• Definition
• Causes and Symptoms
• Biblical Support
• Stopping abuse
• Bibliography

Definition
Spiritual abuse occurs when someone uses their power within a framework of spiritual belief or practise to satisfy their own needs at the expense of others. The classic example in recent years has been the ‘Nine O’clock Service’ in Sheffield, Yorkshire, but far more examples go undetected, or even unnoticed.

Causes and Symptoms
Spiritual abuse is likely to happen when:

• One person usually tells others what to do and always expects to be obeyed.
• Someone reacts strongly and personally to be questioned or contradicted.
• Leadership is based on hierarchical authority rather than greater ability.
• Leadership is never shared or handed on.
• Someone expects agreement without having to ‘prove their point’.
• Someone frequently preface their remarks with things like “The Lord has told me”.
• People are afraid to make their disagreements known.
• People would really like to do something else, but are afraid of how the person in authority would react.
• People never share their different opinions for fear of being put down.

All these are danger signs.

Biblical Support
Part of the trouble is that people forget Jesus’s words in Matthew’s gospel:

... you are not to be called teacher, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Teachers, fathers and masters all have a role to play within society, but within the Christian community we have to beware of adopting these roles in relation to one another.

To call someone ‘teacher’ suggests we are always pupils in relation to them. To call someone ‘father’ suggests we are children in relation to them. To call someone ‘master’ (meaning ‘expert’) suggests they have advanced beyond where we will ever be. But the ‘great one’ in the Christian community is the humble servant - ready to admit when they are ignorant, or wrong, and seeking the wellbeing of others.

Spiritual abuse is less likely to happen where members of the Christian community treat one another as equals before God, under Christ.

Stopping Abuse
If you think you are the subject of spiritual abuse it is up to you to act. No one is going to come and rescue you, unless you make a fuss! Go and tell someone who is not involved in the situation and if they won’t take you seriously, go and find someone who will!

And just remember, if you are the subject of spiritual (or any other form of) abuse, the most powerful weapon you have is the little word “NO”. Not only can this stop the abuse, but the unreasonabl reaction of the abuser will usually prove it was abuse in the first place.

Bibliography

D Johnson & J VanVonderen: The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1990)

S Wookey: When a Church Becomes a Cult: The Marks of a New Religious Movement (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996)

E-mail J.P.Richardson@uel.ac.uk