"Spiritual abuse is the mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment” (from The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by Johnson & VanVonderen). Spiritual abuse can also include forcing people to live up to rigid rules and contributes to a belief that is based on legalism or a belief that is legalistic in practice. No matter how much the individual does or how hard they try it is never good enough leaving them feel unworthy spiritually……Spiritual abuse can also occur when spirituality is used to make others live up to a “spiritual standard.” This promotes external “spiritual performance,” also without regard to an individual’s actual well-being, or is used as a means of “proving” a person’s spirituality.” Spiritually abusive religious systems are sometimes described as legalistic, mind controlling,religiously addictive, and authoritarian. Spiritual abuse is the manipulation and exploitation of others by the misuse of spiritual privilege and power.
When a pastor tells his congregation that those who disobey his authority are in danger of God's wrath and that they will be punished by God, you can be sure that this pastor is a controlling person who is operating in a spirit of control. In an unhealthy church, the pastor actually begins to take the place of Jesus in people's lives. If you find yourself striving to gain the acceptance of church leaders, if you find yourself working hard to receive the blessings of God, or if your church constantly requires more and more of your time with no end in sight - and your church and its leaders give you little encouragement along the way - then you may want to re-examine your church to see if it really is a healthy church.
In many spiritually abusive churches - even in some conservative churches that claim to be theologically sound and theologically orthodox - spiritually abusive pastors may preach and teach their own personal opinions. Spiritually abusive pastors may also twist Scripture so they can target, criticize and attack "disobedient, rebellious church members."
90% to 95% of the spiritually abusive pastor's sermon may be Biblical (sometimes even 99% of a spiritually abusive pastor's sermon is Biblical), but the spiritually abusive pastor adds his own personal comments, usually in a sarcastic, critical tone of voice. In his attempt to target, criticize and attack disobedient, rebellious church members, the spiritually abusive pastor may actually discourage private, individual Bible reading by saying something like - "Some people listen to the Bible (audio Bibles) a lot and some people actually memorize the Bible. But their lives are not Biblical"
If a spiritually abusive pastor thinks that one of the church members is a disobedient and rebellious church member who rebels against and opposes the pastor's God-given authority, the spiritually abusive pastor will target, criticize and attack the disobedient, rebellious church member or church members. The spiritually abusive pastor is judgmental, and the spiritually abusive pastor self-righteously ASSUMES that the church member has hidden sin in his life that he is stubbornly refusing to repent of.
When a pastor tells his congregation that those who disobey his authority are in danger of God's wrath and that they will be punished by God, you can be sure that this pastor is a controlling person who is operating in a spirit of control. In an unhealthy church, the pastor actually begins to take the place of Jesus in people's lives. If you find yourself striving to gain the acceptance of church leaders, if you find yourself working hard to receive the blessings of God, or if your church constantly requires more and more of your time with no end in sight - and your church and its leaders give you little encouragement along the way - then you may want to re-examine your church to see if it really is a healthy church.
In many spiritually abusive churches - even in some conservative churches that claim to be theologically sound and theologically orthodox - spiritually abusive pastors may preach and teach their own personal opinions. Spiritually abusive pastors may also twist Scripture so they can target, criticize and attack "disobedient, rebellious church members."
90% to 95% of the spiritually abusive pastor's sermon may be Biblical (sometimes even 99% of a spiritually abusive pastor's sermon is Biblical), but the spiritually abusive pastor adds his own personal comments, usually in a sarcastic, critical tone of voice. In his attempt to target, criticize and attack disobedient, rebellious church members, the spiritually abusive pastor may actually discourage private, individual Bible reading by saying something like - "Some people listen to the Bible (audio Bibles) a lot and some people actually memorize the Bible. But their lives are not Biblical"
If a spiritually abusive pastor thinks that one of the church members is a disobedient and rebellious church member who rebels against and opposes the pastor's God-given authority, the spiritually abusive pastor will target, criticize and attack the disobedient, rebellious church member or church members. The spiritually abusive pastor is judgmental, and the spiritually abusive pastor self-righteously ASSUMES that the church member has hidden sin in his life that he is stubbornly refusing to repent of.
I answered 12 questions about the health of my church here. If you answered “yes” to three or more, your church is showing signs of being unhealthy. If you answered “yes” to six or more, your church is very unhealthy. I would say that I scored between a 5 and a 6, so my church definitely is an UNHEALTHY CHURCH and it may even be A VERY UNHEALTHY CHURCH. The characteristics in red really match my church situation. Answer the Harmful Church Group questions.
1. Does your church tightly control the flow of information within its ranks?
2. Does your spiritual leader use public shaming as a method to gain the compliance of followers?
3. Is your spiritual leader intolerant of questions or critical inquiry?
4. Is your spiritual leader the exclusive means of knowing “truth” or receiving validation?
10. Do the goals of your spiritual leader seem to supercede any personal goals or individual interests?11. Do you fear being rebuked, shunned, or ignored for expressing a different opinion?
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