Pillars are Just Crutches

I talked about leaders being accountable for the people they disciple before just as the Mike Guglielmucci story was breaking and so as time has past and the leaders have been given there time to speak it’s become clear that what is happening with Mike is the same thing that continues to happen in Christendom, leaders are not being accountable for what their disciples say and do.
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There is nothing that will destroy a man more quietly than shame.

There is nothing that a man will avoid more than shame.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the source of Mike Guglielmucci’s fall.  It’s an all too common threat, especially since the internet, that has deceived many young Christians.  What is the deception? Just one look.

What young men and women don’t understand is that once is never enough, and the enemy of our souls knows and understands this.  And in a Christian culture where there is a lot of shame attached to sexual sin, and especially pornography, that shame is more of a stumbling block to healing than the actual sin itself.

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Not suprising to most people, when I did my first blog on Guglielmucci my blog hits went through the roof.  I would imagine that it was that way across the board.

People were searching for him in droves.  But why?

It’s a fair question.  Why look up Gugleilmucci in blogs when all the information is available through the news? There are not many reasons to look him up in the blogosphere: opinions and unconfirmed gossip are about it!  That’s good and all but I wonder sometimes if people have stopped thinking for themselves, if they’ve stopped forming their own opinion, or maybe they just think that mr. X who writes for blog X has a better opinion of things than they do.  All of which are sad thoughts.

In a world where it’s easy to get an answer for anything, have people started trusting the web for answers on everything?  I kind of hope they all just like to gossip … as bad as it is, I think it’s the better option.

(i don’t think any of my posts contain ‘gossip’ …)

There is something lacking in the leadership of the charismatic church today.  Something that is fundamental to the Christian walk.  It’s been evident as Todd Bentley’s story unravels and it looks the same way for Mike Guglielmucci, that this thing is absent within charismatic Christian leadership today. However, a lot of church leaders will tell you that to live a proper Christian life without this one thing is next to impossible.

It is Accountability.

There is a story I read today that I think sums up what I want to say.  So I’m going to tell it, then I’m going to quote John Arnott who commissioned Todd Bentley in his ministry.  The difference is staggering!

The story comes out of NASCAR.  Joe Gibbs (who is a Christian) Racing was asked by NASCAR to lower their horsepower so as to even the game (Gibbs had one over 1/2 the games that season!).  And unknown to Gibbs the mechanics and technicians, rightfully angry at NASCARS decision, tried to cheat the system and ended up getting caught.  Gibbs did not blame his mechanics or engineers, he took on the blame for himself.  He said that the incident “goes against everything we stand for as an organization.” He added that “we will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us.”

A few months back John Arnott along with others went down to Florida to lay their hands on and commission Todd Bentley.  Bentley would go on stage and speak his mind, talk about angels and praise heretics of the past.  Arnott and the others were nowhere to be seen, when, seemingly out of the blue, Todd filed for separation from his wife after getting emotionally attached to another woman.

John’s response to what happened: was “Had any of us known what was just ahead, perhaps we would have been able to intervene before things went into crisis … I wanted to be available to Todd if he needed advice. I had no agenda other than to see what was happening in Lakeland continue and to see Todd nurture this revival successfully.  I wish I had known that he was struggling in his marriage, but unfortunately, I did not.”

Do you see the difference?  John thinks that because it didn’t happen to him he is clear of the event and thinks he has no connection.  However, he commissioned Todd as a leader telling the people around that this guy is a faithful follower of Jesus.

But Gibbs understood that he is accountable for the actions of his crew (of the people he commissions to work) even if he doesn’t know that those actions are taking place!

One response is godly, the other is not.  One asks for forgiveness the other raises his hands and says, “don’t look at me!”

The charismatic leaders must stand and be accountable for who they allow to speak from the front, what that person says and does.  Until then the celebrity pastor will continue to live until no one takes Christianity seriously.

There hasn’t been such a bizarre, heart-wrenching and disappointing fall within Christendom quite like Mike Guglielmucci’s in recent memory.  We’ve seen the standard falls, the crooked money deals and the hidden mistresses, but never something like this.  There’s this feeling that innocence was lost.

The recent Todd Bentley case has served as a good reference point, because people were disappointed by it but most didn’t seem hurt by it.  It’s different this time, it’s personal.  In fact, I would say to a lot of people who didn’t know Mike would consider the offense deeply personal.  People worried, prayed, and supported someone that they did not know only to find out that it was a con.

I’ve read some blogs in which the individual expresses their departure from the faith.  I’ve read through the whole range of emotions: angry, hurt, disappointed, cynical, happy … and even more.

There is no proper emotional response.  How you feel is how you feel.  It’s alright to be angry or hurt.  It’s alright to let a little bit of that naive Christian inside of you go and being a little more skeptical next time around.

Some would say that this just goes to prove what many people already know: Christianity is a scam.  This really doesn’t prove anything however.  Even if every Christian is a scam artist this saying is still not true.  Christianity is based on Jesus Christ.  His teachings, His Death, His Resurrection.  Our actions (My actions – thank God) do not effect it’s (actual) validity.  But it still effects people’s perception of it.

What can we do?

Pray.  For him, for the people who were hurt the most, for those who now think Christianity is a scam, for good to come from it.

Forgive.  This is a process.  It’s a hard, deliberate and continuous act but the alternative, bitterness, will literally make your Christian faith useless.

Talk.  Talk about it.  Talk to people who are on the fence about Christianity, talk to those hurting, just talk about it.

How can we avoid this?

Truthfully, we can’t.  My only recommendation would be to stop putting leaders on pedistals and thinking too highly of them, they are fallen and hurting just like you, just like me.

For those wondering why someone would do something like this … I think this may have some answers

After there was much attention and criticism placed on Todd Bentley for proclaiming healings and resurrections while supplying not a shred of evidence and then leaving his wife, Australian preacher/worship leader Mike Guglielmucci claimed he had terminal cancer and wrote a worship song about it entitled ‘Healer’ which Planetshaker and Hillsongs recorded.  Videos of Mike talking about his experience with cancer were even created.

Mike never had cancer though.  It was discovered recently that he had been living a lie for 2 whole years leaving even his wife in the dark about the con.  I can’t imagine what someone would hope to accomplish by doing something like this.

No doubt thousands will be affected by this deception.  I just pray that something good comes out of it and that people are not pushed deeper into cynicism about God, the church and Christians.

You can read about it more, here, here, and, here

I came across some very good advice on my travels through the blogosphere.  Some of it included being angry, realizing that it’s a single persons sin not Christianity’s sin or your sin, and also praying that the damage caused by this tragedy will be minimal and maybe that some good will come out of it.

One particularly good quote said,

“The difference is that pastors are required to live impeccable (not perfect) lives so that Christ is honoured & people are shepherded securely.  This is an entirely appropriate demand.”

It’s very very true!  And it’s good to, finally, see the words “pastors are required to live impeccable … lives” and it’s not an excuse!  I would add that there needs to be a fear of God about the position of ‘pastor’, all to often it’s taken for granted, and now just by pastors but by congregations as well.

Lastly, as an observation, I find it amusingly ironic that these types of things usually happen in a charismatic church setting (see Todd Bentley, Jimmy Swag, Jim Bakker), the type that seem to relish in the fact that they use the gifts.  *cough* discernment *cough*  What is it good for?  As it turns out, absolutely nothing.

I should stick to the mainline churches … they may reject some of the teachings of Jesus, but at least they’re honest about it.

For more on the subject I also wrote a here