A Moment of Delineation in the Body

It seems two factions are forming in the charismatic church world: 

1) those who want accountability for leaders and to defend the rights of abuse victims. 

2)those who want to protect celebrity preachers at the expense of victims by labeling anyone who comes against them an accuser. 

Of course, that would make Paul an accuser in 1 Cor 5. And invalidate 1 Timothy 3 and 5:19-20. I would not have said this four months ago because I tend to think that most people are seeking to live godly lives—not perfection but not horrible, secret, sexual sin—but I think that many of these people have their own scary skeletons and are terrified that they will be next. 

However, if it is the Lord who is exposing, the only thing one can do is get on their face and cry out for mercy. Who can resist the living God? 

"But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this…'" Rom 9:19. 

This is a real moment of delineation in the Body. 

There was a period over the past year when those who were seeking justice regarding the IHOPKC/Mike Bickle situation began to think that it would all be covered up. But again, if God is behind the exposure, who can hide? Little did they know that Tammy Woods had already realized that she had been a victim and was about to come forward...even as Bickle continued to send her damning evidence against himself (not realizing that she was no longer with him.) That was an irreversible moment in this whole situation.

If you have not followed this, Tammy Woods was 14 years old when Mike Bickle began to abuse her and convinced her that it was a consensual relationship. She believed that, up into her late 50s, when suddenly she understood that she had been groomed by a master manipulator. (GOD BLESS YOU TAMMY!!!)

For those hiding abusive sexual sin—the only way out is through the fear of the Lord, repentance, and restitution. You can't hide from the living God ... I can't hide from the living God! None of us can. But we can come clean and seek to make things right with victims. The more one digs in their heels and resists God, the more precarious their situation will become. The more leaders mock advocates as "accusers," the more they side with the actual accuser of the brethren.

There is forgiveness. No one is calling for leaders to be crucified, but one must deal honestly with the past.

A word about the accuser of the brethren

It is Satan himself, not human beings, that are accusers. Yes, of course he can work through people against the children of God. But the idea of the accuser of the brethren is that the enemy uses half truths or lies to condemn God’s people. Let me give you some examples.

• The enemy telling a stay-at-home mom that she is not valued because she doesn’t have a university degree.

• Or the opposite, the enemy planting thoughts inside a working mother's mind that she’s not a good mother because she has chosen to work.

• Tormenting someone over their weight or appearance, making them feel unvalued.

• Someone gives a prophetic word and senses the presence of the Lord in a powerful way while they’re giving the word, but when they get home, they begin to think that they were deceived and begin to feel ashamed.

• Someone sincerely repents of a sin, but the enemy continues to bring it back up.

Now let me share with you what it is not:

When a New Testament leader is caught in sexual sin and fellow leaders confront him and seek to hold him accountable according to 1 Timothy 3:1ff and 5:19-20, and instead of repenting or acknowledging that there was sexual sin, he tells them that they are being used by the accuser of the brethren. That is actually gaslighting. “I’m not the one in sin, you’re in sin through these horrible false accusations.”

Yesterday, it was reported in the Roys Report that Landon Schott, a megachurch pastor in Dallas, gave a five-minute diatribe at a pastor’s conference against the idea of holding leaders accountable. Now, of course, he did not say that he is against holding leaders accountable; honestly, it’s not clear what he was trying to say because, theologically, he was all over the place.

But at the end of blaming the accuser of the brethren, he had everyone there give a standing ovation to Dr. Michael Brown (and yes, this is very weird for me since I have held Dr. Brown in high regard and I’ve been friends with him for 40 years) as if he is a victim. In fact, he said, “Enough is enough of this gossip and slander.” Of course, he did not outline at all what the gossip or slander was. And as I have stated in the past, Dr. Brown privately confessed to me much of what he has been accused of. But instead of dealing with it, forthrightly, he appears to be finding sanctuary in the arms of those who will ignore victims like Sarah Monk and “Ray.”

Dr. Brown is currently under investigation for two different issues with women going back 23 years. He did not mention that Dr. Brown had been confronted by different people, including his own elders on at least nine different occasions over the past 23 years and has yet to deal with the allegations before any legitimate team of elders.

Mike Bickle got up in front of his IHOP community in October 2023, after already being accused privately, and pretended to speak for the Holy Spirit regarding the coming allegations. In other words, blaming the accuser of the brethren when one is being legitimately and credibly accused is a tactic of the enemy (the actual accuser of the brethren).

A former student (of Dr. Brown and myself) from the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, where I taught, asked me yesterday: “Ron, do you think the event in Texas today could have been a watershed moment where a decision was made in the halls of Heaven? I know it was just a conference, but watching it felt like I was witnessing a judicial hardening of hearts.”

I think this former student may be onto something. It was such a bold, blatant attack against those who expect leaders to live as they preach that it may well have been a hardening of the hearts. And that is terrifying. Dr Brown used to say, “The problem with deception is that it’s so deceiving.” I’m sure that many in the audience did not agree, and many who clapped will go back and watch that clip and understand that they were manipulated. It is very easy for a passionate preacher to manipulate an audience—very easy.

I do think we’re at a “watershed moment” in the charismatic world. I believe that God is seeking to bring reformation and raise up elderships that would enforce New Testament standards and protect victims of sexual abuse. There’s another wing, led by people like Pastor Landon Schott (and so many others that I won’t name), that sees holding leaders accountable for sexual sin as tragic.

I don’t know what their motives are. Part of it is they are jealous for the gift of God in the preacher—no doubt, God has invested a lot in those that he uses for his kingdom. Sometimes, it’s personal; the compromised preacher is their friend or mentor. Or maybe they’re just watching out for each other. But it’s also a test for the people of God—will they protect their favorite celebrity preacher and persecute the victim? Or will they seek to enforce New Testament standards?

Let me close here… enforcing New Testament standards does not mean excommunicating people. It doesn’t mean exiling or banishing pastors who sin. It means taking them through a process where they make restitution to the victim (of course if it is something illegal, they must face the authorities), repent to the victim, and before those to whom they ministered, and go through a season of restoration.

When I decided to take a stand on this issue, I was warned by the very person who received the standing ovation that my coming against him could hurt or even end my ministry. I told him, “Ministry is not an idol. I can live without being in ministry.” But for many people, their platform is everything. They cannot imagine living without it. In other words, ministry has become an idol to them. For some of them, they would rather cut off their right hand than lose their ability to be heard and applauded. But again, the goal is restoration. First to Jesus, and then, maybe, to ministry. We’ve said it before: the honor of ministering God’s word to people is not a right but a sacred privilege.

But let’s be clear: Nobody who is in the middle of being investigated for sexual sin by their own board should allow anyone to give them a standing ovation. Right?