Rio Summers

“While Christians do have a general duty to be soft-hearted, forgiveness is dependent on repentance. To forgive in the absence of repentance is to validate sinful behaviour. And even when someone does genuinely repent, and forgiveness is appropriate, there should be no obligation to remain under their leadership – nor for them to remain in leadership.”
― Marcus Honeysett, Powerful Leaders?: When Church Leadership Goes Wrong And How to Prevent It

“Leaders who are reluctant to engage with Scripture, or who insist that their way is the only scriptural way without discussion, or who demand obedience without reference to Scripture, are almost certainly outside the limits of legitimate authority.”
― Marcus Honeysett, Powerful Leaders?: When Church Leadership Goes Wrong And How to Prevent It

“All the way back to Genesis 3 we can trace twin instincts. On one hand the human heart has been hard-wired to seek solitary, authoritarian power and safety. On the other, there is a deep-seated responsibility-abdicating acquiescence to ungodly leaders or groups.”
― Marcus Honeysett, Powerful Leaders?: When Church Leadership Goes Wrong And How to Prevent It

“Perhaps we find it easy to sympathize with leaders who, in the face of unsustainable expectations, step outside their legitimate authority to ‘get the job done’. But what happens in the process is that they discover they can exercise power that isn’t rightfully theirs, and the church won’t question it but rather allows them to act unaccountably. The unspoken understanding is that the minister is the CEO, so is probably authorized to do whatever they like. This is a first step towards people looking to the minister rather than to Jesus.”
― Marcus Honeysett, Powerful Leaders?: When Church Leadership Goes Wrong And How to Prevent It