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The
following questions come from the book:
Recovering from Churches That Abuse,
by Ronald Enroth, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervon,
1994.
1.
Does a member’s personality generally become stronger,
happier, more confident as a result of contact with the
group?
In an abusive church, the use of guilt, fear, and
intimidation to control members is likely to produce
members who have a low self-image, who feel beaten down
by legalism, who have been taught that asserting oneself
is not spiritual. One of the first disturbing
characteristics to be reported by relatives and friends
of members of these churches is a noticeable change in
personality, usually in a negative direction.
2. Do members of the group seek to strengthen their
family commitments?
Nearly all unhealthy churches attempt to minimize the
commitments of their members to their family, especially
parents. Young people may be told that they now have a
new “spiritual” family, complete with leaders who will
“re-parent” them. Church loyalty is seen as paramount,
and family commitments are discouraged or viewed as
impediments to spiritual advancement.
3. Does the group encourage independent thinking and
the development of discernment skills?
Control-oriented leaders attempt to dictate what members
think, although the process is so spiritualized that
members usually do not realize what is going on. A
pastor or leader is viewed as God’s mouth piece, and in
varying degrees a member’s decision making and ability
to think for oneself are swallowed up by the group.
Pressure to conform and low tolerence for questioning
make it difficult to be truly discerning.
4. Does the group allow for individual differences of
belief and behaviour, particularly on issues of
secondary importance?
A legalistic emphasis on keeping rules and a focus on
the need to stay within prescribed boundaries is always
present in unhealthy spiritual envionments.
Lifestyle rigidity in such groups increase a member’s
guilt feelings and contributes to spiritual bondage.
This rigidity is often coupled with an emphasis on
beliefs that would not receive great attention in
mainstream evangelicalism.
5. Does the group encourage high moral standards both
among members and between members and non members?
In intense, legalistic churches and religious
organizations, the official, public proclamations
usually place special value on high moral standards. In
some instances, there is a double standard between those
in leadershp and those in the rank and file membership.
Abusive churches tend to have incidents of sexual
misconduct more often than most conventional churches;
leaders sometimes exhibit an obsessive interest in
matters relating to sex.
6. Does the group’s leadership invite dialogue,
advice and evaluation from outside its immediate circle?
Authoritarian pastors are usually threatened by any
outside expression of diverse opinions, whether from
inside or outside the group. When outside speakers are
given access to the pulpit, they are carefully selected
to minimize any threat to the leadership’s agenda.
Coercive pastors are fiercely independent and do not
function well in a structure of accountability. For the
sake of public relations, they may boast that they are
accountable to a board of some sort, when in actuality
the board is composed of “yes-men” who do not question
the leader’s authority.
7. Does the group allow for development in
theological beliefs?
Another hallmark of an authoritarian church is its
intolerance of any belief system different from its own.
They tend to measure and evaluate all forms of Christian
spirituality according to their own carefully prescribed
system, adopting an “us-versus-them” mentality.
8. Are group members encouraged to ask hard questions of
any kind?
A cardinal rule of abusive systems is “Don’t ask
questions, don’t make waves.” A healthy pastor welcomes
even tough questions. In an unhealthy church
disagreement with the pastor is considered to be
disloyalty and is tantamount to disobeying God.
People who repeatedly question the system are labelled
“rebellious”, “unteachable”, or “disharmonious to the
body of Christ”. Persistent questioners may face
sanctions of some kind such as being publicly ridiculed,
shunned, shamed, humiliated, or disfellowshiped.
9. Do members appreciate truth wherever it is found even
if it is outside their group?
Whether they admit it or not, abusive churches tend to
view themselves as spiritually superior to other
Christian groups. This religious elitism allows little
room for outside influences. There can be no compromise
with external sources, who, the leadership will say,
really don’t understand what is going on in the ministry
anyway.
10. Is the group honest in dealing with nonmembers,
especially as it tries to win them to the group?
Sometimes abusive groups illustrate a “split-level
religion”. There is one level for public presentation
and another for the inner circle of membership. The
former is a carefully crafted public relations effort,
the latter a reality level experienced only by the “true
believers”.
Recruitment tactics are usually intense, even if they
are not actually deceptive or fraudulent, they can be
manipulative or exploitive. Sometimes high pressure
religious groups are evasive about there ture identity:
“We really don’t have a name, we’re just Christians.”
A healthy Christian group should have no qualms about
revealing who it is and what its intentions are.
11. Does the group foster relationships and connections
with the larger society that are more than self-serving?
First impressions are not always correct. Sustained
contact with an unhealthy church, however, will usually
reveal a pattern that is consistent with the
characteristics we have identified. Members will be
requested to serve, to become involved, to sign up for a
variety of activities that, upon closer inspection,
appear to maintain the system and serve the needs of the
leadership. Abusive churches thrive on tactics that
promote dependency. Emphasizing obedience and submission
to leaders, these churches often require a level of
service that is overwhelming to members, resulting in
emotional turmoil and spiritual breakdowns.
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