Charismatic Captivation: Authoritarian Abuse & Psychological Enslavement In Neo-Pentecostal Churches

by Steven Lambert

Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in the churches they attend, the ministries they are under, and the networks they are aligned with and don't know it! These faithful followers of Christ are unaware victims of spiritual abuse, psychological enslavement, and emotional exploitation perpetrated under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, manipulating, and exploiting their followers for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building. Without realizing the spiritual effect of what they are doing, myriads of sincere and faithful followers of Christ, in submitting themselves and surrendering their God-given right to self-governance or personal autonomy unto their spiritual leaders, have become "slaves of men" in violation of God's explicit warning against such: "DO NOT BECOME SLAVES OF MEN!" (1 Cor. 7:23). Frequently, in groups employing such hyper-authoritarian practices, adherents codify their willful enslavement by signing biblically-prohibited "covenants" with their leaders requiring them to effectively surrender their free-will unto their spiritual taskmasters and granting them the right to intervene in and make decisions regarding the mundane matters of their lives. Authoritarian abuse (aka, "spiritual abuse") is one of the most widespread and troubling problems facing the Church today. Indeed, the truth is that ecclesiastical enslavement and exploitation is pandemic in many sectors of 21st Century Christendom, though those churches and ministries employing it go to great lengths to disguise and conceal it. What makes the pandemic problem even more insidious is that many of the perpetrators and proliferators of these spiritually repressive teachings and techniques are respected, and in some cases revered, spiritual leaders. Moreover these autocratic systems of religious hegemony are being imposed in church-groups espousing orthodox Christian beliefs, whose membership is comprised of a cross section of average Americans-individuals and families-of every race, education level, station, status, and vocation, rather than radical, fringe religious sects and cults as many uninformed people would suppose. Though religious predomination is certainly nothing new, and hyper-authoritarianism is by no means limited to the Neo-Pentecostal branch of the Church, it has especially flourished in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal groups since it was infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of that branch of the Church in the early- to mid-seventies through the auspices of what became known as the "Discipleship or Shepherding Movement." The doctrines and practices spawned in that false movement remain an integral part of the operations of many churches and groups yet today! Indeed, what many do not understand is that with the emergence of the plethora of "networks" now in existence, there is an invisible web of interrelated organizations that secretly control and direct everything substantive that goes on in the realm of Neo-Pentecostal churches, including "approving" or "blacklisting" ministers and leaders who refuse to submit to the secret "Charismatic chain-of-command." Written from an "insider's" perspective by an inveterate, respected Charismatic minister and lettered theologian, who is consulted by the media as an expert on Christian cults, Charismatic Captivation, has been appraised and praised by ministers, scholars, theologians, church leaders, and laymen as one of the most comprehensive as well as convincing volumes written to date on the prevalent problem of authoritarian abuse, yet without the "Charismatic-bashing" in which other books citing Neo-Pentecostal abuses often engage.

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

There is more than one author with this name on GR. This is Steven^Lambert.

Steven Lambert writes on Christian topics.

Reviews

[Eugene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having been raised Pentecostal and since grown to study and appreciate a wide variety of Scriptural interpretations/denominations within the Church as well as having a few of my own run-ins with Cult-like Christians, Charismatic Captivation definitely caught my attention. On a positive note, Steven Lambert does well to point out the errors of what was known as the "Shepherding movement", and providing a reader with an intriguing history of how these teachings came about in the 70s and 80s. He calls out various erroneous teachings that some Pentecostal churches practice, such as being overly involved with people's lives or threatening them with 'God's judgment' if they leave that particular church. In these areas I am in full agreement with the author.

However, there are also many negatives in this book, so much so that I honestly can't recommend it. What do I mean?

For starters, while Lambert does well to call out the errors of the so called "Shepherding" movement, I'm not sure he realizes that many of the ideas he appears to espouse in his writing could easily lead to similar abuses in the Church. For example, in the book's opening he references a woman who supposedly gave a prophecy about a large hurricane that was going to hit Florida at some point in the future. While only speculating that the Woman's supposed prophecy was fulfilled in hurricane Andrew 16 years later in 1992, he goes on to claim it was symbolic of a hurricane of false teaching that would hit the country with the shepherding movement. While I don't see a problem with his referencing a storm in a symbolic way, it's pretty ludicrous to give this woman's "prophecy" a hint of credibility. While I believe in the gift of prophecy for today, the Biblical example is very different from this sort of thing. For the most part, prophecy is meant to be a word of exhortation to edify the Church (1 Cor.14) and we are told not to despise prophecy but "test all things" (1 Thess. 5:19). On occasion prophecy was used in a futuristic sense such as when Agabus predicted the famine in Acts 11. However, these prophecies are usually very specific and open to humble criticism. I'm sorry, but saying that a large hurricane is going to strike Florida at some point in the future during hurricane season is about as prophetic as me saying I'm going to have a bowel movement at some point this week. Speaking as if this "prediction" had any literal significance is simply absurd, and so he loses much credibility right off the bat.

However, what's even more disturbing is Lambert's talk of other doctrines such as sanctification and apostolic succession. For example, in chapter 3 he writes:

"The true Church of Jesus can never be established upon any form of government other than apostolic authority. The Church Age began with apostolic authority in place, and apostolic authority will be in place at its culmination."

True, the Church is founded on the Apostles and Prophets (Eph 4), but his definition of "Apostolic authority" and succession is quite unclear. If he means simply leaders in the Church who start churches, travel, and are held accountable to Scripture and other Christians, all well and good. However, if he's talking about apostles as succeeding the original 12 and having special authority beyond Scripture and above all others we have a problem as this is Unbliblical and violates Sola Scriptura itself. Unfortunately, from what I gather it seems his vision of "Apostolic authority" is closer to the latter.

Lambert's wording on Salvation and sanctification is no less dangerous. Near the beginning of chapter 3, he writes:

"In reality then, the matter of "having a home in Heaven," or more appropriately and importantly, having rightstanding and fellowship with God, according to true Biblical orthodoxy, is dependent upon our submission to the process of being made holy, that is sanctification.... Similarly, the essential matter of salvation is not the matter of being born but the matter of dying."

Granted, being a true follower of Christ is more than praying a prayer or walking an aisle, and soteriology has always been a difficult topic between Calvinists and Arminians. True, we are called to examine ourselves and make our election sure. However, my problem isn't with his obvious Arminian belief, but in his strange wording of the matter. Contrary to what he says here, we indeed are saved by being "born" again by Grace through faith alone, not by "dying" or otherwise proving ourselves to God and others. The historic protestant creeds (both Calvinist and Wesleyan) agree that Grace and the New birth come first, and sanctification/change is evidence that Salvation has taken place. Going on Lambert's wording, it sounds more like we are "chosen" and then given a chance to work for salvation.

In all of this, he states that the Church was essentially in a "dark age" between 313 AD and 1517 AD, by which I can only assume he means the time between emperor Constantine's rise to power and the official start of the Protestant Reformation. This is pretty puzzling, as neither Luther nor the later reformers (Calvin, John Knox etc) would have agreed with Lambert's wording on Soteriology or Apostolic succession.

Lastly, some of his most disturbing language is seen in his criticism of women in ministry. Again, my problem is not specifically with his overall view, in this case, Complenentarianism over Egalitarianism, but rather the wording with which he expresses this view and goes off on a tangent when explaining it. In chapter 5 he writes:

"You see, despite the superabundance of boisterous protestations and brazen professions to the contrary being flaunted far and wide by the feminists and homosexuals bent on establishing a gynocentric society and deifying the female gender, and despite the pseudo-Christian, Jezebel-spirited feminists within the Church lobbying for gender-egalitarianism as a precursor to obtaining more and more authority and dominion, God did NOT create the genders with natural equality (albeit, He did create them with parity in terms of their status and standing with Him)."

I'm sorry, but this is garbage. I have been taught personally by female professors with Doctorate degrees, and many influential Biblical preachers/church leaders have been women. Yes, my egalitarian views are showing, but again, my grief isn't so much with his overall view but with the way in which he grossly attacks all Christians who disagree about women in ministry. I read plenty of literature by Complementarians and I can peacefully accept our mutual disagreement, but this is nothing short of an ad homenim, and does absolutely nothing to unify Bible believing Christians (particularly Charismatic/Pentecostals) against spiritual abuse. Much more could be said about his erroneous views on "Biblical gender roles" but space does not permit an appropriate response. Instead, I would suggest reading the works of J Lee Grady or "Man and Woman, One in Christ" by Phillip Barton Payne.

In conclusion, while Steven Lambert does make many helpful points about Charismatic abuse in Cultic churches, he errs in such a way as to create a church structure that is ultimately more conducive to the Church abuses we hear so much about today in the so called "New Apostolic Reformation." Moreover, he demonizes brothers and sisters in Christ over what most would consider peripheral doctrinal disagreements. After these observations, I simply can't recommend this book. If you're really interested in good apologetics against Charismatic church abuse, I'd suggest someone like J Lee Grady or the Reformed Charismatics such as Wayne Grudem or Sam Storms.

[Marion Wiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

After spending 12 years in what proved to be an abusive church, I did a great deal of research to find out about how these churches operate. This book was absolutely key in helping me break the ties and regain my freedom from a very controlling atmosphere. The research Dr. Lambert has done has proven to be very valuable in understanding how these places twist scripture to maintain their control. Understanding how and why these places operate is essential in dealing with the fallout after leaving, and this book really helped with that. Understanding brings light, and light brings freedom. I highly recommend this book.