If you haven’t yet watched Mike Winger’s video about the Shawn Bolz abuses, I highly recommend that you do that. Take heed: it’s a 6-hour video, but I truly believe every Christian should watch it, especially if you’ve ever been a part of the charismatic church.

I’m not charismatic anymore. I’m not sure I’d say I ever was, but for about a decade of my life, I was charismatic-adjacent, I suppose. I went to a charismatic church, and I worked for a charismatic television network. I was introduced to the world of speaking in tongues and laying of hands; of miracles and “words from God.” I received a crash course in “waiting for the Spirit to fill the room” and “pressing into His presence.” All of these buzzwords fascinated me. It felt powerful. It felt next level, like I was tapping into Christianity 2.0.

It felt next level, like I was tapping into Christianity 2.0.

This is not an article to disparage the charismatic church. My time under that influence shaped me in many ways, and I believe that many of the tenets of that particular sect of our faith are good. It can be easy to side-step the Holy Spirit out of fear of being weird. It’s easy for us as humans to fall into rote religion instead of authentic faith. We must keep ourselves aware of our tendencies at all times. I am persuaded that many of the practices of the charismatic church are borne out of a love for staying true to Christ and steering clear of dogma and rigid religiosity. At its heart, that is a good thing.

But there are many practices in those circles that have been abused and misused. And many of those things have permeated far beyond the charismatic, Word of Faith, and NAR circles.

Evangelicalism and Revival Culture

In Mike’s video, he speaks often of the Revival Culture in churches like Bethel. It’s a mindset among spirit-filled Christians where they are in constant search of God doing the “next thing.” Higher levels of faith, higher levels of blessing, higher levels of spirituality, and, of course, higher levels of prosperity. This mindset, on its face, seems good. Why wouldn’t you want those things? If you love Jesus, shouldn’t you want more of Him?

Yes, of course you should.

But what’s said and what happens in practice are two very different things. Revival Culture breeds the silencing of victims. If God is moving, we can’t highlight the things that are going wrong. If we want people to believe in revival, we can’t have wolves among us. Silence becomes the language of this atmosphere. Sins are kept hidden in the name of “protecting the ministry.” When sins are kept hidden, particularly when pastors and leaders are the perpetrators, people get hurt. Badly. Deconstruction runs rampant. People leave in droves. I call it the spiritual conveyor belt. In these megaministries, it’s easy to get people to come in the door. Coffee houses, slamming guitars, great merch, cool vibes, and self-help sermons are a magic recipe for rapid growth. The conveyor belt brings in the sheep by the droves.

Revival Culture breeds the silencing of victims.

But in these cultures, no one mentions that the conveyor belt is spitting people out the back door just as rapidly. Only, instead of being wide-eyed and excited to be there, now they’re wounded, broken, bleeding, and weary. They’re questioning God. They’re certainly questioning their faith. They’re wondering what they did wrong because they’ve been gaslit incessantly to believe that if they have a problem, it’s their own heart to blame.

All of this, in the name of revival and “going deeper.”

It’s Not Just Charismatics

This kind of environment is not exclusive to the charismatics, let me assure you. I’ve experienced it far too often. In Bible Churches, in Baptist Churches, in Nondenominational Churches, and more. In large churches, in small churches, in wealthy churches and in churches barely getting by. Anywhere that the institution is prioritized over the people, a revival culture springs forward, pinned on the notion that what we’re doing is more important than who we’re doing it to or for. The Institution™ becomes the Thing that must be protected at all costs.

I’ve written about this before. In many of my previous articles, I’ve explored how the Institution has become the priority in too many churches. Money, fear of losing people, and the fear of damaging the ministry are the driving forces behind most decisions. We’ve forgotten that church is supposed to be about worshipping the Creator with His people. Period. The end. The programs don’t matter. The building is secondary. The size is irrelevant. The music style is a preference. Revival is up to God, and we can’t force it. Worship is what is supposed to happen in the Holy Place. And we’re called to gather as His people to do that together.

Signs That the Institution is More Important Than the People It Serves

If you see more of your church logo than you do of the cross, there’s a problem.

If you’re taught to care more about the “core values” at your church than the Word of God, there’s a problem.

If you know what’s expected of you culturally, but don’t know what’s expected of you Biblically, there’s a problem.

If you’re more obsessed with getting “a word” than reading The Word, there’s a problem.

If you think getting the chills is a sign of the Holy Spirit in the room, there’s a problem.

If you think emotions are a sign that you’re deeply spiritual, there’s a problem.

If speaking up about abuse will lead to losing a leadership position, there’s a huge problem.

If asking difficult questions is dismissed, frowned upon, or downright criticized, there’s a problem.

If the finances are not readily available for anyone to peruse, there’s a problem.

If there is a culture of “restoring” to ministry, there’s a problem.

Restoration To Ministry

A prominent feature of the Revival Culture is the restoration to ministry. When a pastor or leader falls into sin, the pattern often looks something like this:

The sin is discussed quietly among those who know of it, have witnessed it, or have been harmed by it. High-level leaders quiet the whispers in the name of rebuking gossip. Those who were hurt by the sins feel ashamed to get help, to speak out, or to question. The sin grows in a fertile soil of silence and shame.

That sin continues to grow until it gets out of control. (There’s an unspoken tipping point in every ministry that is not easily articulated, but once crossed, everyone can identify it. It’s usually when the perpetrator’s sin is so great that it threatens the integrity of the institution. At that point, they’re too much of a liability, and so they’re removed from leadership.) The perpetrator is called out, fired, removed from leadership, or something similar. The head pastor or ministry leader gives a sermon about wolves and sheep and forgiveness and how hard it is to be in ministry.

The perpetrator goes into hiding for a while. Maybe they leave the church or maybe they just lie low, but they’re rarely seen or heard from. There is a temporary sense that wrongs have been righted. But then, somewhere down the line, the perpetrator finds himself longing for the platform again. Maybe he was a speaker and misses the microphone. Maybe he was a worship leader and misses the stage. Whatever his role, he begins to “feel God calling him back” to it. (Again, I will reiterate that feelings are NOT the Holy Spirit. This is a widespread issue in the Church today.) The “feeling” grows enough that the perpetrator eventually feels it’s time to talk to the pastor and regain his position of leadership.

The pastor, in love with the idea of revival and restoration, and possibly even genuinely trying to be a forgiving man of grace, hears out the perpetrator and, through a series of conversations behind the scenes, decides the perpetrator has been restored, and God has moved. All is well, and it’s time to put him back in leadership. This is a feather in the cap of the pastor, of course, because now he can preach how his church is a church where people get “set free” from their sins, right? It’s a sign to him that God is on the move. It’s a sign to him that revival is amidst his organization. So he platforms the perpetrator once more, presenting him to the church as a restored man. A humbled man. A man who is even MORE equipped for the ministry than ever before, thanks to what God has shown him. And all of it happened “right here in our house.” Because now, our church is special. We’ve got the receipts to prove it.

A Whole Lot of Bad Assumptions

There was a time when this story would have inspired me. There was a time in my life when I witnessed this very scenario play out, and I was excited to know that God is in the business of restoration. It was inspiring. It was helpful. It was healing, even for me.

Indeed, or God is in the business of restoration. Again and again throughout the Bible, we read stories of broken men that God used for His glory. We see him call David a man after his own heart despite his many transgressions. But there’s one glaring thing we’re missing in all of this: restoration of the heart is not the same thing as restoration to ministry. And David, the poster boy for the restoration argument, wasn’t a pastor; he was in government. There’s a very big difference.

God can set you free from your sin. He does it all the time.

That doesn’t mean you’re qualified to be a pastor again.

This is a hard pill to swallow, I know. There is a glamorous side of ministry few speak of. The accolades, the bravado, the gifts, the gratitude from congregants, the well-wishes, kind words, and compliments are all irresistible to the fallen state of our hearts. It’s easy — far too easy — to become enamored by the very things that will destroy us in ministry. When we love the compliments more than we love the difficult conversations, when we love the attention more than we love the gritty work, when we love the pulpit more than we love the hospital visits… all of these things should be giant red flags to our very hearts that something is amiss.

And when a pastor or leader falls into sin — particularly the kind of sin that deeply harms others — it’s a time to soberly and definitively step back and remember that God is in the business of restoring hearts, but He’s not in the business of letting broken men continue to harm His people.

Sometimes, the wisest answer is no. Sometimes the best step forward is no step at all. Sometimes, men and women are no longer qualified to be leaders because the sins they committed were too great. That’s not judgment, that’s discernment. That’s not gossip, that’s accountability.

I’ve Witnessed It Firsthand

I was a member of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas for ten years. Robert Morris was my pastor. Knowing what we know now, he should never have been restored to pastoral leadership after having molested a little girl for four years. But because of Revival Culture, he was platformed, hailed, and lauded. Hundreds of thousands of people followed him, trusted him, and learned from him. And when we learned who he was, when we learned who he had been, all of us had to wrestle, weep, mourn, and wonder where to go from there. What do you do when you find out that the man who pastored you for a decade was a pedophile the entire time? What do you do when most of the sermons you remember were his? How do you move forward from that?

That’s a place I found myself last summer. I openly wept for days after the news of Morris came out. It was like the rug had been pulled out from under me. I didn’t even know the man personally, but he was my pastor for a decade. I thought the world of him. I thought he was one of the “good ones.” I know some will rake me over the coals for this, but I think he was a man who truly loved God. I really do.

But I don’t think he should ever have been restored to the pulpit. There has to be a line, and surely — surely — pedophilia is across that line!

Robert isn’t the only one with this story. Shawn Bolz, mentioned at the beginning of this article, is another who destroyed lives with his lies and was platformed anyway. I’m sure the people who received “prophecies” from him are all reeling knowing that he data-mined their info from Facebook to make them think that God had given Shawn deeply personal info about them. It’s disgusting. But it’s happening all the time. Men who have disqualified themselves from ministry are clamoring for it all the same.

And those in love with revival are platforming them again and again and again.

Revival is not a feeling; revival is a move of God.

Church, it’s time to throw off the sins that so easily entangle us. It’s time to step away from the mindsets that are destroying souls and ripping apart people. It’s time to get back to the main thing and make it the main thing once more. Jesus is King. His house is a house of prayer and praise. We don’t need to be obsessed with “going deeper” or “getting more” or “fostering revival.” We don’t have to give platforms to monsters simply because they’re good speakers. We don’t have to tolerate wicked men simply because their charisma is good for the image of the ministry. We don’t have to compromise truth in the name of revival.

So many lament the sometimes grayish nature of scripture when it comes to the how-tos of life. But in the case of ministry, scripture is black and white. It’s one of those topics that leaves no room for doubt. The entire letter of I Timothy is a good place to start. Church, let’s stand firm on Truth again. Let’s not back down from clear lines in the sand in the name of revival or some convoluted version of grace that restores monsters and destroys innocents, all in the name of revival.

We can do better. It starts with reading and knowing God’s Word and standing on it.

We need only to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Our obsession should be with Him and His Word. No more, no less.

This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.” So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. Or must have only one wife, or must be married only once; Greek reads must be the husband of one wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.

1 Timothy 3:1-7