Grace Reset

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

1 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people.[b] I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?

There is a phenomenon happening right now in the American Charismatic Church. It’s happening right before my eyes, most of us know about it and are filled with grief, fear, and uncertainty because of its happening. Yes, on the surface it does appear to be tragedy, or maybe even crisis. Though as this phenomenon continues to unfold and as I continue to watch with confusion, shock, and awe, I can’t help but believe that this is the very thing that needed to happen in order for God to take His Church in the west to where it needs to be before His glorious return.

What is this phenomenon? What is this grief stricken movement that has been taking place since what seems like 2020?

Most of the secular world has been watching in real-time the exposure of corruption among celebrities and political figures. At the same time, the Church (especially Charismatics) has also watched the exposure of many key Charismatic leaders who were once revered, as truly wolves in sheep's clothing. It’s been heartbreaking, for the last 5 years as almost every calendar quarter comes, the news shares that a prominent leader or pastor in the Charismatic Church at large has been caught red-handed taking advantage of congregants and followers. I’m not talking about leaders who make a mistake, publicly repent, and then go through a process of restoration. I’m talking about leaders that have spent a lifetime of building ministries while living in an egregious lifestyle of sin and deception. I’m talking about leaders who refuse to repent for their abuse and expect everyone to look the other way while permitting them to carry on in their ministry without accountability. 

Speaking for myself, it has been gut wrenching to discover that leaders I once looked up to, are exposed as deviants and manipulators who prospered greatly from the ministries they were called to lay their lives down for. Some of these leaders created systems within their followings that led innocent and pure hearted disciples of Christ into places of vulnerability where they could be easily preyed upon and abused by said leaders in the faith. I feel like my jaw has been on the floor for 5 years, as over and over again leaders I looked up to are caught, then lie to cover it up, then are caught lying, and are condemned by evidence that corroborates the accusation. It’s almost too much and too fast all at the same time to be true. But it is, and we are all left reeling.  

I know many of us are grieving, and have been left feeling disenchanted. I too am angry, deeply hurt, and feel completely betrayed. How could these people who were looked up to as the models of Godly living do such atrocious things. How could they get away for so long, imposing so much hurt on the people they were supposed to be healing? Why would they do that? Why would God allow it for so long?

These are all fair and genuine questions to ask. They are questions that need to be answered not in broad strokes in the format of a blog like this, but instead in local Churches by real Pastors not fixated on building a brand. Small groups are another safe place for discussion with leaders who genuinely care for the people they are leading. Through prayer we are also able to seek the Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide us through pain, grief, and the anger of watching these leaders fall from grace. In saying all that, these leaders are human, and therefore are fallen. While the grace of God enabled them to do, say, and minister in incredible ways we can still use and glean from today, despite their behavior, we should also never forget that they are products of the environment that we (the American Church) built. Just like Samson was a man who in Grace did incredible things for God, but because he was still a man he was also a product of his upbringing  and culture in a lawless oppressed time in Israel history. Thus while Samson was certainly anointed he also had awful character and morals that caused great pain in many people, which is the real point of my blog. We are watching in real-time a Grace Reset. God is exposing and tearing down a toxic Church culture. Ministries were built on the false godless altar of Christian celebritism so that He can rebuild His Church and commission His Church leaders solely from His grace. The last 50 years or so the Charismatic Church (which was founded from a simple yet pure desire to live from a literal interpretation of Scripture), that has been actively pursuing the gifts of the Spirit, the view of apostolic appointment and Church leadership has now lost its way. We’ve turned ministries into brands to build and Church leaders into Christian Celebrities. Which is, in fact, an oxy-moron. You cannot be commissioned with the task of making Jesus and His gospel famous while simultaneously trying to build a “ministry brand” and make yourself famous preaching Jesus’s gospel. It’s grotesque, but the truth is, we are all complacent in this cultural Church scandal. The proverbial blood is on all of our hands. We have allowed the culture of the world to determine the culture of the Church. Fully knowing the culture of the world is a snake eating its own tail. We did it anyway. All of us are guilty of being addicted to celebrity preachers, new ministries, new events, and new teachings. We say things like; we are believing for revival, when what we really mean is we are believing for public exposure exaltation for the ministry we are affiliated with. We follow teachers online we will never meet, never know, never will allow ourselves to be held accountable by, or never know if they are being held accountable themselves. We go to conferences to be filled up, but never serve or sacrifice in our local Church’s. We gorge ourselves on teaching after teaching, but we stay the same. We don’t allow Grace to transform us. We don’t demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. We are not different from those in the world. We are like them. We are consumers, eagerly awaiting the next big thing. Celebrating our favorite ministry brand or celebrity behind the pulpit. Not laying our lives down for the Glory of Jesus but jonesing another feel-good Church event or experience. 

God has clearly said, NO MORE. The last 5 years has been an exposure of all the hypocrisy in the western Charismatic Church, which is the sect of the evangelical Christian Church I was saved in and the Church I love. Despite all the angst and grief, I am choosing to be grateful for what Jesus is allowing to happen. We need this Grace Reset. We need to go back to honoring leaders not because of their personality and gifting, but because they lay their life down to minister to us while they are with us. We need to commit to the local Church not because we are entertained by their brand but because it’s where we are called to serve and sacrifice. The system of Church that we call normal now, attracts narcissistic leaders who excel when they wow their followers. Their followers are not concerned with being led by leaders who are committed with healthy character, or held accountable and surrendered to grace. The system we have now honors the best story tellers, the best speakers, the most exciting new thing. This is not what Jesus died to establish. This is not what Jesus told Peter He was going to build. In fact it’s become the opposite. It’s crazy, and again, I am grateful that we are being woken up and given the opportunity to reset in His Grace. 

I know this feels like I have ranted (sorry not sorry). You have read and endured the ranting this far (for which I applaud you), but this cannot be said in a few words. If we want to move forward in this year of Grace, then yes, we need to prepare for the acceleration of favor, but also not forget that grace transforms and never leaves us the same. We will move forward with great speed, but we also have to stop expecting the status quo or the old way of doing Church that we have been brought up in. So here is a fun little list of things that are not acceptable if you are a Bible believing Christian in the year 2025. 

1. Allowing an online minister to chart the course of your spiritual growth without ever actually meeting that person or examining the fruit of their lives on a day to day basis. Of course, enjoy their teaching and allow it to push you into the Scripture and new revelations in the Holy Spirit. Enjoy listening, watching etc., but online observation and consumption will never be the same as being in a real life relationship with the minister that is charged with discipling you. While we are at it, if you have never allowed yourself to be discipled by someone in real life, then you probably have subconsciously decided that you don’t want grace to transform you. You rather be entertained in the name of Jesus. 

2. A leader that will not allow themselves to be held accountable is not a strong leader. That is a narcissist with a secret they do not want other people to discover. Read that over again… No one is exactly who they portray themselves to be in public. We all need to be held accountable.

3. As a believer, being filled at Church only works if you are allowing Jesus to pour you back out in the world around you. Some of us are stuck in our faith because of our addiction to consumption. It has made us spiritually fat and dull to the world around us who we are called to reveal the saving love of Christ to.

4. Revival is not an event we pray for, it's something that naturally occurs when the Church operates as it should. When transforming in holiness, reaching the lost, and living generously with one another is the goal, Grace is released in greater measure and the world around us changes (read Acts 2). Yes, prayer is effective and we should pray for any and everything, but first and foremost we should pray, “Lord remove from me anything that is holding me back from living as I am called to live”.

This is a short list of some of the main points. There is so much more ranting I could do. I digress, and I thank you for always being patient and gracious with me. I am fully aware of my humanity, and that at my worst, I am fully capable of letting any and all of us down.

So my pledge to you is simple. I will always be a Pastor subject to accountability. I will never use the Gospel as a means for self promotion. I will always place Jesus at the center of every decision we make as a Church body. I will recognize this call to ministry is not a call to perform, but to lay my life down to see others find life in our wonderful Savior, Jesus. If you ever see me demonstrate otherwise, say something. Let’s embrace this season of exposure in the west as an opportunity for self reflection and to Reset in God’s Grace. 

Love, 

Pastor John