It is an old tactic that sadly a lot of leaders have used for a long time that has allowed them to hide their sin and or at least questionable actions. I am sure this “gossip card” is one of the factors that allowed RC Sproul Jr. to get away with what he did for long. My mother died several years back, causing me great emotional pain, but I didn’t turn to alcohol to cope with that pain. I forgot to mention above, that the person being excommunicated is not present at the excommunication, because usually they’ve left the church by that point.
Reporting the Truth. Restoring the Church.
Sproul shouldn’t get the consequences of his actions, including the loss of his job. Enabling him will help kill him, and that is no kindness. As I quoted up the thread to Daisy, I have never said that R.C. Sproul Jr. should be enabled nor that he should be able to keep his job.
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We didn’t accept anymore invitations from RC after that. One of the difficulties of reporting something like this is that I wanted proof that wife spanking is taught before reporting on it. Everyone I’ve asked has said that we’re not going to find much evidence of wife spanking in print. The leaders who promote it are not dummies – they know there would be outrage if this kind of printed material got in the “wrong” hands. The lack of a Book of Church Order is emblematic of a broader problem.
In fact most drunk drivers are pulled over by the police not because they’re driving recklessly, but because they’re driving abnormally slow. They know they’re drunk so they slow way down, and this gives them away. I will say this if this was just a pew sitter he would have been gone years ago tossed on the trash heap. RC sr. would have pontificated from on high with that authoritative voice the nonsense he often says, like he does with science, which he knows next to nothing about. I have taken care of people with those types of disabilities for almost four decades. From the church folks, I knew, it was don’t bother us for the most part.
The spanking for the CDD crowd has an erotic element although they are loathe to admit it. You would not see any of them advocating blackening an eye or kicking the wife in the abdomen yet these are very common behaviors in true abusive, non-consensual marriages. If you have ever read some of the posts by the DD or CDD woman, it becomes readily apparent that they enjoy this lifestyle.
I assume you already know, Christ’s church isn’t a building or a place to park our butts on a pew. We can be His hands & feet to a hurting soul, we can listen without telling, we can confess our faults to others so they understand they are not alone, we can give anonymously to people & not tithe to a church. When asked we can offer suggestions where they might find help. Velour has been advocate for many hurting people here on this blog, offering prayer lists, & reminding people to give, if they can, to help those in need on TWW, also giving of her own resources. First off, I am not in a position of authority in a church, such as a pastoral position, so I don’t see this as being relevant to me as it is for someone such as Sproul Jr who works as a preacher.
I have not crossed that line to my knowledge. Bear in mind the differences between information, personal opinion and medical opinion. I would be interested in writing a post about. The accusations surrounding JR and his church.
Kind of off topic…but the word”defrocked” has always left me puzzled. If one was defrocked, how did they get frocked in the first place? I guess I don’t really know the meaning of the word amateurcommunity com and it’s not one I hear except I’m reference to minister’s or priests getting fired. R.C Sproul Jr was defrocked for spiritual abuse, identity theft, and other financial irregularities.
Skirt chasing can go along with it as well. Occasionally, there is the lone alcoholic who maintains stability but I don’t believe that is the norm. Some denominations have a structure under which an alcoholic pastor is removed and required to enter a program to address medical, psychological, and spiritual issues. The idea is to protect the congregation and also try to restore the clergy member to wholeness. Lisa claims that RC Jr “Has been dry since Nov. 29, 2016.” Lisa probably has little if any practical experience with alkies.
I have said nothing medical at all in any way. The difference, of course, is that the dementia patient can’t help it. My mother would ask me the same question over and over.
Maybe my white coat still hanging in the back of my closet may still have a blood stain which did not wash out. You want to hear the horror stories behind my fury? And I have contempt when people excuse and tolerate and make excuses for substance abuse of any kind; that helps no one. The solution to spiritual abuse isn’t to cast aside what the Bible commands the church to do, it’s to obey the Bible.
He will also get real psychological help for his children to work through the various traumatic experiences they have been through. Otherwise, there may well be avoidable tragedy in their futures. It appears that the message is that if we allow someone to that has no intention of repenting to go on like “business as usual”, we are NOT helping the person and it sends the wrong message to others. Look at Paul’s comment about “a little leaven”. Julie Anne and I have each explained our thoughts on the topic of this alcoholic pastor multiple times.