Human Trafficking in the Church — Part 10
Recognizing the Six Characteristics of the Religious Spirit of Babylon
The six characteristics of the religious spirit of Babylon are the same today as they were when they were first recorded in Scripture in Genesis 11.
3. Building an Empire (continued)
“Then they said, ‘Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves’—Genesis 11:4 (NLT)
An Encouraging Confirmation
Since I started writing this series on Human Trafficking in the Church, I have been wondering if my wording in some of these messages might have come across as too critical or too negative towards Church leadership. I love and admire good Christian leaders, and I would hate to think that my writings persuaded anyone to have a negative view of Church leadership. There may be areas where correction is needed, but Church leadership is given to us by God and is a very, very good thing when it is stewarded properly.
I was concerned with these thoughts last Sunday after I published the article entitled “Control Issues.” Just a few hours later, Paul Keith Davis posted this comment on his Facebook page which seemed to echo the message that I had just released:
“The guidance and oversight of a New Testament church should not require the use of a control spirit or manipulation by leadership for it to function. These are in direct contradiction to the standard of the Holy Spirit.
“People will follow character. Leaders are called in this day to lead by example. In that place, control, manipulation and political spirits are not needed or welcome.
“An impartation of God is coming to help us in this regard. All of us as part of God’s leadership need His help. David was mightily supported by God as we need to be. The Bible declares that the Lord,
“chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands.
— Psalms 78:70-72”
That post was a timely encouragement to me and seemed to confirm that these messages are needed, and that it is the right time to release them. Other voices in the Body of Christ seem to be in agreement. The abusive trafficking of God’s people by Christian leaders has got to stop. And believers need to be aware of the signs of spiritual human trafficking and free themselves from these situations in order to follow God’s calling on their lives.
“Come out of her, my people”—Revelation 18:4 (AMP)
Whose Church is it Anyway?
At some point, as he serves as overseer of a church or a Christian ministry, a spiritual human trafficker begins to think that he owns the organization. All leaders may be tempted to believe this. Human traffickers will adopt this as part of their belief system. Servant leaders will reject these temptations to claim ownership. John Wimber experienced this and immediately repented when he was corrected by God.
The Lord spoke to John Wimber on Mother’s Day in 1980 as he was leaving the church after the morning service. The Lord said, ”Tell that young man (Lonnie Frisbee) that he’s going to preach tonight.”
Wimber was not in the habit of allowing just anyone to preach. He was particularly concerned about Lonnie Frisbee because Wimber had heard that Frisbee was a little strange. So, Wimber questioned the Lord.
“Lord? You want me to have him preach?”
The Lord spoke very clearly to Wimber, “Yes.”
So Wimber approached Frisbee and asked, “Would you like to preach tonight?”
“Oh, Yeah!” Frisbee responded enthusiastically. “I’ve been waiting for the chance!”
Seeing Frisbee’s excitement, Wimber was immediately filled with dread. He agonized all afternoon as he anticipated the problems that this young man could cause. He took his feelings to the Lord.
“Oh, God! You got me into a mess! He’s going to mess my church up!”
And the Lord said, **“When did it become *****your ***church?”
Wimber immediately repented.
That night was the Mother’s Day service that changed everything for the church there in Yorba Linda, California.
It started out just as any other service. There was worship. Announcements were made. Lonnie Frisbee shared a nice Biblical message, but then he stopped. Shifting gears, Frisbee said that the Church had been offending the Holy Spirit for a long time, and that the Holy Spirit had been quenched.
“I think the Holy Spirit’s going to meet us tonight in a special way, so I want you to be in expectancy for a move of the Spirit of God.”
Then, after inviting everyone 25 years old and under to come forward, Frisbee simply said three words:
“Holy Spirit, come.”
Almost immediately, the Spirit of God came in power.
Without that Mother’s Day service, we might never have heard of The Vineyard movement that has since had a worldwide impact, changing lives around the world.
That move of the Holy Spirit might never have happened if the pastor, John Wimber, had not been willing to yield control and to allow another believer — who was not even in a position of leadership — the freedom to lead that meeting so that God could be free do do what He wanted to do in His church.
Making Merchandise of You
It can start in very subtle ways, but spiritual human traffickers, just like slave owners, can begin to believe they own the lives of the people in their organizations. It may sound hard to believe, but it happens all the time in Christian churches and ministries. Christian leaders can come to a point in which they believe that their church titles or positions give them rights to do what they want with people’s time, their possessions, and the people themselves.
Jesus addressed this very sternly with the religious leaders of His time.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you swallow up widows’ houses, and to cover it up you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation.”—Matthew 23:14 (AMP)
There is an interesting phrase used in 2 Peter 2:3:
**“**And through covetousness shall they with feigned words **make merchandise **of you” (KJV)
That word that is translated “make merchandise,” is only used one other time in the Bible. In James 4:13, it is translated “buy and sell.”
That word in the original language means “to use a person or a thing for gain.”
This is the essence of human trafficking. Human traffickers use people in order to enrich themselves and to benefit their organizations. It happens in churches and Christian ministries just as it does in secular society.
I once belonged to a church in which the pastor and his wife seemed to feel that they owned the lives of the people in that church. They seemed to feel that they had the right to ask us for anything at any time — or to just take it without asking.
During the time I was at the church, this pastor and his wife demonstrated this over and over again. They unapologetically phoned me when I was busy at work. They took my things without asking. They rescheduled my time and committed me to activities without asking me. I experienced many other things that crossed boundaries over and over again. They seemed to assume that they owned the rights to my life and my possessions.
I would compare this pastor and his wife to neighbors who don’t recognize property boundaries, and who just come into your home and garage, look over what you have, and take what interests them.
Once I was walking through a town with the two of them and one other minister when the pastor’s wife turned to me and told me (not asked me) to give her some money. In justifying this, she explained to the other minister, “It’s alright to take money from him.”
In picking a restaurant, the pastor asked his wife where she would like to eat. Then the wife asked him what his preference was. I was expecting them to then turn to me and ask my preference. That never happened. Evidently, I was only there to be used when I had something that they wanted. My preferences were of no interest to them.
When another professional minister joined us, this professional minister was greeted warmly by the pastor and introduced to his wife. That’s where the introductions stopped. Evidently, the pastor felt that there was no need to introduce someone like me to a real professional. It was remarkable to see just how little I mattered as a person in the eyes of this couple.
“My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”—James 3:10 (KJV)
This lack of consideration extended into ministry. This pastor repeatedly interrupted my times of personal ministry with broken people who had great needs. Regrettably, I had to enforce some boundaries that would limit this abuse.
I finally told them that I would never travel with them again. It was not an easy decision, but I finally felt that the ministry opportunities were not worth the abuse. The pastor’s wife objected. “This is not of God!” she texted me. Evidently, believers have no rights to make their own choices in this couple’s empire.
Not surprisingly, they are no longer pastoring a church.
“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My flock from them and make them stop tending the flock, so that the shepherds cannot feed themselves anymore. I will rescue My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.’”—Ezekiel 34:10 (AMP)
In contrast, at the end of Samuel’s ministry, he could stand before the people of Israel and say with integrity that he had never taken anything from them or exploited them in any way.
“As for me, I am old and gray, and here are my sons with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and [Saul] His anointed [if I have done someone wrong]. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes [to the truth]? [Tell me and] I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us or taken anything at all from a man’s hand.” Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you, and [Saul] His anointed is a witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is a witness.” — 1 Samuel 12:2-5 (AMP)
Every leader will have to choose whether to follow the example of Saul, and use people as if he owns them; or to follow the example of Samuel, leading with integrity and giving his life in service of the people he oversees.
**Reference: **
Wimber, John. (2013, January 23). The spirit comes: Mothers day 1980. YouTube. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=152QAi79Y-c
