LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Assignment Title: Problems and Challenges facing the understanding of the Bible
Course: CHMN 699 - Internship
Student: Kristine Sage
Date: January 29, 2022
Professor: Dr. Joel Breidenbaugh
Problems
The public allegations of damage within Arise cumulatively illuminate areas where this biblical
understanding of the church as people seems to have given way to a DNA that puts the institution front
and centre, though those with positive experiences will understandably not view it like this. Regardless
of the truth of the allegations, or the precise cause, individuals have clearly been left experiencing
damage and harm. In our churches, how people have experienced things should always be a concern for
us.
Arise is perceived by many primarily as an organisation, institution, and calendar of events; all
existing to foster continuous numerical growth in every facet of the organisation. It appears that an
overwhelming desire to grow and enhance the institution may have led to the damage of some Christ-
followers – people within Arise who were committed to Christ and willing to serve. This point cannot be
emphasised enough, in this context and the context of any church with such experiences, those who
have shared stories of their own brokenness and damage are people who love(d) Jesus and wanted to
serve him and the church they were or are part of. This problem is not exclusive to Arise. Stories shared
publicly demonstrate that this has happened in a number of churches of varying sizes. Nor is it a new
phenomenon. My own life experience involves countless conversations with many people from different
churches with similar experiences over a number of years, often to the detriment of their faith. There is
no worthwhile excuse for it. It is heartbreaking. Each of these people was and is a gift, not a resource. If
we understand the church to be those gathered by virtue of their commitment to Christ, then the
defence of those who have followed Christ and have been damaged by a relentless desire to grow our
institutions, is a defence of the church, not an attack. It should be noted that Christ identifies with the
lowly, Christ challenged religious culture that pushed people down. Christ himself became a victim.
In paying attention to the stories of those who talk of being damaged as a result of certain cultures
and practices within the organisation, in being willing to listen to their pain and hurt as Arise has publicly
sought to do, even though it may be distressing to do so, there is the potential for change and
reconciliation. By engaging in a public process of listening Arise opened the door for this to happen.
There is a chance to more faithfully embody Christ in the world as the church of Jesus – a relational
community of love. This cannot happen as long as people work to defend themselves from the voices of
the hurt, something we often instinctually do within our organisations as an act of self-defence. I
commend Arise Church for what it set out to do in response to hurt that had been publicly expressed.
In analysing the stories shared in the public domain it is my opinion that certain key ideologies,
practices, cultures and behaviours may largely be the problem, all of which have complex and nuanced
origins and formation that are never simply about individuals, though the problems often play out
through the actions of individuals. In exploring these, it should be noted that they serve as a warning for
other churches where these issues are evident. It is probable that they have been adopted from
churches and church cultures that are viewed as successful and have been incubated in a shared culture
of mutual affirmation across a variety of similar churches. This mutual affirmation creates and
entrenches an echo-chamber that fosters ongoing problems. All too often there is also a tendency for
them to be adopted by leaders who aspire to ‘grow their church’ in a similar vein. They are then
reinforced and deepened within groups and across generations.
Remembering that the church is people, it should be noted in no uncertain terms, that any
institution proclaiming Christ, big or small, that is littered with stories of damaged people, must question
its success no matter how big its congregation or its budget. It may have money, fame, popularity, and
glory, but these things do not define success in the economy of Christ. It must also be said that this is
not an issue of size. Toxicity can exist in any group of any size.
Success in the economy of Christ looks like people made whole. It looks like restoration and
reconciliation. It looks like the lowly being lifted up and knitted into the community. It looks like the
proud being brought low. It looks like weeping with those who weep and laughing with those who laugh.
It looks like the strong humbling themselves in service to the weak. It looks like all gathering as equals at
the Table of the Lord, where Christ is lifted up as the centre of all. It looks messy, and in that mess it
looks beautiful. Given too, that it is played out in daily existence, it often looks mundane in the eyes of a
culture addicted to drama. It looks like Jesus.
Success is the ongoing hard work of embodying the Kingdom-of-God type characteristics just
outlined. Not as platitudes for cameras, branding exercises to enhance the image of the institution, or as
strategies for growth; but as the very heart of the body of people being formed in the way of Christ
together.
In the face of negative stories, the understandable and instinctual defensive response, would be to
look for places within the church that point to success in line with the economy of Christ (I acknowledge
that there is much good in Arise that many within it understandably wish to celebrate), but any entity
calling itself a church should be able to point to elements of Christ’s economy in action within their
midst. This is to be expected. The best response here is not defensiveness or to highlight the admirable,
it is an honest owning of the problems and a movement towards reformation. Death and resurrection
are at the core of the Christian faith and there is an opportunity here for Arise to take responsibility and
be accountable for where it has fallen short in a way that has allegedly damaged others. There is an
opportunity to put to death practices unaligned to the Kingdom of God and experience new life with an
appreciation that the ends never justify the means.
Because churches are people and those people are on a journey together through the ups and
downs of life, all faith communities have levels of fruitfulness and dysfunction, love and friction. Many, if
not most churches will have stories of relational breakdown between people. Where people are
gathered, interpersonal hurts often occur. In this instance though, it must be acknowledged that for
Arise the number of stories alleging experiences of abuse, hurt, and brokenness point to problems that
must be addressed.
References
[25] Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1989).
[26] Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan¸ The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015), 1.
[27] Luke 24:32
[28] Joseph McAuley, Pentecostalism Re-Imagined: Reconfiguring Pentecostalism in Twenty-First
Century New Zealand (D.Min Final Project, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2018). 66-67.
[29] Here Arise must be commended for choosing to take complaints seriously, and wanting to
listen.
[30] Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer, A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture that Resists
Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 2020).
[31] Ken Carlson and Mike Lueken, Renovation of the Church; What Happens When a Seeker Church
Discovers Spiritual Formation (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011), 55-56.
[32] Carlson and Lueken, Renovation of the Church, 33.
[33] It is a technique that has been used in events and conferences that I have been present at. These
have not been Arise events.
[34] Deuteronomy 18:20, Ezekiel 13:9
[35] Taxation in ancient Israel shifted and changed depending on who was ruling. In scripture, when
the people desired to have a King, it was noted that the burden of taxation in money and goods, along
with forced labour (a type of tax), would greatly increase to fulfil the desires of the monarchy (1 Samuel
8:10-18). According to the biblical account David used forced labour as a way to ‘pay’ for building
projects (2 Samuel 20:24). This increased under King Solomon (1 Kings 5:13-18) and those who followed
him, where taxation and forced labour were greatly increased to meet the needs of larger building
projects (Example: 1 Kings 12:1-14), and to meet the needs of the king’s household (1 Kings 4:7-18). It is
clear that such taxes far exceeded those required in scriptural law. Under Rehoboam, the revolt against
increased labour and taxation split the kingdom of Israel into two (1 Kings 12:16-24).
[36] If true, this practice is not limited to Arise. I recognise that favourable treatment of those who
give significant sums of money happens within a number of churches.
[37] James 2:1-11
[38] Luke 14:7-14
[39] Joseph McAuley, Evolutions of Pentecostalism (D.Min paper, Movements of the Spirit in World
Christianity, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2016).
[40] For those who may defend the exhaustion and burnout in these circumstances as a
demonstration of service to God, it is worth pointing out that this has not happened because people
have served in war zones, helped in slums, done missionary work in remote places, spent time with the
homeless, served in foodbanks, or any other such cause of service toward the ‘least of these’. Rather,
the burnout has happened in service of constant high production events and meeting the requirements
of those seen as VIPs.
[41] Titus 1:6-8
[42] Titus 1:9
[43] McAuley, Pentecostalism Re-Imagined, 68.
[44] It is acknowledged that the current crisis has led to some experiencing a more open and honest
environment within Arise.
[45] John 11
[46] Luke 9:23
[47] Matthew 5:41
[48] 1 John 3:16
[49] Matthew 7:13
[50] The calendar begins with Advent and anticipation for the arrival of the Messiah. It then moves
through the life and ministry of Jesus with Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time, before
concluding with Christ the King Sunday as a celebration that Christ is, and will be ultimately recognized
as, King of kings and Lord of lords.
[51] McAuley, Pentecostalism Re-Imagined, 79-81.
[52] Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year: the Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2009), 6.
[53] McAuley, Pentecostalism Re-Imagined, 79-81.
[54] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Church Election Sermon, July 23, 1933 at Trinity Church in
Berlin.https://concordiaandkoinonia.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/church-election-sermon-preached-by-
pr-dietrich-bonhoeffer-july-23-1933at-trinity-church-in-berlin/ Also printed in No Rusty Swords:Letters,
Lectures and Notes, 1928-1936, from the Collected Works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Volume 1
[55] Hebrews 12:2
[56] Vanhoozer and Strachan¸ The Pastor as Public Theologian, 17.
[57] Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olsen, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the Study of God
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 14.
[58] McAuley, Pentecostalism Re-Imagined, 66-67.
[59] John 20:24-28
[60] Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 28-29.
