"If you are a leader in the religious culture and you struggle with pornography or some sexual temptation you fear being accountable because you are probably going to be fired. Yet the door to deliverance is confession fellowship, and accountability. The challenge is when a religious leader pulls a Peter, the religious crowd calls for justice and not reconciliation. There's peer pressure to call for the head of any leader who falls because we want everyone to know we are tough on crime. It somehow validates our own sense of righteousness not realize we have joined the self-righteous stone throwers of America club and then wonder why our leaders are unaccountable." - Kris Vallotton
Sigh. Mike Bickle sexually abused at least three women, ages 14, 15 and 19 respectively. He ruined their lives on many levels and there appears to be several others. People who correctly state this, are not "stone throwers." I want you to follow the inane logic being offered here. So, if only Bickle felt he could have told someone he was fooling around with minors and felt that they would only want to reconcile with him, he would not have acted like this for forty years with multiple women? What planet are you on Kris? Going to a teenager's high school as her boyfriend when you are married and an adult, is not only creepy but it is not a "struggle." Lustful thoughts are a struggle. Breaking the law with minors is not. Telling different women that God said his wife was going to die so they could be together as a means to sexually abuse them is not a struggle. It is not about being tough on crime or whatever other stupid analogy you want to use. It is about right and wrong. It is about a predator and his victims. You remember the victims, Kris? Don't you?
"I think there is an epidemic of unaccountable leaders. I propose this is an ecosystem of punishment and shame. What happens in a culture of punishment and shame is that when you tell somebody that you struggle as a leader then you spend the next several months hoping that nobody powerful in the organization finds out that you are struggling because likely you will be removed. And what happens when I live without confession, without fellowship, without accountability is a begin to move into shame. And when I move into shame, I remove myself from fellowship and when I remove myself from fellowship that thing grows within me.
It's a culture. It's a culture of shame. It's a culture of justice. Where somehow when we see a leader with a struggle and maybe finally a fall, it just makes us feel righteous when we get in the fray and make sure they get what they have coming to them. I want to point out that fallen leaders are not entertainment to watch. They are a tragedy to intercede for." - Kris Vallotton
Let me see if I got this right. Mike Bickle is a tragedy to intercede for? Not his victims? Shouldn't he be removed Kris? It is not punishment, it is accountability. The point Vallotton keeps missing is accountability has consequences. Realize what he is arguing for here. A man built a million-dollar ministry preaching holiness that he claims was started by a vision given to him by God and confirmed through two other prophets. Now we have discovered that this man was lying the entire time. He had sexually inappropriate relationships for years with at least three different women. One started when the girl was 14 and he was a 20-year-old intern. Years later, after he was married, the second one started when the victim was 15. Years later, the third started when the victim was 19 and Bickle was 42 and still married. He lied to all three. He told of false prophecies where God allegedly showed him his wife would die so that he and the victim could be together. Oh, and there are probably a lot more victims. Oh, and the two other prophets? Yeah, they were false and sexual predators too. Vallotton is arguing that this person, is a victim of an ecosystem of punishment and shame, who somehow should not be removed from ministry? Wow. Listen up Kris. There is no one looking at this freak show debacle that damages the witness for Christ, scattering victims across Missouri, and vaguely thinking it is entertainment.
"We think we have to know all the details, why? What's you point? We watch a fallen leader like we are watching a movie. We cry out for all the details. And let's put it on the Internet so the world can see how our fallen leaders are dealt with. I would like to point out that that's a culture of justice. Its funny but this is not a new pattern. In Mark chapter 16 Mary runs into the tomb and you know the story. The angel says to go tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus had risen from the dead. Why did the angel say and Peter? Because the disciples had already excommunicated him because he had a fall. I am pointing out that if you treat people who had a fall or are dealing with temptation like someone who can't come into camp anymore and then wonder why so many people fall, I am pointing out that unless you have a culture where people can tell you about their struggles, you're not going to have a culture of accountability." - Kris Vallotton
Please. I am begging you Kris, put the bible down. What you engage in perpetually is scriptural assault. There is no indication that the disciples had ex communicated Peter. Just stop. The significance of saying "and Peter", is to highlight the wondrous grace of God's forgiveness. By the way, I am not saying people who sin cannot come into camp anymore but maybe they should not be the camp leader? Maybe we should also pay attention to 1Corinthians 5, when Paul instructs the church to expel the sinful member? That was just a member! Not the leader! You cannot claim to be for accountability but against the truth and justice. It doesn't work that way. We strive to know the details because Bickle has lied about them and the IHOP leadership has tried to cover it up.
"If you're fortune 50 CEO and you have an adulterous relationship or struggle with porn or some kind of fall, you could still be the head of the company. You could be the head of pretty much anything except being a religious leader. Listen, I understand religious leaders should be under stricter judgment I am just saying that if I am a CEO I do not have to worry about telling someone and worry about losing my job. How many know it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance." - Kris Vallotton
Yes, the fact that God is kind, and merciful does lead us towards repentance but not before we stand accountable Kris. God is always just. Your analogy is a poor one. Why are we comparing leaders in God's church to carnal, unsaved business leaders? The CEO doesn't worry because he does not know God. The religious leader, should know God. They should fear God. They should know that the real problem is not losing your job, which is not a birthright, but never having been saved and thus being consigned to hell. More importantly as we are almost through this sermon, where is ANY consideration for the victims? Like Strang and many before him, this has been all viewed through the lens of protecting the wolf instead of worrying about the sheep.
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