful. A resolve to deal with abuse needs to be coupled with keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, he says
Over the past ten years, many respected Christian leaders who, once known for their humble and holy life, have been discovered to not be what we thought they were. In some cases, having lied repeatedly while systematically abusing and bullying those around them.
And it’s not over yet. Like a runaway train picking up speed, it is hard to imagine a good outcome. And this heightened state of anguish, grief and terror at what might be ahead, has gripped many of us as we mourn what we once thought to be true in those we have followed.
For some of us, the leaders we once admired have been exposed as abusive. It is hard to believe - not because we want to allow abuse to continue or because we are uncaring, but because we really believed the best about those we looked up to.
My experience
I spent a year at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) in 2017 and have tracked with them from a distance ever since. As I’ve witnessed other prominent Christian leaders fall, a quiet nagging began in the back of my mind: What would I do if Bethel was ‘exposed’ for something I had no idea about? How would I make sense of God’s call for me and my family to go there, and the great price we paid for it?
At times, I have wondered – feared, even - that perhaps my faith is based on a movement more than Jesus.
This first became real for me when, in 2023, allegations surfaced against Mike Pilivachi, founder and leader of Soul Survivor festival. As victims stepped forward and an investigation corroborated the allegations I so desperately hoped weren’t true, I was heartbroken.
As a student at BSSM, I was confronted on my attitudes, actions and words on several occasions
Yet, slowly, I was able to understand that the work God did in my life at Soul Survivor was undeniable. Over a period of several months, I experienced a range of emotions: sadness, anger, grief. But I knew that I faced a challenge to keep my attention on the person of Christ.
Slowly, I found that my soul began to gravitate back to Jesus; back to my first love and what I knew about Him.
Although the situation that is currently unfolding at Bethel is very different, many of the emotions are similar. When my family and I arrived at BSSM in 2017, we were welcomed into the community. It felt like a spiritual homecoming and our experience there will shape our lives forever.
So, the new allegations against Ben Armstrong, a previously restored leader at Bethel (initially thought to have had an affair but now accused of sexual abuse) hit hard. It also comes soon after strong criticism of the senior leadership at Bethel - Bill Johnson, Dann Farrelly and Kris Vallotton - for failing to publicly expose the sexual abuse and fraudulent prophecy of itinerant minister, Shawn Bolz.
Shaking faith
As I read the letters from Bethel’s leadership on the allegations of abuse against Armstrong and Bolz, I have searched around inside myself for a shaking of faith. I have been waiting, expecting that I will ask all sorts of existential questions about whether God is real and whether the Bible can be trusted.
But it hasn’t happened yet. My soul has found itself crawling back to Christ, remembering how I was drawn to Him in my early years; how He has led me through personal failure and struggles; how He has provided when I thought it impossible; how He has guided me through disappointment.
It is easy to reduce our Christian faith to making sure that we do not show any kind of affiliation with the wrong church or minister. But the vocation of being a pious watchman is terribly unfulfilling. It is more addictive than social media and has far worse consequences. It steals your attention, as your mind swirls with arguments for and against, night and day.
At times, I have wondered – feared, even - that perhaps my faith is based on a movement more than Jesus
For those of us not directly involved, I believe Jesus is interested more in our posture in these moments of grief. What is going on in your heart? Because unless we are careful, we can grow cold and hardened not only to your brothers and sisters in Christ, but to Jesus Himself.
This is exactly what the enemy wants, because once he has destroyed a fallen leader, his family and his victims, he uses the waves of rage, grief and unforgiveness that build up over decades to slowly harden our hearts to the most precious One.
While feeling outrage at another leader’s grievous sin, we must not begin a course of our own. It happens very easily, and the enemy loves it.
A cultural revolution
In response to the allegations against Bolz and Armstrong, some have suggested that Bethel is ‘soft’ on sin due to its generous culture and value for restoration. Hearing this was most surprising to me, given my own experience.
In my eight months as a student at BSSM, I was taken aback to be confronted on my attitudes, actions and words on several occasions. From the moment of application and interview, right throughout my regular mentoring and pastoral meetings, I was tested and interrogated about my inner life. I was urged to be up front about my motivations and addictive behaviours or patterns in my life. I felt offended and prodded.
The vocation of being a pious watchman is terribly unfulfilling
My objective in saying this is not to defend Bethel, but rather to point out that in a crisis moment we must protect our most valuable commodity. We must be on heightened alert against the cess pit of accusation and hatred at the cost of our precious, child-like faith in Jesus.
Only then will we be able to seek clarity on the issue at hand.
Abuse must be dealt with. And there are systems and cultures that make it easier (or harder) for things like this to happen. All this must be reckoned with. But for most of us, who are not personally involved in this, we must resist the temptation to take our eyes off Jesus and gaze at the spectacular mess in front of us.
We must be different.
A generation that resolves to set its attention on Jesus and be impressed only by Him will be a generation that not only ushers in revival but sustains it. Revival that, in turn, brings the moral revolution that both we and He long to see.
