Over time, the church began to grow rapidly and somewhere in the mix, slightly new ideas were introduced that sounded like truth. Some of these ideas include their views on leadership, who needs Christ, and church involvement. Leadership in the church has become more about power and manipulation, the concept of knowing Christ was redefined by a loose interpretation of the passage in Matthew 7 (inflating the number of legitimate new believers), and serving is pushed to the point of guilt especially if one chooses not to serve or "be around" at key times defined by the leadership.
As stated in the previous entry, this type of behavior is more reminiscent of a cult rather than Christ's loving church. But here's the kicker. While the leadership at Quest has gone astray and hurt many people in the process, they are still people. Living, breathing human beings with feelings, hearts, souls, and families. They are just as vulnerable to deviation from God's path as any of us are. Here's where it gets tough.
Pray for them. Thats right. Pray. They need God's truth and grace just as much as we all do. They are not exempt from it and need people praying for them to see how the subtle new ideas that seemed Biblical are in fact not. They need truth, the kind of truth that only God provides. So pray for truth.
Pray also for the families of Questers who often find themselves feeling disconnected from that member of the family. Pray for understanding and compassion to be shown to the Questers so that they may see God's truth amidst the spiritual misinformation and man-made cultural norms of Quest.
Join me in praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ who have incredible influence in Lexington, but need redirection from Christ. Pray for the truth to come out. It always finds its way.
Thank you so much for creating this website. There is such a need for a place for those who have been broken by the lies and misleadings that satan snuck into Quest to share their voices again. In the name of "good followership" we were taught to cease personally seeking answers from Christ for ourselves in replace of blind leadership. Our personalities and individual quirks were replaced by "questisms" and we were pressured to fall in line or be seen as those on the outskirts less devoted and less pursuant of the Lord. I myself was encouraged (I would even say tricked) into believing that the only way I could grow closer to Jesus was to spend every waking second at Quest and to leave my friends and family behind. This however, is not biblical at all (the verses Quest uses to back this are taken out of context, read Twisted Scriptures it is a wonderful book with so much truth!) Satan has manipulated the good that is meant to be done in Christs church for something that is not of the Lord at this place. It is not the people there, it is Satan who has spread his lies. But there is hope. For those who are stuck there is a way out. ( I spent months in counseling after I left but I have found joy and freedom and most of all I have found MYSELF again!=) ). If you need help contact someone. Ask for help...it is not a sin to question your leaders...Jesus says to do it.....he expects us to take caution so that we are following after him and no one else...no earthly being. God Bless and good luck.
ReplyDeleteSomeone once said that if a ship goes off course by only one degree that eventually it is miles from where it needs to be. I truly believe that the things that have gone off course at Quest have done so in a matter of degrees. When you are in the middle of what is happening there, it is hard to see; but when you step back, you begin to gain some perspective to see how far things have gone astray.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot that is happening there that honors God. I believe that the desire to please Him, pleases Him. But the Bible has a lot to say about messing with the Gospel. At Quest, grace is preached to those who need to repent of their sins and follow Jesus. However, once you begin following Jesus, you enter into a works based mentality where you begin to subtly believe that God loves you (dare I say it?) more if you prove your love to Him through your service. You know that He "loves" you more because He "entrusts" you with more. And so the cycle begins...
I believe (and this has become more clear to me lately) that God really is sovereign. He cares very little about our efforts. He only really cares about our hearts. My heart was getting more and more consumed with myself when I was there because of my desire to advance within the church and to win the notice and approval of those who led me.
I know that I chose to pick up the sins of pride and self-consumption. But I also know that the environment that Quest cultivates helped this to take root and grow in me.
God said that He would build His church. I believe that to be true. He loves to use me because of the gift that that is to me. But He is not dependent on me. He will build His church. He will draw people to Himself. And He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion. (As He will with everyone else who stands justified before HIm.)
I am praying for Quest. I love many people who call Quest their home and I long for them to find the freedom that Jesus longs to give.
This isn't a comment as much as a suggestion about the blog. I heard about the blog from a friend and tried to find it via google search and could not. I got the actual address later from that same friend. I don't know much about how to tag things so they show up in a search, but if there were some way to do that when people searched for QCC or searched the blogs about it, I think that would be helpful. I know that I, in the process of trying to sort through my own thoughts, fear and feelings before leaving, looked for information like this and would have found it helpful. It's hard to be in that position because you have so many questions, but you can never ask them in that environment. And, it is hard to discuss them with "outsiders" because they don't really see or understand the dysfunction on the place.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure who is leading this blog, but thus far it seems that you are in the perfect place in your journey to it. You seem to be past any anger and to truly be in a place of forgiveness for the wrongs done to you in that place. May God continue to heal any damage and also help you receive with joy the good that was accomplished there as well.
I know many well intentioned people, former leaders in Quest who when they began to ask questions went through atrocious things from the leadership all in the name of unity. The key staff who lead all of the power structure are not concerned with the truth about themselves but only in preserving the appearance of unity with manipulation and false maneuvering to confession if something is questioned. Much discussion about finding out who you were really meant to be happens which ironically is usually very different (even for Christ followers) than who you were. While Jesus promises transformation these changes are often to the core of people who were not dysfunctional merely not blindly following. The group think culture is amazing, Very little independent thought and heaven forbid you should feel that you have heard from God independent of the personal guide (usually in your life group) who has been assigned to lead you.
ReplyDeleteThe scriptural basis for most of this is rubbish... favorite point texts used by spiritual abusers throughout time (the word obey in the Hebrews 13:17 scripture.
The use of Matt 7 to create a culture where everyones previous journey with God comes under intense scrutiny has left many very injured. Several have serial commitments to Jesus in which 'I thought I knew him then I came here (to Quest) or then I talked to such and such a person and I found out I did not know Him' is a common theme. Of course people who know Jesus and are searching for deeper relationship will respond to a message that plays upon your doubts. On some level faith isn't faith without the room for doubt. If you haven't doubted your faith at any point you are not a critical thinker.
The author of the blog is correct pray. Pray for the pastor the leadership. Pray for the virtually abandoned spouses and children of Quest devotee's. Pray that a spirit of humility would be realized so that the pastor and key leaders could hear what several of their closest people have been saying to them for years before finally being shunned.
Most of all if you have questions about what you are experiencing do not be intimidated into submission or silence. God never violates your free will and allows you to choose to reject him, why would his bride the church not allow you differ in you opinion. Unity is not blindly submitting to church leadership, The unity Jesus was talking about was commitment to evangelistic mission of God and the spread of the Good News. Not making sure your Questapalooza parking booth was the way they wanted it to look.
Good luck bloggers let the truth ring out
Thank you! Please keep going. We need this community of ex-Questers to recover from the brainwashing.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't call this blog the truth about Quest. Might be better entitled "Our feelings about Quest." I've already seen misinformation on the sexual orientation of staff members, messages of teaching staff taken out of context and twisted, references to scripture not being used in messages when they are, and the phrase "many of us" used several times when it seems there are only a few of you here in comparison with those at Quest.
ReplyDeleteYes, I lead things at Quest, yes I've questioned my leaders, no, I've never been told that I'm not able to hear from Jesus directly, yes I'm involved with weekend services production.
From what I've read on this blog, and I've read every post and comment, the people who have left have struggled with performance (which was not forced on them or encouraged by Quest, I've been led by Quest leaders numerous times to not go there), struggled with saying no, and were in places where they professed to be 100% behind the vision and mission at Quest but weren't and didn't say so.
I hate that the people who support this site felt hurt. I'd love to see the people who left find a great church that suits them. You don't have to support Quest or have a great experience with it, but please don't slander it. I hope if they leave another church we don't see another blog created to criticize and slander that one.
I'll be praying:
That the supporters of this blog hear Truth from Jesus; that you will be free of fear and misguiding, hope and healing for post Questers and for Quest as it is attacked, that the Truth of what God is doing in and through Quest and other great churches in Lexington is spread far and wide, and for Christ's Church in Lexington.
Brother,
ReplyDeleteThe name of a blog is much less relevant than its content which commits its substance and purpose-- the purpose of this blog being a place where those hurt, misguided, abandoned or abused by the faculties of Quest (not Jesus to be clear) can come in a common place and share their lives. Our purpose is not to “attack” Quest, its leaders, or its members, but rather to share our experiences, to distinguish truth from misguiding, to share hope and to create a common ground for those searching for answers for questions they know they cannot seek within the Quest community.
If we refer to “many of us”, it is because we represent a group larger than one could acknowledge by only your exposure to this blog. Unfortunately, the harm being caused by the enemies twisting of control and manipulation within Quest reaches much farther than this blog. This being said the stories on this blog do not represent the whole of why individuals have left Quest. You also assume a lot about a person...or everyone that leaves quest for that matter…..
“From what I've read on this blog, and I've read every post and comment, the people who have left have struggled with performance (which was not forced on them or encouraged by Quest, I've been led by Quest leaders numerous times to not go there), struggled with saying no, and were in places where they professed to be 100% behind the vision and mission at Quest but weren't and didn't say so.”
How could one know what was said to each individual by their leaders in terms of how they should serve? Have you spoken with each of them? I have spoken with a great number of these individuals and your theory is unfortunately flawed. They were excellent at saying no, they would in fact say no...and then they were told that they were disobeying God. Or were told they weren’t behind the vision and mission at Quest. Which may or may not have been true, but they were most certainly behind the vision and mission of Jesus. Yes, you can be behind these things and not serve at the church 24/7/365. (It’s actually what the Lord calls most of us to).
However, not everyone that left Quest struggled with performance. I myself can represent that category. I can represent the individuals and families who were broken down by controlling leaders, false pretenses, twisted scriptures, conjured community, and broken promises.
My friend, slander implies falsity. We are telling our stories and the reality is ,as much as you, or any other person would like us to be silent… the truth is the truth, and our stories will be shared.
We continue to pray diligently. God Bless and thank you for your prayers.
I am a Quester. Probably will be leaving very soon. This makes me very sad because the people at Quest are so dear, so wanting to grow in their faith and relationship to Jesus. But, unless you are someone who is in the "inner circle" you cannot know the Pastor and he is not reachable. He is protected by "his people" and if you wanted to email him, he has someone who intercepts the message and there is not way to communicate with him. A pastor needs to care for his flock. This flock feels the dis-connect. Yes, I am praying for Quest, for the pastor, for the leaders, for those who have left and are wounded. I do believe that pride is the culprit. What must God think? He did not leave His church to be an entertainment center. When did God's word become not enough? When did our own ideas or the ideas of other people work better the God's commission? Yes - pray. Yes, my wife and I and our children are praying.
ReplyDelete