Sunday Dec 01, 2024
Dealing With a Controlling, Neglectful, or Deceitful Pastor: S6E30
Welcome to the Unlovely Truth. I'm your host church safety advocate and coach Lori Morrison. I help ministry leaders assess and address the 12 critical safety issues that exist in every church. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so my mission on this podcast is to give you actionable steps to make your house of worship a true sanctuary in your community. Let’s investigate the unlovely truth about real crime stories happening in real churches. I've got three cases to explore today, so let's dive right in.
Important points from this episode include:
- Dealing with a controlling pastor
- Dealing with a neglectful pastor
- Dealing with a deceitful pastor
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 NIV
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians to address problems he saw in the church, and one of the big ones was sexual immorality. If it happened back then, why do we think it can’t happen now? Paul didn’t ignore the problem, he acknowledged it so the church could fix things.
And part of his recipe for fixing things was to not associate with those in the church who were being sexually immoral. So why do we today do the exact opposite? I suppose that some of it is in the name of tolerance. We like to think we are amazing people when we overlook evil and call it loving people. Paul says that when it comes to people who call themselves Christians, that is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing.
It is so frustrating to watch churches get this wrong over and over and over. If this is a problem at your church, it’s time to speak out. If you need my help, all you’ve got to do is ask.
Let me know what you think of this episode! Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have hard, but impactful conversations that strengthen physical, emotional, and spiritual safety in our churches. See you all next time!
Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Ways you can support the work of The Unlovely Truth:
Buy Me a Coffee to help me continue to offer free church security advice on the podcast
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.
Read more about today’s cases:
Unhealthy leadership story
You should have called the police