Opinion: Susanne Maynes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve never attended Bethel Church or their school of ministry, and I\u2019ve only listened to a handful of sermons by Bill Johnson. However, as a lifelong Pentecostal\/charismatic, I\u2019m aware that Bethel\u2019s influence has saturated charismatic culture for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One concept Bethel promotes is creating and maintaining a \u201cculture of honor.\u201d This sounds like a beautiful and biblical idea, since human beings should honor one another as image bearers of God \u2014 but what does it really mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Bethel\u2019s view, current forms of church leadership should be discarded, and five-fold ministers (based on Ephesians 4:11) should be placed in charge. While the notion of five-fold ministry is a theologically complex issue, suffice it to say this reconsideration of leadership structure offers an alternative to top-heavy, authoritarian, pastor-led churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping in mind the gamut of views on what five-fold ministry should look like, one supposed benefit of implementing this type of leadership is that it puts people in power in a position to empower those around them, thus making it possible for God\u2019s kingdom to come and his will to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The blurb on the back of Culture of Honor<\/em> by Danny Silk makes exactly this claim, and quotes Matthew 20:25-26 in that context:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut Jesus called them to Himself and said, \u2018You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet note that Jesus doesn\u2019t say we should seek positions of honor in order to empower others. He explicitly says we are not<\/em> to exercise authority over<\/em> others \u2014 we are to serve<\/em> them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question must be asked: How has honor culture worked out in real time<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Culture of Honor<\/em> was written in 2013. At the time, its premise resonated with many charismatics, feeling like a breath of fresh air in its attempt to contrast the culture of shame that is present in certain swaths of the church. It tapped into something real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sadly, the concept didn\u2019t age well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the appeal of honor culture (and many people\u2019s genuinely positive experience of feeling honored and loved at Bethel), evidence now reveals its significant flaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently, Bethel leaders offered an apology<\/a> for failing to protect and prioritize victims of abuse in the case of Shawn Bolz. Since then, another abuse survivor has stepped forward, this time with regard to Bethel\u2019s prophetic ministry overseer Ben Armstrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we pan out to look at the charismatic church in general, one celebrity leader after another is tumbling off their pedestal as more and more abuse victims speak out. (Of course, this issue is not limited to charismatics.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m afraid we\u2019ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. The problem is systemic. And with the charismatic movement in particular, honor culture is part of the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea <\/em>of people in power using their position to empower those around them sounds nice \u2014 but the actual practice <\/em>doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, the people who receive honor in a \u201cculture of honor\u201d aren\u2019t the ordinary folks. Honor is reserved for leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaders are elevated, revered, cherished, and protected. Just watch what happens when a celebrity pastor commits clergy sexual abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is seen as the tragedy in that scenario? Not the unfathomable damage to the soul of the victim(s). Not the fact that a leader used his position of power to selfishly use and abuse someone in his spiritual care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, the great tragedy, apparently, is that a minister\u2019s reputation might be tarnished and he might lose his position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least Bethel made a public apology, which is more than can be said for other churches facing this kind of egregious shepherding failure. But a public apology is the very smallest first step in the direction of real repentance \u2014 and that\u2019s only if the apology is sincere, which will take time to prove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we discover that our admired leaders have been covering for abusers (or have been abusers themselves), here’s the question we face: Shouldn\u2019t we be more concerned about the sheep who\u2019ve been wounded than with the shepherds who let the wolves in\u2014or worse, who are wolves themselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It appears that the \u201cculture of honor\u201d functionally means that every leader has so much potential good in them that they can never be held accountable or face any significant consequences for sin, no matter how reprehensible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which in turn means we push for the \u201crestoration\u201d of our cherished celebrity leaders \u2014 and revictimize the wounded in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Jesus\u2019 heart is for the marginalized, the spurned, the rejected. We do well to pay attention to his harsh words for those who harm the vulnerable: \u201cBut whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away \u2014 it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea\u201d (Matthew 18:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The abominable behavior of abusive, predatory spiritual leaders causes trauma in those they harm. The combination of spiritual abuse and SA is especially soul-shattering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s no wonder many victims have left the faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how has “honor culture” worked out in real time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has it demonstrated value for every image-bearer, not just for those at the top? Does it prioritize justice, righteousness, protection, peace, and well-being for all? Have those in power empowered everyone else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, \u201cculture of honor\u201d is code for, \u201cDon\u2019t ever make your leaders look bad, no matter how badly they behave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, leaders matter, and the people they hurt do not. Turns out, honor culture is not honorable at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s just a prettier name for a culture of idolatry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About the Author: Susanne Maynes is the author of Prophesying Daughters: How Prophetic Ministry and Women in Leadership Strengthen the Church. She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree and served as Director of Prophetic Ministry for six years at her former church (she currently co-leads a house church with her husband). Susanne offers an original, scholarly research-based workshop on prophetic development to churches and enjoys preaching as opportunities arise, as well as blogging regularly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Opinion: Susanne Maynes. I\u2019ve never attended Bethel Church or their school of ministry, and I\u2019ve only listened to a handful of sermons by Bill Johnson. However, as a lifelong Pentecostal\/charismatic, I\u2019m aware that Bethel\u2019s influence has saturated charismatic culture for decades. One concept Bethel promotes is creating and maintaining a \u201cculture of honor.\u201d This sounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[119,110,117,255,179],"coauthors":[364],"class_list":{"0":"post-10540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-opinion","8":"tag-bible","9":"tag-christianity","10":"tag-church","11":"tag-opinion","12":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10543,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10540\/revisions\/10543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10540"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=10540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}