Shepherding/Discipleship Movement

1. Spiritual Fodder
2. Cultic, Aberrant, or Abusive?
3. Role of Women in Ministry
4. Then What's a Good Church?
5. Why So Quiet?
6. Becky's UBF Roots
7. The Letter
8. Dissecting Ed's Brain
9. Shepherding/Discipleship Movement
10. Exit Strategy
11. Moving On

Wiki: Shepherding Movement

While the idea of discipleship is central to New Testament teachings (e.g., in the Great Commission), the "discipleship movement," as it has come to be known, has been characterized by important deviations and abuses.

The so-called "Discipleship movement," sometimes associated with groups like Boston Church of Christ and University Bible Fellowship, became popular because the culture had become permissive and Christians wanted to distance themselves from such ungodliness. Many were looking to dedicate their lives in God in a closer way. Leaders of the discipleship movement offered to help Christians grow fully through the ill-conceived concept of being held more accountable.

It was not necessarily because of evil men, who are generally blamed, that this corruption grew but mainly due to the non-Biblical teaching of what "being more accountable" supposedly meant. In practice, this teaching of "more accountability" frequently meant suppressing freedom of expression and action, and pressure to give up one's own convictions when these differed from those of the leaders. This, in turn, created mental anguish and moral dilemmas for many disciples. A Christian magazine reported in 1990 that:

...the [discipleship] movement quickly became elitist, exclusive. Operating on the basis that everyone needs to be accountable to a pastor, "sheep" were assigned to various "shepherds"--many of whom were young, immature, sometimes arrogant and often proud of their new authority...Havoc followed and horror stories abounded. Familes were sometimes forced to relocate from one city to another at the whim of a shepherd. Churches split...Mumford and Simpson in particular took the heat from the critics, who charged they dominated those under them...Critics cited numerous examples of "shepherds" who required their "sheep" to ask their permission before they dated, changed jobs or made major decisions.[1]

The shepherding leaders claimed that they were teaching a renewed Biblical understanding of God's government, delegated authority, and convenant loyalty. But soon other national leaders opposed them. During a 700 Club broadcast, Pat Robertson called Mumford, Simpson, and Prince "false teachers" and banned the shepherding leaders from appearing on any of his radio or television outlets.[2]

The conflict over the shepherding movement seemed to reach a turning point in 1990 when a Christian magazine quoted a prominent leader in the shepherding movement as saying:

Discipleship [movement] is wrong. I repent. I ask forgiveness...discipleship resulted in unhealthy submission resulting in perverse and un-Biblical obedience to human leaders...for the injury and shame, I repent with sorrow and ask for your forgiveness.[3]

This admission of unhealthy submission and non-Biblical obedience to human leaders shook the foundation of discipleship in America. Many leaders in this movement followed and repented of the abuses. Since that time, discipleship programs have been dropped by literally hundres of thousands of people. The movement has continued to shrink as the abuses of the non-Scriptural base of some of the teachings are exposed. It spawned eggs, however, that continue to hatch even today.

After many years, the fruits of broken hearts, damaged psyches, and disillusioned spirits are becoming more and more evident. Several former members echo these same complaints and observations:

Pastors like myself have spent large amounts of time over the last fifteen years picking up the pieces of broken lives that resulted from distortion of truth by extreme teachings and destructive applications on discipleship, authority, and shepherding.[4]

Victims of this movement are usually born-again Christians and are fundamentalist and evangelical in their orientation. The errors are covered in many different terms like delegated authority, covering, unquestioned submission, covenant, commitment to a fellowship, etc...Terms change from time to time. Submission may be called "commitment," "covenant relationship" or "divine order" in church government. Many times terms aren't used at all; it is the actions that tell you what is going on.[5]

Since many leaders in the shepherding movement admitted doing wrong, various people who continue to use the same methods have begun to give different labels for the same actions. But once the wool is pulled from over your eyes, you can see that "labels" are misleading. It's the same game. Many call it discipleship, but some new groups (which are promoting similar errors) emphasize an excessive degree of "accountability." These groups insist that members become totally accountable to one or more leaders (or to the entire group) for nearly every action in their daily lives...

Even though some large churches have abusive discipleship, excessive accountability, or abusive pastors within the community, the whole church might not be indoctrinated into the errors.

Like weeds, however, these abusive concepts keep popping up. Thought the shepherding and discipling movement of the 1970s and 1980s seemed to be dying out in one area of the church, it now appears to be springing up in other areas. In March 1994, I attended a large Baptist church connected to the Southern Baptist Convention. To my surprise, inside this church they were teaching this same extreme obedience. The teacher said that people she counseled had to be willing to do whatever she requested. She labeled people as "not really wanting help" if they weren't willing to follow all of her requests.

Then I found this program was not isolated but was networking with many other mainline churches. After this experience, I knew it was time to warn others by clearly defining the problems of abusive discipleship. We must address the problem and expose these heretical and damaging teachings. Even though this book will be controversial for those of you who have this problem in your church, I would like to remind you what the late Dr. Walter Martin once said: Controversy for the sake of truth is a divine command[6].

Excerpted from Twisted Scriptures by Mary Alice Chrnalogar, assisted by Timothy Brouns, M.S., who is a Baptist minister in Roslindale, Massachusetts, with the American Baptist Church, and a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Brauns, himself, was once trapped in an abusive discipleship group (University Bible Fellowship) while attending college.

[1] Buckingham, Jamie. "The End of the Discipleship Era," Ministries Today. (Jan-Feb 1990) p.46
[2] Ibid. pp.46, 48.
[3] Ibid. p.46
[4] Ibid. pp. 46-48.
[5] Trusty, Gilbert. Recovering from Abusive Authority. (Conference Evangelical Ministries to New Religions in Philadelphia, PA, Sept. 14, 1994).
[6] Hanegraaff, Hank. Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1993) back cover.