Cultic Culture & Spiritual Abuse

Based on real facts and events

INTRODUCTION

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III always referred to the qualities of servants and spiritual leaders in the Coptic Church and how they should set a good example to their community  inside and outside the church.  His Holiness wrote several articles on this particular subject in El-Kiraza monthly Arabic magazine. We wish to comment on this subject in more details.

The Holy Bible refers to all of us as:-  "All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good, no not one. (Ps:53:3). No one is immune from temptation or from plunging  into sinful deeds. We are therefore all sinners and because we are all human we are all bound to make mistakes. As human beings we all have the right to criticize  a situation by freely expressing ourselves without being rebuked as long as we do it in a civilized manner. Because God has created us equally according to HIS image, we should therefore accept to treat one another equally regardless of religion, color or race,  "...God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them". (Gn:1:27)

All human beings should be treated with respect, they should not be rebuked or degraded in any way. They should feel free to discuss and debate their ideas in a friendly and loving manner as long as they themselves do not abuse the rights of others. The church is a place of worship and a shelter for troubled souls, a peaceful place where people find comfort. Jesus said "Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you". (Mt:11:28)  We therefore go to church to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit and not to be shunned by spiritual leaders for our sins and wrong doings or indirectly exposed on the pulpit if we did this or did that. Our loving Lord Jesus said "And if any man hear my words and keep them not, I do not judge him for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world". (Jn:12:47)

No matter how much we get to know God we will never know enough to be perfect and even then we still have a long way to go. The more we read the bible and the older we get, the more we become wiser. On the other hand, many servants of the church have fallen into the abyss of pride due to a certain degree of spiritual knowledge.  The Bible also referred to those who have fallen, "Pride goeth before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up before a fall". (Prv:16:18) 

Abuse of leadership.

In recent years we have witnessed Coptic Orthodox Churches expand world wide.  It is impossible for His Holiness Pope Shenouda III to monitor the actions of every Clergy without the help and support of appointed bishops.  If a bishop is not appointed at the right time, serious problems will begin to arise were the  congregation fall victims to an uncontrolled management system that would in the long run prove to be very destructive. This article explains how a system can go wrong without being monitored through the right channels.

DEFINITION OF SPIRITUAL ABUSE and misuse of leadership

Spiritual abuse is the misuse of a position of power, leadership, or influence to further the selfish interests of someone other than the individual who needs help. Sometimes abuse arises out of a doctrinal position.  Spiritually abusive religious systems are sometimes described as legalistic, mind controlling, religiously addictive, and authoritarian.

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS

1) Authoritarian

The most distinctive characteristic of a spiritually abusive religious system, or leader, is the over-emphasis on authority. Because a group (servants, priests) claims to have been established by God Himself the leaders in this system claim the right to command their followers.

This authority supposedly comes from the position they occupy. In Matthew 23:1-2 Jesus said the Scribes and Pharisees "sit in Moses' seat," a position of spiritual authority. Many names are used but in the abusive system this is a position of power, not moral authority. The assumption is that God operates among His people through a hierarchy, or "chain of command." In this abusive system unconditional submission is often called a "covering," or "umbrella of protection" which will provide some spiritual blessing to those who fully submit. Followers may be told that God will bless their submission even if the leadership is wrong. It is not their place to judge or correct the leadership - God will see to that.

2) Image Conscious

The abusive religious system is scrupulous to maintain an image of righteousness. The organization's history is often misrepresented in the effort to demonstrate the organization's special relationship to God. The mistaken judgments and character flaws of its leaders are denied or covered up in order to validate their authority. Impossibly high legalistic standards of thought and behavior may be imposed on the members. Their failure to live up to these standards is a constant reminder of the follower's inferiority to his leaders, and the necessity of submission to them. Abusive religion is, at heart, legalism.

Abusive religion is also paranoid. Because the truth about the abusive religious system would be quickly rejected if recognized, outsiders are shown only a positive image of the group. This is rationalized by assuming that the religion would not be understood by "worldly" people; therefore they have no right to know. This attitude leads to members being secretive about some doctrines and the inner policies and procedures of the group. Leaders, especially, will keep secrets from their members. This secrecy is rooted in a basic distrust of others because the belief system is false and can not stand scrutiny.

3) Suppresses Criticism

Because the religious system or management is not based on the truth it cannot allow questions, dissent, or open discussions about issues. The person who dissents becomes the problem rather than the issue he raised. The truth about any issue is settled and handed down from the top of the hierarchy. Questioning anything is considered a challenge to authority. Thinking for oneself is suppressed by pointing out that it leads to doubts. This is portrayed as unbelief in God and His anointed leaders. Thus the follower controls his own thoughts by fear of doubting God.

4) Perfectionist

A most natural assumption is that a person does not get something for nothing. Apart from the express declarations of salvation by grace through faith God has given in the scriptures, it would be natural to think that one must earn salvation, or at least work to keep it. Thus, in abusive religions all blessings come through performance of spiritual requirements. Failure is strongly condemned so there is only one alternative, perfection. So long as he thinks he is succeeding in his observation of the rules, the follower typically exhibits pride, elitism, and arrogance, his authority becomes undisputable. However, when reality and failure eventually set in, the result is the person experiences spiritual burnout, or even shipwreck of his faith. Those who fail in their efforts are labeled as apostates, weak, or some other such term so that they can be discarded by the system.

5) Unbalanced

Abusive religions must distinguish themselves from all other religions so they can claim to be distinctive and therefore special to God. This is usually done by majoring on minor issues such as prophecy, carrying biblical law to extremes, or using strange methods of biblical interpretation. The imbalanced spiritual hobby-horse thus produced represents unique knowledge or practices which seem to validate the group's claim to special status with God.

BIBLICAL RESPONSE

Examples of spiritual abuse are found throughout the Bible. God describes (and condemns) the "shepherds of Israel" who feed themselves rather than the flock, who do not heal those who are hurting, or seek to bring back those who were driven away but rather discard them, ruling with force and cruelty (Ezekiel 34:1-10). Jesus reacted with anger against the thievery of the money changers in the Temple as they misused God's people for selfish reasons (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-47; John 2:13-16). He was angry at those more concerned with rules and regulations than with human suffering (Mark 3:1-5). In Matthew 23, Jesus describes the abusive spiritual leader in great detail. In John 9 the Pharisees "cast out" the man born blind simply because the truth he told about his healing exposed their own corruption. In Acts 7:51-56, Stephen called the Jewish leaders to account over their spiritual abuse. His testimony of Christ vindicated Jesus, whom they had abused, and condemned them. The legalistic Jews were so angry they stoned Stephen to death. In Galatians Paul addressed a performance based Christianity which leads to the abuse of legalism. There are many more such examples.

As God in human flesh, Jesus had legitimate spiritual authority. But He did not exercise it to gain power for Himself, or to abuse and control others with rules and regulations. He said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). The Greek word for "heavy laden" is phortizo which means here "to overburden with ceremony (or spiritual anxiety)" (Strong's Concordance #5412). Jesus gave a balanced perspective on positional authority when he said, "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8). He gave another key to discernment when He taught, "He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory..." (John 7:18a).

Jesus was not "image conscious." He was willing to associate with wine drinkers, cheating tax collectors and even prostitutes. He accused the legalistic Pharisees of "teaching for doctrine the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9) and likened their showy, hypocritical outward righteousness to "whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27).

Neither was He paranoid. His ministry was conspicuously open to the public. When He was on trial (John 18) He was asked about His teachings and His reply was, "Why askest thou me?" Jesus pointed out that He always taught in public, and never in secret, so why not ask His disciples. He had nothing to hide.

Jesus did not fear to criticize the religious leaders or their faulty doctrines (e.g. Matthew 15:1-9; 23:1-39, etc.). And when confronted with criticism or with treacherous questions designed to discredit Him, His response was never to simply demand silence or only positive recognition from His accusers. Rather, He gave answers - scriptural and reasonable answers - to their objections (e.g. Luke 7:36-47; Matthew 19:3-9).

Jesus upheld the high standard of the Law, yet He clearly placed the legitimate needs of people before any rules or regulations (Matthew 12:1-13; Mark 2:23-3:5). The scriptures make it clear that no one will cease to sin in this life (Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 John 1:8). Jesus made it plain, however, that one can know in this life that one has eternal life (John 5:24; 6:37-40), a theme developed by Paul throughout his epistles, and by John (1 John 5:10-13).

The Pharisees, quintessential spiritually abusive leaders, were quite unbalanced in their perception of what mattered most to God. Jesus said they, "...pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, - judgment, mercy, and faith...." (Matthew 23:23).

EFFECTS OF SPIRITUAL ABUSE

Spiritual abuse has a devastating effect on people. A very high level of trust is often placed in spiritual leaders. It is, and ought to be, expected that the trust will be honored and guarded. When such trust is violated the wound is very deep. Sometimes the wound is so deep that the wounded person cannot trust even a legitimate spiritual authority again.

An analogous situation exists with the victims of incest. The emotional and psychological symptoms exhibited by victims of incest parallel those of spiritual abuse to a remarkable degree. The main symptom is the inability to relate normally to people who represent the source of their emotional injury.

Besides an unhealthy fear of, and disillusionment with, spiritual authorities, the spiritually abused person may find it difficult to trust even God. "How could (or why did) He let this happen to me?" Anger is also deeply felt. Anger itself is not always wrong - God Himself expresses anger at such spiritual abuse (see Biblical Response, above). However, even legitimate anger, if not properly channeled and dealt with, can degenerate into bitterness and cynicism toward everything spiritual.

RECOVERY FROM SPIRITUAL ABUSE

Healthy recovery from spiritual abuse must begin with understanding what has happened and how. A victim usually thinks he is the only one experiencing these problems. Just being able to give a name to the problem is important.

Afterward the abused person must learn the true nature of God's grace, love and forgiveness. This is the foundation for being able to eventually forgive the abuser. Being able to share the experience and what has been learned so as to minister to someone else's need is also very important. This could be done in a support group made up of people with a similar experience who can share the healing love of Christ.

Conclusion

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III warns the holy men of the church to be careful and to follow the Coptic Orthodox doctrine as handed to them and not to create their own version of the true teaching. He also made it very clear that if any priest makes any spiritual or moral mistake, he should be reported immediately before the matter gets worse. This is what the Pope had to say in connection with this issue. Many readers have criticized this article saying that it encourages people to go against their priest, well on the contrary if priests go by the rules as set by the Coptic Orthodox Church then there is no matter for concern. When a train gets derailed from its track people have to help to derail it by reporting the derailment to the authorities concerned.  The same thing applies to a priest when he chooses to derail his teachings according to his own ego then he must be helped to get back on the track. Who is worthy to carry out this mission other than His Holiness the Pope or his Bishops. If you fail to report it then the problem will not be solved, don't be afraid to speak out because we had enough of people like Max Michael (Anba Maximos) who has proclaimed himself Pope.