Monday, November 21, 2011

New post

We're here to stay my friends; let the truth ring out! To bring peace and freedom to those stuck (mostly unknowingly) in the bonds of abusive discipleship.

2 comments:

  1. What is always interesting to me is the way we blind ourselves to what we know will challenge our beliefs to the core. No one is saying that Quest Community Church need be perfect. That's an absurdity. However, a church that is unwilling to acknowledge fault and TRULY repent is as far from the Acts 2 church as possible.
    It is not that there are people simply disagreeing with what is being taught at quest that we post. It is that the hurt and battered participants of this community who leave are outcasted (by degrees in direct correlation with their previous involvement) and slandered. Both sides are often surely at fault; however, the leaders at quest ignore the disconnect and blame it on the "disobedient spirit" or inability to "serve joyfully" of those who leave., or simply claim they didn't know it was happening.
    In a conversation with one of the Quest pastors I implored him to be the beacon of unity and reach out to those hurt and abused by Quest. His reply was simple, "It's not our place, those are just Matthew 18 conversations that need to take place." The problem with this answer it that those Matt 18 conversations have taken place in most cases. Grievances were addressed with the proper people and the response from said "Questers" was in >90% of the cases, "I did nothing wrong, I only followed my leadership". Fine. However, when the frequencies of this issue and response reach what they have today it is no longer a Matt 18 between two individuals, but is instead a problem with the fundamental practices being taught (which are usually non-biblical in this case). This, most certainly, should be addressed by the pastoral staff of a church if they in anyway desire to boast unity and truth. Please do not suggest, as previously done, "maybe you should try a more traditional church". It is not the contemporary nature of quest the detracts from it's message; in fact, it what drew and KEPT most of us there for as long as we stayed. You can't chop this up to a difference in worship style. That is both naive and wrong.
    You can not extrapolate a standard for discipleship from an out-of-context reading of one passage (given Hebrews 13). In the original Greek, the language in which this passage is written suggest pliability and willingness to listen only. Follow a leaders advice only if they win you over with other scriptural context, and never blind obedience JUST BECAUSE. The Bible only states to give that kind of authority to Jesus-not even those he h placed in your path as guideposts.
    For those who will read this and decide they do not think I am right...GREAT! Use those same critical thinking skills in everything you do though. Don't be so selective, thinking that just because I do not appear to have a "thriving" church under my wings, I am the only person capable of being wrong. Discern, examine, test and prove everything-it's what the Bible advises and DEMANDS us to do (and yes this includes those decisions set in motion by your leaders:1Cor 14:29, 1 Thess. 5:21.)
    The ideas at Quest are not a new phenomena. Abusive churches (many now willing to admit their mistake) have been using these since the early 90's to control: same out-of-context verses, same leadership principals, same mis-truths. And it always ends the same way: A seemingly happy and united inner-most-core (those chosen for high-level leadership), and a broken, disillusioned congregation.
    Am I saying good things are not possible at Quest. No, again that would be an absurdity. I am, however, saying that just as stated in your favorite Hebrews passage... the Leaders of the Church are to be held ACCOUNTABLE for not just the good they were involved with (your sister coming to know Jesus, your 2 years of sobriety, a family rebuilt), but also the pain and disunity they caused (even as a collective whole).

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  2. After the launch of this site Quest Community Church bought the domain names thetruthaboutquest.com, .net, .info and others. I would ask, why the damage control? What are they trying to conceal. Luckily there are hundreds of unused domain names! Can't buy them all! Btw, spending the churches tithes and offerings to hide the bad things your doing to people? REALLY? Poor stewarding.....

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