The UK church is having a difficult moment. It feels, if you’ll allow me to slip into a prophetic mode I don’t usually use in my writing, like everything is being shaken.
Some of this is the aftermath of Covid. It was an apocalyptic moment for many. We have increasing numbers of churches who need new Pastors without a clear idea on where they’re coming from. I’m hearing this anecdotally from multiple people in different worlds of British evangelicalism, both the conservative wing and the charismatic wing.
At the same time, we have numerous cases of what we might call ‘spiritual abuse.’ There’s been a very notable one in Mike Pilavachi, but again I’m hearing stories from multiple church worlds. Some of the stories are the kind of things where ‘spiritual abuse’ might not be the best term, and I’ve had helpful conversations with those who have valid concerns over the overuse of the term and the way they feel the accusations crowd out genuine directive pastoral advice.
I think those concerns have some weight and the Lord appears to be bringing to light issues in numerous churches with the way Pastors and other lead of varying levels of severity. We should take heed. If you speak with the Prophets in your churches and networks I suspect they’re talking about a shaking across the nation.
I wrote this a few months ago, as I usually do, but this week there’s been news of another high-profile Pastor being exposed as an adulterer and removed from ministry (Liam Goligher in this case, who I’m not personally familiar with, but seems to be significant in the evangelical worlds of some friends). There are greater allegations than that as well, I understand.
Of course, it is also true that there are many churches who are staying the course in choppy waters and are not struggling with these issues. I would trust that they are the majority, the nature of news is that you don’t hear these stories, but our context right now is an apocalyptic one.
The Aftermath
As a result of both the high-profile cases and a low profile case I was personally involved with a few years back, I’ve had conversations in the last few months with multiple people who are grappling with spiritual abusive behaviour that either touched them directly or touched something that they were involved in indirectly. It’s very common for people to express confusion over how the things that are coming light, and the way that God touched their lives through that ministry, can both be true.
I understand the pull. I’ve been there myself, trying to figure out what of what I learned was good and true and from the Lord, and what was the very opposite. It’s not always the easiest thing to do, not least because we can only see what we want to see (a terrifying truth I’ll have to write on at some point). It requires humility (or in my case, an attempt in that direction) and prayer. It’s vital work, especially for those more intimately involved.
The same thing is true for those who fall from ministry for other reasons too. We find ourselves reassessing whether the ways that we grew and changed were real and from God. Did Jesus do that or was I just manipulated into it? It’s particularly pertinent if you’re in some form of pastoral leadership and learned to pastor from the one who turned out to be a wolf.
This is where Augustine can help us.
The Donatists
If you recognise the Latin in the title, you’ll have been able to chart where we’re going. In the fourth century, the Donatists argued that a Christian minister must be faultless for their ministry to be effective.
If the Pastor falls, which may have meant apostasy during persecution and later repentance, or ordinary moral failure, then the prayers and sacraments that they had administered were invalid.
This led to a situation where the Donatists appointed rival Bishops because their local Bishop had been appointed by someone who had previously recanted their faith (which in the local context meant handed over their scriptures on government request). They felt apostasy should permanently disqualify someone from church leadership. It got messy.
I suspect many non-conformists and dissenters would appreciate the Donatist requirement for a pure church. The idea that those who fall cannot be returned to ministry, even if they can be reconciled after repentance will also sound about right to many. I’m sympathetic. I also suspect their concern about the validity of Holy Orders and that you might need to be rebaptised if the priest who baptised you later apostasies is just strange to our evangelical ears. We don’t care that much about the sacraments at all. That’s a problem too, but a complete different one!
Except this is in essence the same question the people I’m speaking with are asking. As they’re grappling with the failings of leaders they trusted, they’re wondering if what God did in them is still real. They’re wondering how these accusations can be true when God ministered to them through this person we’re now calling an abuser.
The church rejected Donatism as a heresy. Augustine campaigned hard against it with the slogan ex opere operato. It literally means ‘from the work performed’ and was opposed to ex opera operantis ‘from the agent’s activity.’ The sacrament is where grace comes from, not from the person who performed it.
Or, to put it in more familiar terms: God does the work. How can these accusations be true when you benefited and were changed by God through their ministry? Because God does the work. The frail sinners who led you to Jesus are not what got you there, Jesus got you there. This is how baptism works, how the Lord’s Supper works, how all sacramental activity works: there may be more or less orderly ways of delivering them, but God does the work.
This means that when I think to the way abusive leaders have affected me personally, I can turn my mind to the kindness of God that he used such awful means to nevertheless bless me. That doesn’t remove the need to tease through some of what they taught me, but it does remove that doubt about the ways I grow toward Jesus under their ministry. God does the work. Ex opere operato.
I also find it humbling and freeing in my own ministry. Jesus changing the lives of those I pastor has a lot less than we think to do with own ability, skill, or gifting. It has something to do with my character, but not that much. God does the work, and I’m delighted that he wants to partner with me despite all my faults.
Photo by Sarah Crego on Unsplash
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