"People start passing judgment and let me warn you that scripture says whatever judgment you use will be used to measured back to you." - Robbie Dawkins
Let us first deal with the red herring argument about passing judgment. I have seen very few people passing eternal judgment upon Mike Bickle even though it is completely fair to say that he was clearly never saved. Correctly saying that Mike Bickle is a predator is not passing judgment. Correctly saying that he abused multiple women and children is not passing judgment. Correctly saying he is a false prophet who never hard from God is not passing judgment. These are all verified facts. The scriptural point he tries to make is his core message throughout and highlights how little Robbie Dawkins understands about scripture. I have included this scripture fragment with the entire context in the key verses today. Now, what are these verses saying? What is Jesus trying to teach us? Are these verses teaching about judgment? No, they are not. They are in fact teaching about hypocrisy. How can we be so sure? Because it does not suggest that we leave the speck in our brother's eye but rather remove it after we have dealt with our own hypocrisy. To properly apply it to Bicklegate, Jesus is saying that if you are a minister who likes to sexually abuse minors by lying about prophecies regarding your wife dying, you should not be judging the Mike Bickle situation. Why? Because that same measure stands against you!
Dawkins actually gives a decent example in Jimmy Swaggart, who was very critical about Jim Bakker when he fell. Turned out Swaggart liked to go to prostitutes, so that measure was still out there waiting for him when he criticized Bakker for his immorality. That fits these verses. The Mike Bickle situation does not. For some strange reason, Dawkins presents a tortured defense of Bakker, claiming he was unable to "perform" so he did not actually have sex. Is that really the point? Dawkins claims Bakker was set up by a fellow minister but it seems the source he relies on, is Bakker! Dawkins then launches into a very personal story about his own father, a minister, who had multiple affairs on his mother. It was touching to hear that his mom forgave his father, even after multiple lies with multiple women, spanning multiple years. At the end however, Dawkins says that decision was only his mom's, not yours and woe be unto you for passing judgment, as it was only his mom's place to do so. The comparison of the situations was interesting. One of the reasons why his father was able to have these multiple affairs was he never faced proper removal from ministry for the first offense. I know that we all want to sing kumbaya with the wolves in the sheep pen but the bible actually says they are disqualified. Once again, calling his father an adulterer is not passing judgment. Dawkins then cites the following verses:
Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. - 1Timothy 5:19-20 (ESV)
Based on these verses, Dawkins makes some ridiculous statements. The first of which being that everyone has value to God, the victims and the perpetrator. Now technically, this might be true but is this really the place to be selling this? It just goes back to one of the opening points here which is why all the love for wolf and none for the slaughtered sheep? Can Mike Bickle find Christ and be saved? Absolutely. Should we pray for it? Sure, no problem. But that's it. Goodbye Mike. Disqualified from ministry and IHOP needs to shutter its doors. Then Dawkins goes back to his signature bullying and warnings for anyone who might be willing to speak the truth. He says that the church wants to know all of the gross details of everyone's sins and that he worries for those who feel this way because again, shame is Satan's game. So, Dawkins is trying to shame everyone who might want to know what happens, by claiming shame is Satan's game. Look, the bottom line is we do not want to know the specific details of the sins, but rather the general notion of what happened, with whom, and when. Remember, people tried to go to Bickle for the truth and they were lied to and gaslit. It only came to this point when the people realized their supposed religious leaders cared more about protecting the brand than protecting the sheep.
Dawkins then regales us with another personal story when he was 24 years old and working at a mega church. One night God woke him up, stood him up, and audibly said, "make war." He didn't know what that meant but felt an imaginary sword in his hand that he started swinging and the God said, "speak in tongues" As he was mumbling gibberish, God said you haven't spoken in tongues in the three years since you came to this church. Huh? He then told another story about how a minister had fallen and asked him to stand with him through it. Then it was revealed he had other multiple affairs and Dawkins had to retract his support by saying he didn't know! That's the entire point Robbie! Maybe if you had listened to people discerning you would not have found yourself so compromised. It is the same lessons people like Dr. Michale Brown are grappling with to this day regarding Bickle. Not content with the browbeating he has engaged in so far, Dawkins advises victims to not seek revenge because that is God's business. Like the problem in Bicklegate are those pesky victims seeking all that revenge. This is not only tone-deaf but it is cruel. Dawkins tries to sound wise by declaring that of course the victims need to be heard but qualifies it as so:
"I agree the victims need to be heard but only by the right people, the right leadership. We need to protect people who have a calling on their lives by making a way for them to be restored. Not to abuse again, but to walk in wholeness. To walk in health. Mike Bickle has written that his father sexually abused people, even in his family. Maybe that affected Mike. We need to show compassion and to see him come to the place of repentance but also to come to the place of healing. I would encourage Mike to get a good counselor, lay it all bare." - Robbie Dawkins
I would say this is disgusting but we have been through this before with other Bickle backers. Who were the "right people" Robbie? Who were the "right leaders?" Was it the IHOP leaders who lied to them, smeared the victims, called the advocates liars? Was it Dr. Brown who told them to grow up? Was it Steven Strang who said they were trying a coup of Mike, called this all a nasty church fight, and falsely declared Bickle exonerated in December? This is the same tired angle Dr. Brown tried by saying that because they had set up a place for the victims to go tell their stories, everyone else should shut up. Except they didn't really do that. Corrupt leadership is primarily corrupt. They are not leaders let alone the right ones. Even though the wolves hide their sins in the dark, there is nothing wrong with the victims shouting it from the rooftops. Why are we tying their need for healing to restoring the wolf? This is beyond disgusting.
