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| Interns at the Week of the Ring Celebration Dinner |
I am writing this series of posts in
response to a wounded group of former HA interns that assert the
Honor Academy is a cult. Like Absalom who hired a group of young men
to run before his chariot and proclaim his importance (2 Sam 15.1-3),
they've also found supporters to bolster their claims. They claim
that HA's leaders use coercion, emotional abuse, conditional
acceptance and a twisted gospel message to corral and control the
Interns each year. They were wounded during their time on the Teen
Mania Ranch, and unwilling to address their pain, they choose to
attack what they believe is the source of their perceived lack of
value.
Deep in our souls is the desire to be
accepted, and its written into our souls to draw us into redemptive
community, and into relationship with our Creator. When mankind fell,
that desire became an inescapable force, a black hole around which
the human race orbits for all time. Some surrender to the pull, get
pulled into the vortex of Christ's love. They find life, real Life.
Others fight God's pull all there lives, and become bitter and
broken, shells of broken space junk stuck in an orbit that is neither
fruitful nor eternally fulfilling. At the core of the struggle is
this pull between acceptance and approval. The world tells me that I
am only valued when I produce, or fit in. God's kingdom is exactly
the opposite. We are valued because of Who made us. We bear his
image, and as his child I am free to work and build the kingdom in
the image of His Son placed deep in my soul.
Yet we lose our bearings if the lines
between these two messages get blurred. It's dangerous to set a young
adult on fire with a message of “you are accepted, approved and
valuable only when you complete this list of stuff.” True cults
are built on this message. They invariably leave a trail of emotional
and spiritual wreckage in their wake.
Mixing these two messages is like
giving a young adult his first case of beer and keys to the family
car on a Friday night. The combination will eventually end in
disaster. Maybe not the first time . . . maybe not with every
drinking driver. But we've seen the cars , news broadcasts . . . and
the bodies. A foreseeable future arrives, and lives are never the
same when drinking and driving lead to tragic results.
The Recovering Alumni bloggers have
accepted this lie, that approval and acceptance are intertwined with
accomplishment, and they accuse the Honor Academy leaders for
teaching them. Yet this twisted, emotionally harmful culture is not
taught or lived at Teen Mania. I watched my son face his failures,
struggle with personal habits, and choose to follow Teen Mania's
strict personal standards. He learned that he is accepted, regardless
of his performance. At the same time, he was given tools that when
used, bring about spiritual transformation and personal growth in
God's kingdom.
The farmer who plants the seeds can't
take credit for the fruit at harvest. God caused the growth. But he
directly affects how fruitful his harvest become by the things that
he does. This is the message my son learned at the Honor Academy,
and what I believe is the message of the gospel. Salvation is free
and God's acceptance is unconditional. This is the message of the gospel, and taught the Honor Academy. Personal discipleship and
fruitfulness require a high personal cost. This is the lifestyle learned by interns through example, high standards, and the encouraging expectations placed on them by the HA staff.
Having personally sat thru countless honor council cases (where an intern violates a rule or a moral standard on campus and is brought before a panel of peers to bring the situation to light and then present the case to the Discipline Manager for a final decision) I can say that definitively that the HA never outcasts someone due to their failures. Many intern men go on a growth plan every year because they look at pornography during their year. Are they ostracized or "cast out?" By no means! Rather they are loved and encouraged to follow a plan that helps to lead to freedom from bondage to sexual sin.
ReplyDeleteAs a part of the body of Christ, Honor Academy's first reaction to sin is to seek to help the individual and never to shame them. I have seen cases where the dorm manager, core adviser and discipline manager all want freedom for the individual more than the individual does! The heart of compassion I the leadership is beyond me. It's of God.
My heart goes out to the RA bloggers. I'm sincerely sorry that you were hurt by this imperfect ministry in the past. To be completely honest, Teen Mania is imperfect today as well! In fact, it is going to be imperfect until Jesus comes back to rule this earth.
ReplyDeleteRather than slinging-mud at past hurts, could we please reconcile and partner together to make His Name great? Are you about that as well? Or are you simply bent on taking down a ministry that is trying to do it's best to disciple, mentor and grow young people and who's purpose is NEVER to harm or hurt them. Yes, it might happen, and we can all wish and pray and hope that it never will, but it IS a reality that it might. A sad, sad reality of this life on earth.
There is no ministry on earth that people don't walk away from hurt at times. Human leaders lead every one of them. Even the legendary Keith Green's Last Day Ministries ministry hurt people. You can read about them in his biography by his wife. There was one woman in particular who was VERY offended by Keith and Melody Green and for years they didn't talk,
BUT
what was the difference? After Keith's death the woman came back and talked it out with Melody and it was made right. A broken relationship was made whole and healing was brought to the woman's heart and LDM continues to minister to people. Hallelujah!
I'm convinced that not a single ministry that is focused on loving Jesus and making His name great has a perfect track record of perfect experiences with everyone who came through their program. IHOP, YWAM, Mercy Ships, Bethel, any and all of them have hurt people at one point or another. Not because it was their intention in ANYWAY, but it simply happened as a result of sin on this earth and human failure.
Please look at Teen Mania through the same lens. For all the good we're striving to do, come alongside us, make the mistakes plain, let us work through them with you and we can all be stronger and healthier as one body of Christ, unified towards working towards the goal of making His Name great rather than attacking the imperfections that plague every ministry.
Know that we pray for you and bless you. God will work it all out for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purposes. May God bless your lives, RA Bloggers and fill you with increasing measures of His love. That you might know how high and how wide and how deep and how long is His love for you.
I know that we can't all agree on every doctrinal point and practice of everything. But let's unify around this: our faith in Jesus Christ. Let us be humble and patient with each other, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4.
In Him,
Matt
Wendy, I read your first reply, and didn't post it because it simply isn't complete, or accurate. In order for healing to happen between the RA bloggers and TMM, there has to be honesty, humility, and a desire to reconcile on all sides. And I think that both you and I, as believers who deal with these issues regularly, and who are standing in the middle . . . we can see that the same attitude doesn't exist on both sides.
ReplyDeleteI would like to comment on part of your response. You asked: "Timothy, is this really fair: "the Recovering Alumni bloggers have accepted this lie...?"
Yes, it is fair for me to say this, because I accepted the same lie earlier in my Christian walk. I was sure that God accepted me conditionally. I attacked valid and godly ministries, not because of their teaching, but because of how I heard everything though my own damaged self-image. As a psychologist, I know you see this often as you counsel others. Our woundedness makes us open to a message, a lie that the Devil whispers that we really aren't OK, and we have to perform to be accepted.
I labored under that lie for decades. Only after I dealt with my own bitterness, unforgiveness and honestly accepted my own failures was I able to find healing, and release. My heart is broken for the RA bloggers too. My prayer is that they stop yelling about the speck in someone else's eye, and ask Jesus to help them with their own plank so they can find and offer forgiveness.
Blessings
Timothy
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThere's been a bit of confusion over my title. The point of the title is to draw attention to the lie that we have to earn God's love and approval. Let me reiterate - I believe Salvation is free & God's love is unconditional.
ReplyDeleteThere is a second question, a different question, one that speaks to Christian discipleship. Our choices after we are saved, our level of obedience, and the level of devotion we are willing to unconditionally commit to following our Savior, these choices will affect our fruitfulness. These choices also affect the level of influence God gives to us, whether or not we live in the power of his Spirit. Our choices don't affect God's love for us. (Romans 8.1 & 38-9) But I agree wholeheartedly with D. Hasz, that "A life of moral excellence helps you to know God better." (2 Peter 1.5-11, Jer 29.12-13)
Blessings
Tim
Tim-- Replying to comments without publishing them is very poor blog etiquette. It's perhaps worth noting that Recovering Alumni regularly allows dissenting comments, while pro-TM blogs regularly censor them. As How Cults Work says, "Legitimate groups have nothing to fear from their members reading critical information about them."
DeleteI'm glad that you are honest enough both to acknowledge that Dave Hasz teaches that "A life of moral excellence helps you to know God better" and to confirm that you agree with it. However, many Christians who believe that our relationship with God is not contingent on our good works (2 Peter 1:2; Colossians 2:6, 2:20-23) have been very concerned to know that Teen Mania and their followers affirm this doctrine.
Note that this doctrine is specifically refuted in the Scriptures: "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Galatians 3:5) I will continue to pray both for those who believe this lie and those who teach it.
Hey Eric: As for blog etiquette, if you look back, you'll see dissent published here, including yours. But this isn't a forum to slander, or wage an ongoing verbal battle. I've had posts approved on RA bloggers sites, and some others not approved. The bottom line is - the blog owner makes the call.
DeleteAs for replying to comments that aren't fully posted, I quoted the part of the Duncan's comment in full that was applicable to my response. That is a journalistic standard.
As for doctrine, no one at HA is teaching that you earn salvation. It's a gift, forever free, and one that we can enter into by faith and grace - which also gifts that have their source in God's love. Nonetheless, when we carry the name of Christ, we are supposed to do life differently, and separate ourselves from the world in the moral fiber of our lives, and in the way we treat each other. (2 Cor 6.17) Peter tells us that we are a holy nation, a chosen people, Jesus challenges us to be complete, holy, mature and whole, and John tells us to leave sin behind. (1 John 1.6-9)
Finally, Paul tells us that as believers, our 'house' is filled with vessels that are suited for common uses, and holy used. He goes on to say: "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." (2 Tim 2.20-21)
Paul is teaching Timothy, someone he is bringing up for ministry, that Timothy has to choose to live a life of moral excellence if he wants to be a person prepared for good work. We're not talking about salvation, or earning God's love or favor. We are talking about being a person through whom God can work to bring glory to Himself.
I will join you praying for those who teach that salvation is earned through our good works, and also for those who've been wounded by that false idea.
Thanks for the clarification, Tim. That corresponds to much of what I've observed about Teen Mania's theology over the years.
DeleteAs I mentioned, many Christians would strongly disagree with that (in fact, under its proper name, Semi-Pelagianism, it was formally condemned as heresy by the early church). It is beginning by the Spirit but trying to finish by means of the flesh (Galatians 3:3). According to Scripture, although we do need moral excellence to serve God, it comes not from me choosing to do moral works but from God freely giving it to me (2 Peter 1:2-3).
This has a great deal of bearing on salvation, because Colossians 2:6-- "As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him"-- indicates that the way we live our Christian walk reflects what we believe about salvation. As Spurgeon said, it's either all of grace or none of grace. So ultimately, there is no practical distinction between this idea and the one you rightly flag as cultic.
That said, it is good to know where Teen Mania stands, since in the past they have done a lot of concealment of their actual teachings. Increased transparency is always a plus, even though I don't like what it brings to light! I appreciate you taking the time to respond.
Timothy,
ReplyDeleteCan you please expand on your mention of 'true cult?' I'd like to see a real definition and not a cursory mention.
Sure, scroll back, and see my posts from Oct 2011. I wrote 3 or 4 detailed descriptions of cults, and referenced the sources to these definitions.
ReplyDelete