Christians Bullying Christians.

 So many Christians are bullied by other Christians. 

I was once the victim of bullying. Sadly, victims often also become bullies. As a child I bullied my younger brothers and am sorry to say I became a harsh controlling step-father. I am now friends with my brothers and step-sons.

Jesus spoke very harsh words against the sin of Christian bullying.

But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. Matthew 24:48-49 (NIV)

There are also religious bullies who don't get drunk or indulge in sins of the flesh but is Jesus suggesting that bullying is just as bad as getting drunk and indulging the flesh? or worse?

Religious legalism often leads to bullying.

What is legalism? It is an attempt to prevent or correct sin using human rules and punishments.

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" Matthew 15:7-9 (NIV)

Jesus spoke more strongly against bullying and legalism than any other sin.  

I am not against pastors. There are wonderful pastors and I know some as friends. Pastors too can be victims of bullying. I have seen this several times and it is horrible.

The Apostle Paul was also very strong in condemning bullying. In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers. Why? Not for sexual sin. That was in his first letter.
He rebukes them for submitting unconditionally to bullying preachers.

You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:19-20 (NIV)

Any pastor or preacher who demands unconditional and total submission is a false shepherd.

If a pastor responds to criticism or disagreement with threats or intimidation, why not just leave?

If a leader imposes his will on people to the point that his word is law, he is usurping the lordship of Jesus.

There are many Christians who feel uneasy, resentful or secretly angry towards over confident, controlling leaders but they believe they must not resist because that would be the sin of rebellion.
This is a false understanding of scripture.

When King Saul tried to kill David, David fled for his life.

 If you are bullied in church, you are entitled to leave the church. It may even be your duty to leave.

You cannot serve two masters. 

If you submit to a bully, you are submitting to a false spirit, because the Spirit of Jesus is never cruel, but kind and loving.

Supposing you are imprisoned by religious parents or a ruthlessly controlling husband. If you leave the church, you could become homeless or lose your children.  

You can be like Joseph in prison who cultivated a secret relationship with God.  

He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3 (NIV)

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV)

It is good if you can talk back to bullies and it is not a sin but sometimes a soft answer is better.

In extreme cases, the strongest answer is a stubborn, determined silence, especially if you are expected to agree, express submission or apologise when you believe you are not in the wrong.

When Jesus was on trial for his life, He answered many aggressive questions and accusations with silence. His silence was the strongest answer.

 

Spiritual Abuse. The Way Out.

There are Christians who are seriously ill or under threat. They pray. They quote God's promises from the Bible. And yet they cannot get rid of the illness, or they remain desperate and often panic.

I understand this from my own experience. I am now 75 years old, but as a young man I was a newly converted Christian. I saw a therapist every week and then I became a believing Christian.

My first church was extreme and fanatical.
I experienced the presence of God and His sweet love, but you learnt in church that you should fast repeatedly and be afraid of God's judgement.

The pastors were like little gods, like prophets sitting on a judgement seat. You had to obey, obey, obey.

I was no longer allowed to speak to the therapist every week, but to the pastor.

I couldn't stand the stress.

One day I snapped, I angrily told the pastor I didn’t want to be a Christian. The pastor excommunicated me. He ordered me not to attend any other church. I was supposedly damned until I might repent one day.

That was spiritual abuse. I was devastated.

My parents came to my rescue. I spent a whole year in a psychiatric hospital.

Then I realised that hundreds of other Christians had been excommunicated from that sect. The scales fell from my eyes. I was free to be a normal Christian, no longer condemned.

But the way back to normal life was not so easy.

I had to learn to believe in the God of love and grace. I had to learn to trust God for my healing.

 I had to learn to think for myself instead of remaining a dependent disciple always seeking advice from a pastor.

Maybe you are a Christian, but you are a victim of brainwashing and abuse. If you have experienced this, you are traumatised, and perhaps often physically ill.

Please don't give up. I have learnt to use God's promises in the Bible as a shield and umbrella, and also as a weapon.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Jn 10:10 NRSV

I read in the Bible that there is a devil. He also infiltrates pious churches. You must learn to resist the devil by believing in God's goodness and kindness.

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom 5:1 NRSV 

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Co 5:17 NRSV

I have learnt to overcome abuse and trauma. Now, by God's grace, I can help others find their way out.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Cor 1:3–4 NIV

You too can walk this path. God has wonderful plans for your life.

THE WAY TO FREEDOM

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV) 

I cannot encourage you to believe by myself but only because the Spirit of Jesus is with me. 

I am not filled with the Holy Spirit because I was born different but because someone told me about Jesus and showed me that Jesus wanted to fill me with His Holy Spirit. He loves you just as much and He wants to fill you with His Holy Spirit too.

'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Acts 2:17 (NKJV) 

After Jesus died He returned from the grave and taught His disciples for 40 days. Then He returned to heaven and some days later He poured out the Spirit of God on all believers, all His followers, ALL FLESH. 

Do you believe in Jesus? Do you trust in the Son of God? Are you are a follower of Jesus Christ? You need no other qualification to be filled with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit from Heaven as the first believers were. 

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17 (NKJV) 

Are you a son or daughter of a human mother and father? If you are, and if you have decided to follow Jesus, you too can see visions and receive revelations from heaven as you sleep. You too can receive wonderful encouraging messages from God to encourage you and to share with others.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; Isaiah 61:1 (ESV) 

God wants to fill you with His Spirit not only to bless you but to equip and empower you to bless others, to make the truth of God real to them as it is to you.

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted... 

If you are a believer, you must not distance yourselves from people around you who are broken and distressed. The Holy Spirit is THE COMFORTER and He wants to comfort you and enable you to comfort others.

...to proclaim liberty to the captives.. 

People are held captive by so many things, by shame and disappointment, by fear and anger, by trauma they cannot forget, by resentment because they have been betrayed and savagely abused. People have been broken by various forms of bullying and deceptions and then victims become abusers.

The punishment due to human cruelty and perversion is more than we can bear but God sent His only Son to die on the cross, to suffer the punishment we deserved, to take our place. Jesus suffered and died as a tormented prisoner so we could go free.

... and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

We cannot find eternal freedom by our own efforts but Jesus made a way by His suffering for us.

For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! 2 Corinthians 5:21 (TLB)