Unholy Charade - Jeff Crippen

Unmasking the Domestic Abuser in the Church

Author: Jeff Crippen Page 65 of 88

Our Theology of Evangelizing Hypocrites is Protecting Abusers in our Churches

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On December 11, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

Joh 10:1-5 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (2) But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (4) When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (5) A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Most churches today love to put signs out front with a slogan that has become odious to me:  Everyone Welcome! How wonderful and loving and kind it all sounds. But of course, as we have mentioned before in this blog, most certainly not everyone is welcome to be among Christ’s people. There really are only two categories of people who the Bible would have be in a local church: 1) Sheep. I mean, genuine, regenerate members of Christ’s flock, and 2) Sinners (even the most wicked sort) who are present to seek Christ, searching for a remedy to their sin burden. Who isn’t welcome? Hypocrites. Do you realize that? Hypocrites are not welcome in Jesus’ church. He said so!

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Want to See the Names of the "Experts" Who Wrote the "Caring Well" Curriculum?

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On December 10, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

We just posted an article by Jimmy Hinton in which he takes on the “Caring Well” Southern Baptist group for continuing to endanger abuse victims by welcoming wolves in amongst the flock. Here is some follow up info in case you need more evidence.

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Let's Put Away the Childish Nonsense We Have Been Taught About Who is a Christian!

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On December 9, 2019

In Biblical Teaching

One of the biggest and most widespread false teachings and beliefs in the church is the idea that if someone says with their mouth they believe in Jesus, they are a Christian, they are saved, and no one must EVER question that!  How did we ever get to this point of buying into such nonsense?  All that mere words qualify a person to be is a demon:

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder! James 2:19

This is the reason why the wicked, including abusers, are able to carry on their masquerade in our churches. And it is the reason why so many abuse victims are put through so much doubt, fog, misery, and grief. “But he is a Christian, isn’t he?” No. Somehow like the black plague this lie has been spread by the false teachings of rats for a long, long time. Think of the devastation it causes, the faith of the weak it extinguishes, the distortions of God’s own character it promotes. A wicked person is not a Christian!

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Jimmy Hinton Exposes the So-Called Southern Baptists "Caring Well" Sham

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On December 7, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

1Co 5:1-2  It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.  (2)  And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

This article [Click on link below] by Jimmy Hinton is a bit lengthy, but it is a must read. As we have said here before, the Southern Baptists’ claim that they are sincerely changing in order to properly deal with sexual and other abusers in their midst is just smoke-blowing, PR damage control. Thank you Jimmy for exposing what is really going on. Even registered child molesters are to be given anonymity, welcomed into the churches, and the congregation kept in the dark about their presence.
Jimmy Hinton – SBC is Coddling Abusers

Don't Listen to People who want to ride the fence

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On December 6, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

This is a grass roots movement — bottom up. The higher up levels in ministries and denominations will never listen unless there is a ground swell from lowly Christians. I dont see us dialoguing with the power brokers because they would only be trying to trick us into believing that they really do care about justice. Historically that is always how it goes down.
Here is a quote from Roland Bainton’s biography of Martin Luther. There is a lesson here for us about people who claim to be our friends but want to ride the fence so they don’t suffer any loss. They say things like: “Surely it is fine to point out error and to criticize certain things, but you must not go too far. If you will just not cross ‘the line’ then we can all work together and you won’t alienate people from you and….” on it goes.
Anyway, here is what Bainton wrote:

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Local Churches Have Become Primary Lairs for Abusers

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On December 5, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

Jude 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Oh, and by the way, did I mention he is active in church?”
Those words came from a friend recently who was helping an abuse victim understand what has been happening to her. After filling me in on some of the evils this man had been doing, he ended his note with the brief sentence above….he is active in church.”
I do not think that we need to hold back any longer. We are fully justified in just coming right out with it:

Local churches have become arenas of choice for domestic abusers, narcissists, and sociopaths.  

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God's Law is Spiritual, but Churches are Limiting it to Outward Actions

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On December 4, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

You have all heard it over and over again, right? But he never physically abused her. Therefore what the abuser has done and continues to do is not a crime. It is not really even a sin in the thinking of most Christians. Just a small thing. As long as he doesn’t hit her. That’s the thing you see.
A friend recently sent me a link to a great article by Evan Stark entitled “Re-presenting Battered Women: Coercive Control and the Defense of Liberty.”  Stark is an associate professor of public administration, director of the master’s in public health program at Rutgers Universtiy-Newark and author of the book Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life. What Stark is demonstrating  is that most domestic abuse is non-physical and can most correctly be termed “coercive control.” Furthermore, he says that this coercive control (its presence and extent) is a far more accurate predictor of physical and fatal violence than other more traditionally tracked factors. And he proposes that our statutes and laws need to be reframed so as to make these non-physical coercive control tactics criminal. In other words, we need to be pro-active and take action against these less visible yet very damaging abuse tactics. [NOTE: Unfortunately Stark’s philosophy is that we can hold abusers to a level of accountability so they will fear to abuse and might even cease being abusers. He does not like the idea that abusers should be put out of the church, but we should strive to keep them present in the church so that we can hold them accountable when they abuse. Wrong. Unbiblical. Scripture is plain that we are to put evil out from among us].
In a sense, what Stark is saying is that we need to enforce the spirit of the law, not just the overt and outward act. And is that not exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying in the above Scripture – the Law is spiritual. Paul came to realize, in considering the 10th commandment, “you shall not covet,” that God’s Law requires heart/soul obedience, not just outward conformity. This is when he knew he was condemned and guilty whereas before, he was just sure that he was righteous by his law-keeping.
So then, we are led to ask, how is it that churches are limiting domestic abuse to outward, visible, tangible acts of physical abuse? Well, he never hit you did he? That is as if to say, it is only a sin if he physically abuses you. As long as he never lays hands on you, you have no grounds to complain.
Really? Is that how God views sin? Did not Christ say that murder and adultery are most often committed in the heart though there be no outward act? That the Pharisees were whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones? But all this is apparently being ignored by pastors and churches who chant the mantra, “but he never actually physically abused you.”

The Wrong Questions are Being Asked to Discern Truth or Falsehood

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On December 2, 2019

In Biblical Teaching

Judges 12:5-6  And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,”  (6)  they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

Some years ago a pastor from a nearby church phoned me to ask a few questions about our church.  He was sincere in motive I believe and just wanted to know if we were a true, Bible-believing and teach church or not. But he started in the wrong place. He asked the wrong questions. Here is his first:

Are you complementarian or egalitarian?

For those of you not familiar with these terms, they apply to two views of marriage. The complementarian is the model that says the husband is the head, in authority, and the wife is to submit to him. The egalitarian model puts husband and wife on equal levels in regards  to leadership, authority, etc. [We get into trouble when we start throwing these terms around because inevitably they drag us into this “authority” arena and things go south from there].
Now, in the conservative churches I was raised and taught in, the complementary model was the one embraced. After all, is that not what Ephesians 5 teaches? The husband is the head of his wife and the wife is to submit – well, yes, but….somehow or other the actual application of this Scripture has gone very wrong. But anyway, that is not my main point here.

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The Person Blessed by God Knows What Evil Looks Like

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On November 27, 2019

In Biblical Teaching

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalms 1:1-6)

What kind of person is blessed by the Lord? God’s blessing, you know, is the opposite of His curse. Ever since the Fall in Eden, man has been under the curse. And justly so. Death. Pain. The creation itself fighting against us with its thorns and diseases, stinging insects and biting serpents. Even the oceans and the atmosphere we breathe can turn on us. Things have gone very, very wrong.

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Biblical Law is for the Wicked, Not for the Righteous

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On November 25, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. (1 Timothy 1:8-11)

Most of us have experienced it. Someone at work messes up, so the next day a company-wide policy is implemented that is binding on everyone. A law is made. You see it all the time in society as well. “Let’s pass a law.” The problem is, that new law restricts everyone else, and they weren’t the offender! In a way, the righteous are punished right along with the unrighteous. The Apostle Paul says this ought not to be. The Law is laid down not for the just, but for the lawless.
Let’s bring this to bear upon the church and abusers.

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