A Minor Issue, or a Gathering Storm?

At a recent men’s conference, one of the speakers, a well-known figure in the Christian world, was asked to step down due to a controversial viewpoint he expressed during his message regarding an entertainment act that opened the conference. This decision has sparked debate and raised questions about where we draw the line between church as entertainment and adherence to biblical principles.  There seems to be a lot of controversy and discord surrounding the various personalities involved in these recent events within the evangelical community. As we navigate through this challenging situation, let us seek understanding, unity, and wisdom in our response.

The James River mega-church in Springfield, Missouri, recently hosted a “Stronger Man” conference featuring different entertainment acts, including a bare-chested sword-swallowing act with an alleged background of working as a stripper in LA. The following speaker was Mark Driscoll, the former pastor of the now-defunct Mars Hill mega-church in Seattle, Washington. He took issue with the act, and the conference host, John Lindell, sat him down. Lindell allegedly went on to publically call for Driscoll to repent for being out of order in calling out the sword swallower and the decision to have him open the conference. All of this came on the heels of an announcement by the leadership of the soon-to-be-defunct and very influential IHOP-KC movement led by the now-disgraced Mike Bickle.

What is going on? What should our response be as onlookers? 

I was on holiday in Florida when I became aware of all this. I heard the Father say this specifically to the religious leaders, ordained ministers, and pastors in Springfield, Missouri. Still, there is an application to the body of Christ at large: Let your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth.

A Familiar Repeating Pattern

Take on the cloak of humility in a time of controversy, for there is a very familiar and often repeated pattern that could presage continuing problems and perhaps public situations in the James River dynasty. It has been said that “things happen in threes.” That’s just superstition, I’m sure, but some patterns can be identified if you live long enough and keep your eyes open. For instance:

Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, called for the disciplining of a well-known pastor of a rival church in the New Orleans area due to sexual indiscretions that had taken place allegedly decades before. Shortly after that, Swaggart was exposed, and his massive evangelistic organization cratered. Swaggart had also described the Jim Bakker ministry PTL as a “cancer in the body of Christ that needed to be removed.” As a young pastor in central Louisiana, I heard that statement, and I thought that Swaggart would experience a breakdown and his ministry would be disgraced. That’s how it came about.

In the Mike Bickle situation, a prophet named Paul Cain (deceased) was very influential in the 80s and 90s in Kansas City and with the Vineyard Movement led by John Wimber. Bickle was part of a group of leaders in the ad hoc prophetic movement that exposed Cain and renounced him as an alcoholic and homosexual. At the time, the following verse came to me:

[Pro 27:19 KJV] 19 As in water face [answereth] to face, so the heart of man to man.

In other words, what is often seen in the lives of others is reflected in the observers’ lives. When we rail against them, we activate the law of reciprocity and set ourselves up for destruction because, most of the time, our lives are not without vulnerabilities that would expose us to difficulties, public and otherwise. That is an evangelical fact and that of other religious groups. In my lifetime, because I grew up in ministry culture, I’ve had access to back-channel communications that reveal things happening behind the scenes in different ministries. (Yes, I’m implying that there are times that my perspective is more informed than those who haven’t had the unique vantage point I grew up with).

I was deeply moved and cautioned when I saw these types of things happen, not just for those authentically in the wrong perpetrators but even more so in the lives and ministries of those taking on the role of correction, exposure, and rebuke.

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Fall

This situation with Mark Driscoll and James River feels in my spirit just like that. The other shoe may soon fall, and if so, Springfield, Missouri, will be unenviably ground zero for a season of scandal and exposure that often and inevitably happens when we ostensibly stand up for “right” without fact-checking our own situation and the law of reciprocity that sets us up for difficulty in a similar vein.

I would be happier to be proven inaccurate and wrong, but then God reminded me of Passover. I don’t follow the dates, but the Passover time passed last weekend. I heard the Lord say, “I will pass over the city of Springfield, Missouri.” What does that mean? Pharoah, who refused to let the people go and whose leadership style is very similar to the character of interpersonal and professional relationships and stances between religious leaders, could be a harbinger of what’s coming to Springfield and the prophetic movement and the body of Christ in general. The leaders at ground zero of such scandals on the correction side often go down in flames for their own previously unknown situations. What is the word of the Lord?

Cover yourself with the cloak of humility.

Let your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth.

Be reminded that God never required you to stand in judgment of anyone.

Does that mean having sword-swallowing acts with questionable backgrounds in church ministry is ok? I have great reservations about the evolution of “Church as Entertainment” in our day. That’s another conversation – but I’ve often been approached by people asking, “What do you think about (and then mention the latest scandal in the body of Christ).” I usually quote the following statement by David the Psalmist:

[Psa 131:1 KJV]  LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or things too high for me.

Just because I may have an opinion doesn’t mean I should express it. In Matthew 7:1, Jesus said, “Judge not that you be not judged…” In the original language, the word “judge” means to “have or to hand down an opinion.” He goes on to address such a situation by recommending this follow-up:

[Mat 7:5 KJV] 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

The word hypocrite is a word in Jesus’ day that wasn’t a pejorative at first blush but simply a word for “actor.” In today’s “Church as Entertainment” climate, being an actor is often commensurate with being a leader or at least an influencer. As such, we usually feel obligated to speak up ostensibly for the greater good, but there can be fall out. Men and women often say things, but there is a verse that brings the fear of God to me:

“And the Lord heard it…” (Num. 11:1; Num. 12:2).

Do We Keep on Smiling and Say Nothing?

Does this mean you put out your eyes and ignore what you see happening around you? Not necessarily. Since all this recent scandal has surfaced, you hear and see many on social media and otherwise speaking of God’s judgment on such things. Let me suggest to you that you couldn’t be more wrong. Is it not true and theologically accurate that God poured out ALL of His judgment on Jesus on the Cross? Take a moment to read the following:

[Isa 53:1-12 KJV] 1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…

Where Goes the Wrath of God?

If God poured out all His judgments upon Jesus on the Cross (at least for the duration of what some call the “age of grace” or the “church age” then what part of God’s wrath was reserved to punish those exposed in scandal and beyond that those involved in unrepentant sin? It’s not about judgment; it’s about consequences. Just because God made Jesus an offering for sin does not mean He suspended the law of sowing and reaping (reciprocity). Men live secret lives and get exposed because of the ubiquitous nature of the law of reciprocity. Men who take it upon themselves to rise up as self-appointed judges invoke a sevenfold consequence on such things under their purviews. Hence, sin gets exposed, and those who feel “in the right” also go down. The situation with Mike Bickle and Paul Cain may very well be one of the clearest examples of this. Why? Because they are evil? No. They are mere men with very responsible positions of leadership who make large targets for the enemy to attack. Give them a break.

But aren’t they in the wrong? Don’t we (particularly leaders) have a right to defend and a responsibility to protect the flock? That is the pretext we often use, and the litany of failure, scandal, and upheaval continues. What is the problem? We can always go back to the word of God:

[Pro 13:10 KJV] 10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised [is] wisdom.

Be Part of the Solution, Not Part of the Problem

Read that again, perhaps. Contention only comes from pride. I was in a big argument with a fellow pastor when my prophet mentor friend, Ira Milligan, brought this verse to my attention. Notice it doesn’t say “unless you are in the right!” No, it simply states that if you are in contention, you are in pride, and we know that pride leads to a fall. Those involved, particularly in a public situation, have difficulty backing down because their reputation is at stake. Those of us on the sidelines, however, can BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION and NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM by taking a position of humility and restrain because, brothers and sisters, THE ANGEL IS PASSING OVER this city, this situation, and as Solomon says “in a multitude of words there wanteth not sin.” (Prov. 10:19).

Let your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth.

So, what is God saying? A group of nationally known prophets held a conference in Branson, Missouri, a few years ago, and one of the local organizers asked what these nationally known prophets would give as a word from the Lord for Branson. The answer was one word: “Duck!” I didn’t like that when I heard it because, on its face, it seemed dismissive; however, not long after that, a tornado touched down on the Branson “strip” and tracked across the most commercially dense part of the city, bringing destruction that it took quite some time for the city to recover from. What does the word “duck” imply? In scripture, the word humility means to “go low.” Why? The river Jordan represents a transition from the wilderness season to the promised land. The name “Jordan” means “The going down place.”

Take On You the Cloak of Humility

While the Israelites crossed the wilderness, there were many scandals and leadership dust-ups. Most of those leaders (except two) never made it to the promised land. Because you have to “go low” if you want to traverse the “going down” place into your promised land. What is God saying?

This feels like that.

Judge not.

Choose not to have an opinion.

When the angel passed over Egypt, he looked for the blood on the doorpost. The lamb’s blood represented the redemptive blood of Christ, and the people in those homes were those who humbled themselves to go through God’s anointed process. They weren’t organizing a ministry takeover or a campaign to address scandals they thought they were authorized to address.

The angel is passing over our city and our land.

Let your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth.

Cover yourselves with the cloak of humility.

Could I be wrong? Not only could I be mistaken, but I have proven in my life and ministry that I can be VERY WRONG. Prophets, no matter how anointed see through a glass darkly. They see in part and know in part. Those who suggest otherwise are often operating in the psychic realm. God didn’t call me to do what I do because I’m right all the time but because He has anointed me and given me an assignment. Most of what I do (Father’s Heart Ministry) is global in nature, but there is a local component, and for now, at this juncture, that means Springfield, Missouri. However, Mark Driscoll, John Lindell, and James River mega-church cast a very long shadow of influence.

Pray for them.

Humble yourself.

Choose not to have an opinion.

Let your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth.

Believe God to bring adjustment to His church to bring us out of this decades-long season of embarrassment and disparagement the American church particularly has brought upon the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

As we continue in this time of introspection and humility, let us also consider the mandate of unity. The body of Christ is made up of many members, each with their own unique gifts and callings. Instead of tearing each other down with criticism and judgment, let us come together in unity to build up the church and advance the kingdom of God.

Another consideration is forgiveness. In order to move forward and experience true revival, we must be willing to forgive those who have fallen short in our minds and let go of past offenses. Just as Christ forgave us, we are called to extend grace and forgiveness to others, even those who may have wronged us in the past. The heart of restoration is crucial in this time of reflection. Just as God restored the people of Israel time and time again, He is able to bring restoration and healing to His church. Let us believe in a season of restoration and renewal, where broken relationships are healed and unity is restored among believers. Let us heed the call to humility, unity, forgiveness, and restoration as we navigate the challenges facing the church today. May we humble ourselves before God, come together in unity, extend forgiveness to one another, and believe for a season of restoration and renewal in the body of Christ. Let us allow the angel to pass over our cities and land, bringing a fresh outpouring of God’s grace and mercy. Only by walking in humility and unity can we truly experience the fullness of God’s blessings and see His kingdom advance on earth as it is in heaven. Let us choose not to have an opinion, but instead seek God’s will and trust in His perfect plan for His church. May we always remember that the redemptive blood of Christ covers us, bringing forgiveness, restoration, and unity to all who believe.