Minister's Blog
- You are the man!
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one year ago
You are the man!
Over the past few years there have been an increasing number of scandals rocking the leadership of the worldwide church. This is a scourge that has affected pretty much every branch of the Christian faith, from the L’Arche community to the evangelical ministry of Ravi Zacharias. The latest scandal has been the dramatic fall from grace of Mike Pilavachi, the leader of Soul Survivor church in Watford. Mike was a hugely charismatic figure within the wider church, and the ministry of Soul Survivor touched the lives of many thousands of young people here in the UK over the past 3 decades. The movement also launched the ministries of talented worship leaders including Matt Redman and Tim Hughes.
However, during the time that Mike was leading Soul Survivor, it has since become apparent that he was repeatedly abusing his position of trust and authority. He would nurture special relationships with young people, especially male interns, who he would also engage in private wrestling and massage sessions. And there was a repeated pattern over many years of Mike grooming his ‘favourites’ before abruptly dropping them and completing cutting off all communication with them. This highly disturbing and psychologically abusive pattern of behaviour is explored by Matt and Beth Redman in their documentary Let there be light. It’s well worth watching.
The really sad aspect of this for me is that Mike’s behaviour seemed to be fairly common knowledge in certain circles within the church. He had been challenged before about some aspects of his ministry, but it seems as if there was no effective structure of scrutiny and oversight to hold him to account. In the documentary, Matt and Beth describe how some well-known (male) Christian leaders simply brushed away any concerns by stating “well that’s just Mike”. As if somehow his giftings and his authority entitled him to act in such a damaging and destructive fashion.
I don’t want to sit in judgement or condemnation on any of these leaders. I fully recognise that we’re all sinful human beings facing our own battles and temptations. But I’m also angry that so many male Christian leaders in particular appear to see themselves as above any kind of accountability. There’s a spiritual arrogance in many of these leaders that should never have been allowed to take root and flourish. It’s nothing new of course. King David faced the exact same problem, when he was allowed to get away with not just stealing another man’s wife, but even arranging for the husband to be brutally killed to try and cover up his guilt. We tend to brush over that story in the Bible! But we could really do with some brave and outspoken prophets like Nathan in the modern church. Individuals who will stand up and say clearly to those who are abusing their position: “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7). I hope that I never come to see myself as being above scrutiny and accountability as a church leader. However, if I ever start to get too big for my boots, then please feel free to come up and tell me “you are the man!”.