The allegations against Shawn Bolz – from fake prophecies to sexual misconduct – are serious. But rather than simply mourning these apparent failures, the Church must learn three vital lessons, says Joe Warton
Like you, I’m sad and angry to see yet another so-called ‘great’ Christian leader fall from grace. Barely a week goes by without their abuse – in one form or another –coming to light.
Sam Hailes recently did the hard yards of watching the six-hour-long YouTube video from Mike Winger, exposing the alledgedly fake-prophetic activity, as well as the sexual misconduct of Shaun Bolz. Bolz was propelled to the level of global spiritual superstar by Bethel Church in Redding, California. But it turns out his ‘prophecies’ were not so much inspired by the Spirit, as they were lifted from Facebook profiles.
I don’t think I need a prophetic gift to say he won’t be the last to fall. I take no joy in saying that. But for all of us who are part of Christ’s Church (in whatever capacity), what are the lessons we need to learn? How can we scratch below the headlines and get to the root of what’s going on? And how can we build healthier church cultures so that these cases of abuse and cover-up become less and less of a thing?
Here are three things I think we should be working on.
1. Value truth over image
In so many of these cases where there’s been abuse then a cover-up by the leadership, the justification for the cover-up is often reputation management. Leaders worry about the rest of the church finding out. Will people trust us less? Will they stop giving? Will they go to the church down the road? They worry too about the reputation of the church and the reputation of the gospel in the wider world. If people find out about this, might they be even less likely to see Jesus and his Church as something worth investigating?
You can see the logic. But it’s not God’s logic. After all, the Bible itself is a permanent record of the sins and shortcomings of God’s people – especially their leaders. God doesn’t do cover-ups.
Think about the Old Testament. It never glosses over nor sugar coats the failings of leaders. Even David, Israel’s most celebrated king, has his adultery and murder displayed for all to see (2 Samuel 11). It’s the same in the New. Even after Peter had been filled with the Holy Spirit and had some great moments, Paul publicly confronted Peter in Antioch regarding his behaviour, and then told even more people about it by writing about it to the churches in Galatia (Galatians 2:11-14). And throughout Paul’s letters, he never shied away from speaking out against false and dangerous leaders, even mentioning them by name (e.g. 1 Timothy 1:18-19, 2 Timothy 2:16-18).
God is a God of truth. He’s never concerned that the truth will get in the way of the establishment of his kingdom, because his kingdom is a kingdom of truth. He is not interested in spinning the truth for marketing purposes. If leaders are bad, he will tell them, and he will do so publicly (see Ezekiel 34 and Matthew 23).
The irony is, by not facing up to reality and speaking openly about abuse and misuses of power, the credibility of the Church is undermined even more than when we hold our hands up and say, ‘Yes, this has happened, and we’re sorry, and we’re dealing with it.’
2. Value character over gifting
I get why someone like Shawn Bolz got a platform. Someone who can stand up and point at a stranger and tell them their name, their birthday, and their address, before going on to apparently give them some kind of revelation from God is pretty cool. That’s proper electricity in the air stuff.
In the case of Bolz, we now know at least part of his apparent gifting was a sham.
The Bible tells us that gifts are good and important – that they should be used and not hidden away (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 1 Timothy 4:11-17). But they must be exercised by those with good character; by those who understand that gifts are for building up of the church, not for the inflation of the gift-bearers ego, brand, or organisation. Powerful gifts in the hands of a leader lacking character are like the steering wheel of a Ferrari in the hands of a drunk 17-year-old.
That’s why the New Testament talks so much about the importance of character in general, and the character of leaders particularly (e.g. 1 Timothy 3:1-10, 1 Peter 5:1-5). Gifted leaders (and their followers) cannot excuse consistent bad behaviour, sin, or abuse. The hard work of a leader, or the impact of their ‘powerful ministry’ doesn’t excuse bad character. Those of us who lead or teach are to be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2), to be examples to God’s flock (1 Peter 5:3), and we will be judged more strictly (James 3:1). The standards of behaviour expected of those exercising public gifts are not lower, but higher.
So, here’s the call to the church: to increasingly become communities who are at least as focused on developing good character, as we are on platforming gifted leaders. We should be cultivating lives so marked by love, integrity, and humble service, that arrogance, dishonesty, and deceit stick out like a sore thumb. It will be very hard for toxic leaders to take root in that kind of soil.
3. Value community over celebrity
We might think the lure of celebrity is something new. Thanks to huge auditoriums, advances in technology, and the ubiquity of social media, it’s certainly much easier to create and market Christian celebrities now than it ever has been. But the issue is as old as the Bible itself.
It’s clear from his correspondence with the Christians in Corinth, that Paul was having to fight the Corinthians’ desire to turn him into a celebrity. They wanted to pay him so that he didn’t have to do the unglamorous work of a manual job. Paul resisted these efforts. And so did Jesus.
Celebrity is fun, glamorous, sexy. Everyone in a church or ministry with a flashy leader can bask in the glow and share in the glory. In a dark way, everyone wins. It’s a form of what psychologist might call ‘co-dependency’.
The invitation of the Bible though isn’t to raise up celebrities. Rather, God wants to advance his kingdom through healthy and loving communities. The role of the leader is primarily to help guide, support, and enrich this community (Ephesians 4:11-16) – not be the controller of that community, nor the central focus of it.
While celebrities can certainly draw a crowd and hold our gaze, they create a complete mismatch of power. This mismatch is then what makes it so hard for people to speak up when they see or experience something wrong. And once a celebrity has solidified their place, it’s easy for other leaders to rally around that leader, protect them, and shut down the brave people who come forward.
Any Christian leader – whatever their gifting – is still part of the body. They are not the head; Jesus has already claimed that position! We must not allow anyone, no matter how charismatic, how gifted, how ‘anointed’, to be to be elevated above or become disconnected from local Christian community, and the accountability that comes along with it. The model of leadership the New Testament consistently portrays is a plurality of leaders, where the leaders serve alongside the church community.
