Charismatic Captivation

Excerpt from Charismatic Captivation by Steven Lambert ThD. Very interesting to read.

It is my prayer in posting these articles is that we as believers will begin to seek, walk with and follow the Holy Spirit first and foremost in our lives, never surrendering our personal, heart-felt, Spirit-led convictions to any spiritual leader just for the sake of "obeying" authority and out of fear or intimidation. Very harmful indeed...

Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in the churches they attend, and don’t know it. They are unaware victims of spiritual abuse, psychological enslavement, and exploitation perpetrated under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, manipulating, and exploiting their followers for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building. Through systematic indoctrination, victims have been duped into accepting as biblical and beneficial oppressive and abusive predominance imposed upon them by unscrupulous, tyrannical church-leaders.

Without realizing it, myriads of faithful followers, in submitting themselves and surrendering their God-given right to self-governance or personal autonomy unto their spiritual leaders, have become “slaves of men” in blatant violation of God’s explicit warning against that very thing: “DO NOT BECOME SLAVES OF MEN!” (1 Cor. 7:23). Frequently, in groups employing such hyper-authoritarian practices, adherents codify their willful enslavement by signing biblically-prohibited “covenants” with their leaders that require them to effectively surrender their free-will unto their spiritual taskmasters and granting them the right to intervene in and make decisions regarding the mundane matters of their lives.

Authoritarian or spiritual abuse is one of the most widespread and troubling problems facing the Church today. Indeed, the truth is that ecclesiastical enslavement and exploitation is pandemic in many sectors of 21st Century Christendom, though those churches and ministries employing it go to great lengths to disguise and conceal it. Many of the perpetrators and proliferators of these spiritually repressive teachings and techniques are respected, and in some cases revered, spiritual leaders. Moreover these autocratic systems of religious hegemony are being imposed in church-groups espousing orthodox Christian beliefs, whose membership is comprised of a cross section of average Americans—individuals and families—of every race, education level, station, status, and vocation, rather than radical, fringe religious sects and cults as many uninformed people would suppose.

Though religious predomination is certainly nothing new, and hyper-authoritarianism is by no means limited to the Neo-Pentecostal branch of the Church, it has especially flourished in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal groups since it was infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of that branch of the Church in the early- to mid-seventies through the auspices of what became known as the “Discipleship or Shepherding Movement.” The doctrines and practices spawned in that false movement remain an integral part of the operations of many churches and groups yet today. Indeed, what many Neo-Pentecostals do not understand is that with the emergence of the plethora of “networks” now in existence, there is an invisible web of interrelated organizations that secretly control and direct everything substantive that goes on in the realm of Neo-Pentecostal churches, including “approving” or “blacklisting” ministers and leaders who refuse to submit to the secret “Charismatic chain-of-command.” Charismatic Captivation uncovers those secret organizations and reveals their surreptitious sordid, self-aggrandizing agenda.