Word of Control

It was a busy day at work on Monday. When I got home and settled down, ABC’s Four Corner program was just starting and Tress and I sat down to watch it. The feature story was on a church which has “branches” all over Australia. The main one under the microscope was in Brisbane.
It was under the microscope because a number of ex members have spoken out against it. They have been members for many years. One of them was a member for 27 years. They all left because they thought the elders had way too much control over the members’ lives. They had so much control they were breaking up families – separating children from parents and preventing couples from remaining together.
That church was called the Brisbane Christian Fellowship and the main pastor (elder) is Vic Hall. It has such an innocuous name and Vic Hall sounded like your typical pastor or church elder.
Most of the ex-members who were interviewed traced the early signs of inappropriateness to when the elders started to say they had specific “word” or instructions from God. They heard things from God. Someone asked why it was that God was always speaking to Vic but had never once spoken to that member. I looked at Tress when those members raised this point and she knew what I was thinking of.
I have always had problems with church leaders or pastors who claimed they received specific word from God. How does one ever verify it? The only way to validate it would be to check with the scriptures and if you’re going to have to do that, why wouldn’t you just rely on the scriptures as the first and last instance? Why is that word required from men, except when the word of God required teaching in an expository context say? And, as the member of that Brisbane church said, why is it that God chooses to speak to the same people all the time and never to others? It is all too flaky and not verifiable for me to pay any attention.
Somehow when one is expounding on the scriptures and a message is said to have come from God from that part of the scripture, the spotlight is on God and what He has to say. However when someone claims he has a “word” from God, the spotlight tends to be more on that person as opposed to God. That person becomes a star, whether or not he or she intended it that way. I half suspect that is why that sort of exercise is carried out in the first place – ie some people centred circus atmosphere is created. Somehow God alone as conveyed through the scriptures isn’t enough. I think that is rubbish.
Unfortunately that attracts an aura and somehow creates the impression that there is more credibility. I think instances where God spoke directly to a person as opposed to via the scriptures are very rare and would be for very specific purposes. If someone constantly tells me God spoke to that person on all kinds of things but makes no reference to the scriptures, I’d be very suspicious.
Vic Hall used it to exert control over the members. By constantly asserting that he heard from God, he makes himself a very important person. Obviously this allows him to better control the lives of the members.
I believe church leaders ought to give members as much freedom as possible, so long as that freedom doesn’t involve creating or practising principles or values which are inconsistent with the teachings of the scriptures. On a personal note, I find it a little unsettling that we have chosen to exert control in terms of home group attendance. While there is wisdom in levelling things out and ensuring each group has sufficient resources, this must not be at the expense of members’ fulfilment, which must be of paramount consideration. Last Friday when we had a social night in our home, there were hints that it required elders’ approval. Personally I thought that was very odd. Members should never have to seek approval for that sort of thing – I told Tress that it was a joke and we should just meet regardless of what elders say or think.
This is at odds with my new role in church, as part of the committee of leaders. I’m not an elder though. Nevertheless being a leader will not make me stop saying what I think. Members are free to meet wherever and whenever they wish, as long as such meetings don’t involve activities which are inconsistent with the teachings of the scriptures. For example, last Friday all we did in our home was chat and caught up with each other. The 20+ people who were there consumed a grand total of 3 bottles of wine. I didn’t have to open a fourth. In fact the first bottle was opened the day before and I had had a glass from it. So that was approximately 1 drink per person – safe enough. There was also no activity to go against the scripture – there were no backstabbing, no fights, and certainly no orgies.
Maybe it was just a miscommunication. I have been in this church for over 3.5 years now and I have never sensed any elder or leader trying to control any aspect of any member’s life. The brushes with experiences of receiving “word” are also thinning out and if it is only something in the background and it doesn’t become the modus operandi, I’m not all that bothered. There are more important issues and tasks at hand. I don’t think we are anywhere near the danger of becoming a Brisbane Christian Fellowship, as portrayed in that Four Corners program.