We recently talked about spiritual abuse and what it looks like. We would like to go a little deeper with this and explain one of the tactics a spiritual abuser will use specifically.
We all should know the pulpit is a place where we want to hear from God. However, it has become a place where we no longer hear from God as much as we would like. There are leaders out there that use the pulpit and platform to speak their own agenda to protect their interests.
They also use the pulpit to attack people they feel are a threat to them. They provoke people. They use scriptures to provoke people. They use scriptures as we said before to manipulate people, instead of talking directly to a person they use the pulpit for innuendo.
What does the Bible say. It says that if a leader or even a friend or person in whatever situation sins, you should point out their fault just between the two of you. In other words, sit down, have a chat, and try and work things out. Here is the scripture in Matthew.
Matthew 18:15
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.”
However, leaders often do not want to debate if someone has sinned or try to sort a situation out. They have made up their mind without that important first step. So, what their tactic is to do, is to go to the pulpit and give their message and corrupt the purpose of the pulpit, which is to hear from God, they use the pulpit and abuse the power they have to push their own agenda to protect their own interests, putting themselves above God.
In short leaders are so scared to debate things; they use the pulpit to give their answer. They may have felt they needed to give an answer when nobody was chasing them. They make the mistake of provoking a person when nobody was chasing them. Here is a proverb.
Proverbs 18:6
6 “The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.”
The leaders inadvertently open old wounds that had been healed. Provocation invites trouble when nobody was chasing them. They bring more trouble to themselves. Here is another proverb.
Proverbs 15
15 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Spiritually abusive tactics such as the pulpit being mis-represented, not hearing from God, but hearing an ungodly message or an innuendo from leaders because they haven’t got the strength in God to meet face to face, as outlined in Matthew 18v15, they instead use heavy spiritually abusive tactics to stir up anger from the pulpit.
As Jesus said on the cross forgive them, they know not what they do. When leaders scheme in the background with ulterior motives, they must know that God always knows the heart and why a spiritually abusive leader do what they do, acting through fear, more than likely, being led astray.
Conclusion
There is still time to come before God and ask Him to help you with your fears, because likely, nobody was chasing you, but now you may well have provoked somebody into anger and it is inviting trouble. To show love, reach out and make amends and practice what you preach. That love is the only way. The door is always open. If not, then the cycle of fear will always get the better of you turning to spiritually abusive tactics rather than turning to God for protection, to help you in your weakness giving you strength to have that face-to-face meeting.