Al Duff,
Yup, that is all part of the problem with the whole model – no opportunity to question, no need to plan or evaluate, or even to reflect. That is simply not scriptural – and, as we are witnessing, it doesn’t work.
It is interesting that many people that left Struthers did so not because they were turning away from God, but for exactly the opposite reason – they felt they were seeking and following God, and the Struthers leaders were not listening to the voice of God. Jock’s testimony a while back was one that struck a similar chord.
On another note, I have just heard another Struthers story that fit what is now a well-established pattern for many, possibly the majority of those who leave.
(1) Some sort of hurt/pain,
(2) a total disregard for that pain
(3) the Struthers leaders thinking what happened will go away if ignored so they stick their head in the sand
(4) strangely enough, it does not go away, so…
(5) weeks, months, years, even decades later others are made aware of the pain the person suffered and go ‘whoa-this is really not ok’
The thing is, they could have dealt with one thing at a time. If they had done that, it would probably never have hit the public spaces, as it would have been dealt with quietly. Now it is all coming at once and that is of course a public interest story.
The key point is in many ways point number two, the total disregard for any pain caused. That seems to me to be central to the Struthers approach, and it reminds me of something I have thought for a long time, which is that the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.
From a Christian point of view, God is of course love. Love is not just one of his attributes, it is a definition of what/ Who he is. But we know God hates things (basically things we talk about as ‘sin’). He could not hate things if hate was the opposite of love, so it must be the other side of the same coin. God shows both love for things and hate for things and, taken together, that is God, the God who is Love (with a capital ‘L’ so to speak).
The opposite of love is not therefore hate, it is indifference. That is exactly why Jesus was so critical of the pharisees: they didn’t care – they cared about their own little rules and regulations – cleaning the outside of a cup, not healing on the Sabbath, washing before a meal etc, but they did not care about people. They did not care if a blind man or a man with a withered hand could be healed, that was just irrelevant in their eyes.
That is exactly what the Struthers leadership do. When someone is in pain (point 2 above) their practice and advice to others is to ignore it – “Whatever you do, don’t think about the pain that is caused, that might cause you to care. No, no, don’t do that, think about something else, you have to remain indifferent to the pain of others: our whole approach is to become people who are incapable of showing any connection or empathy, as that might lead to us having to step outside our bubble and offer help and support.”
Quote
Matthew 23v15
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
I guess that pattern also fits with the discernment issue – instead of pain, some people are conscious of God’s leading and take that to the leadership. Since it did not come directly to the leadership their reaction is however exactly the same – indifference. “If doesn’t matter what God is saying to you, all that matters is what we think God is saying to us.” There are quite a few stories that fit that pattern as well.
Adapting the above process to refer to guidance rather than to pain gives:
(1) Some sort of sense the God is providing guidance,
(2) a total disregard for that guidance from the leadership
(3) the Struthers leaders thinking the issue will go away if ignored so they stick their head in the sand
(4) strangely enough, it does not go away, so…
(5) weeks, months, years, even decades later others realise that there might have been a bit of truth in the insight/ guidance that others not in the leadership had.
Once again those in the pews are seeing this panning out – advice about the bookshops, the school, the way the budget was going, the repair of buildings, the need for openness, the need for some formal training in scripture, the need for compassion rather than indifference… I could go on.
All of these have been drawn to the attention of the leadership and the leadership have simply ignored them – “if God is not telling us directly, then it is not important – how dare you think you have information that God has not revealed to us!”
How is that working out?