Matt and Beth Redman worked closely with Mike Pilavachi as the Soul Survivor church and festival grew in size and influence. This week they released a thirty minute film to share their experiences of his abusive behaviour.
They speak candidly about the psychological impact of Pilavachi’s tendency to bring people into his fold and then suddenly freeze them out. About the impact of his inappropriate wrestling and massages had on a succession of interns who were young and under his power. They speak self-reflectively about their pain and regrets and with anger about how concerns were not adequately responded to.
Grace and truth
It is an important and well-produced film which should be watched by everyone involved in Christian leadership.
What increases the power of the film is the grace with which they both speak. They avoid the bitterness which can smudge and obscure truth by turning a tragic situation into an exercise in point-scoring and reputation management. The film is a powerful expression of grace and truth.
‘Abuses of power are endemic’
The film includes strong contributions from others who explain how this particular situation is an illustration of wider challenges. Theologian Amy Orr-Ewing says:
‘Unfortunately the situation at Soul Survivor is not as unique as we would hope. Abuses of power are endemic in the world but they are also endemic in the church and I think the church has huge amount to learn’.
Psychologist Dr Diane Langberg, says:
“Part of it is the ‘revered leader’ and when we have someone like that we automatically trust them and don’t ask questions…the people in the church almost see the leader as Christ-like. They’re the important one, they’re the valued one, they’re one who will bring us close to God, they’re the one that hundreds and thousands of people are coming to church for…so we want to protect the big person and not the little people…which, for the record, is utterly unlike Jesus Christ.”
It may sound obvious, but the antidote to these problems lies in the radical example of Jesus and the teaching in the New Testament.
The right fruit
After watching the film, one of my friends Simon Hall, a church leader, wrote this:
“I’ve heard many times, ‘Yes, but look at the fruit.’ By this people mean that a person is successful and popular.
THAT IS NOT WHAT THE NEW TESTAMENT MEANS BY FRUIT. Fruit in the New Testament is simply good character. If someone can gather a big crowd and raise lots of money, that is insignificant in God’s view.
‘In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.”
Verses like this directly challenge the celebrity culture which infects the church and contributes to the toxicity. The Bible teaches us to value character over charisma but too often the church shows the opposite tendency. As Matt Redman says:
“There are still a quite a large group of people who are saying things like ‘I think its exaggerated’ or ‘I can’t bring myself to believe this’ or ‘Mike, you’ll always be a hero to me’ and this is a really disturbing thing we need to look at in our church culture.”
A message for all of us
The core message of the film is summarised by Matt Redman at the end:
“The message from all of this is: bring things into the light”
Its a message relevant for all of us: in churches, workplaces, communities or families.
Don’t sweep things under the carpet. Don’t ignore abuses of power. Don’t allow a cheap form of grace to cover up what is true.
Stand up. Speak up. Share the truth. Let there be light.
Watch Let There Be Light
Grace + Truth 
Thanks very much Jon for this extremely helpful and much needed post. Too long abusive behaviour has remained unchallenged in the church. Let us pray that the C of E watches Beth and Matt Redman’s film and act on it.
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yes – absolutely. I already know of some C of E churches who are actually going to play this video in their service which I think is a really good idea.
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Important video and wise and important comments about bringing things into the light.
But am I alone in finding the background music distracting and unnecessary? What they say and indeed how they say it is moving enough without music intruding to tell me how to feel.
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When they are speaking, the music is quieter, and they only increase the volume when the quotes come across the screen. Personally, I found the music helpful and calming as I read these sad testimonies, some of which I could so relate to.
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Hi John – I found it fine personally – but its interesting that you found it manipulative and intrusive.
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Thank you Beth, Matt and all the others who have come forward and thank you to all those involved in making this very important film, which will do so much good. Praying for accountability and change.
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Amen – thanks Joanne
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ugh
thanks Matt & Beth
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Dear Jon
I have hit on a solution with my problem with music during communion – noise cancelling headphones !
Are you aware of this piece, which to my mind resonates with your concerns?
I imagine she might give you permission to carry it in Grace+Truth.
Kind regards
John
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/april/tish-harrison-warren-faith-orthodoxy-orthopathy-discipled.html ONCE MORE, WITH (CHRISTIAN) FEELING Orthopathy is the oft-forgotten companion to Christian action and belief. BY TISH HARRISON WARREN When I was in seminary, my husband and I met with a trusted pastor. We told him how we were savoring our courses in systematics and biblical studies. The conversation then turned toward our personal lives. My husband mentioned that he was struggling to spend time in prayer and that he and I were fighting like cats and dogs. Our pastor matter-of-factly replied, “You know, you can’t have orthodoxy without orthopraxy.” We were familiar with this idea, but nonetheless it struck both my husband and me like lightning. We had entered seminary to steep in Scripture and good doctrine, but we needed to be reminded that orthodoxy (right belief ) and orthopraxy (right action) are so essentially entwined that if we neglect one, we lose the other. Christians champion this unity of belief and action. But they often neglect another key part of faithfulness: orthopathy. The word denotes right passions or feelings. It names the reality that we as Christians not only profess the truth of Jesus and practice the things he says to practice, but we also endeavor to do all this in the posture of Christ. Orthopathy involves a redeemed and transformed interior life. This includes our feelings and emotions. But more foundationally, it involves our motivational structure, our longings, and our desires — that which most deeply drives us. The broader goal of orthopathy is that our total disposition would be changed to be more like that of Jesus. This idea isn’t new. Isaac the Syrian said that virtue is not simply doing the right thing but doing it with “a heart that is wise in what it hopes for, and whose actions are accompanied by right intention.” Augustine told his flock that any study of Scripture and doctrine must be for the purpose of building up charity, love, and graciousness. We’ve all seen the ugly results when someone passionate about orthodoxy doesn’t embody the internal disposition of Jesus. They end up destroying people. All of us are capable of seemingly speaking truth in a spirit of contempt, impatience, pride, or fear. “Standing for truth” without humility or kindness falsifies the gospel we proclaim. You can’t have orthodoxy without orthopathy. In the same way, you can’t have orthopraxy without orthopathy. If people seek biblically motivated action by, say, caring for the poor or advocating for justice, but they do so without the posture of Jesus, then orthopraxy is lost amid arrogance, legalism, or self-righteous political posturing. The ultimate vision of Christian orthopathy is the fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5, when Paul contrasts this fruit with the “acts of the flesh,” he includes internal states of the heart: impurity, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, rivalry, and envy. Someone can be devoted to these acts even as they profess right ideas about Christology, ecclesiology, or human sexuality, and even as they volunteer in a soup kitchen or lead worship. This possibility should make all of us tremble a bit. It’s far easier to declare a view, recite a creed, or give time to a worthy cause than it is to rid ourselves of resentment, pride, or antipathy. In these passages, Paul suggests that our interior depths, not just our beliefs and actions, must be healed and changed by Jesus. How then do we cultivate orthopathy? It’s not a matter of will, where we can simply redouble our efforts to “do better.” It doesn’t automatically spring from orthodoxy, so we can’t grasp it through better doctrine. Nor does it inevitably flow from orthopraxy, so we can’t busy ourselves with Christian duties enough to achieve it. Instead, the shaping and healing of our interior life comes through years of repentance and deep union and communion with God.
Taking on the disposition of Jesus isn’t something we can easily control, manage, or produce on our own. We need the transformation of God. We need the profound healing of Christ. And we need the mysterious leading of the Holy Spirit to help us embody Christ- ian wholeness in its entirety: orthodoxy, orthopraxy, and orthopathy. TISH HARRISON WARREN is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America and the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night.
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