The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse
David Johnson & Jeff VanVonderen
Bethany House Publishers 1991

I found this profoundly pastoral and thought-provoking book a very useful and emotional read. It is a book filled with the spirit of grace - true New Testament grace - and though I have never experienced the kind of spiritual abuse outlined in the book by many people, I found it of benefit in many ways. Reading it, I was saddened and angered that some so-called Christian leaders could act towards those in their care in such ways and justify the abuse through some kind of warped view that because they are in church leadership they are somehow above criticism for their actions.

In the course of the book, the authors deal with a number of problems that are all too real in many churches. Some of these are things like pressure to obey the leadership, not because it is biblical teaching, but because it is what the leaders say is to be done. Or the subtle message that to be a "good Christian" you must do A, B and C (which might be good things but not necessarily biblical commandments) or avoid doing X, Y and Z (which are nowhere forbidden in the Bible), thereby going beyond the Bible's requirements and ending up like clumsy pharisees. Or that to question the leadership is to question God. Such things rob the people of God who live under such leadership of their joy and turn Christian service into guilt-ridden chores. Let us not pretend that any church can face such dangers unless the leadership is on its guard and open to the correction of God's Word and the Holy Spirit themselves.

As I said, I have not experienced the kinds of excesses described in the book from my own pastors and elders, who have often been models of good leadership, but there must be few churches where some of the things described here exist from time to time at some kind of low grade level. Mostly it occurs as unintentional and well-meaning behaviour that is thoughtless, but no less difficult to deal with for those on the receiving end. It is when such behaviour becomes a pattern that it becomes serious enough to be called abuse that must be rooted out of the body of Christ like a cancer.

This book is highly recommended for Christians and ex-Christians who have left the church because of how they have been treated. It would also be read with profit by anyone in a leadership role within the church.