Planetshakers: Pastoral Care, The Power of Confession

“Pillars are Just Crutches” is a former YWAM missionary, current Bible College student who (like many Christian Bloggers) has been watching the Michael Guglielmucci saga.

He blogs on The power of pornography and the power of confession:

There is nothing that will destroy a man more quietly than shame.

There is nothing that a man will avoid more than shame.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the source of Mike Guglielmucci’s fall. It’s an all too common threat, especially since the internet, that has deceived many young Christians. What is the deception? Just one look.

What young men and women don’t understand is that once is never enough, and the enemy of our souls knows and understands this. And in a Christian culture where there is a lot of shame attached to sexual sin, and especially pornography, that shame is more of a stumbling block to healing than the actual sin itself.

There is something particularly powerful that a lot of Christian do not do. Maybe because they think it’s Catholic, maybe because they think that it’s between them and God, maybe because they’re ashamed to do it so they use the other 2 excuses. Christians do not confess things to each other.

I’m not talking about confessing to anyone. It should be someone you completely trust and someone who is godly and mature. It may be a good friend or a pastor, or an elder in your church, ask someone. Nothing will kill shame faster like confessing it to a godly person, asking God for forgiveness and then praying together.

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. (James 5:1)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1)

Can we really blame Mike Guglielmucci for not confessing his addiction to pornography sooner?

Had he confessed – what would have happened to him?

I expect he would have had a lot of fear… That he would lose everything he’d worked so hard for – everything that God had entrusted to him – his own good reputation included.

After all, as Dutch Sheets referred to, in pentecostal churches, “looking on the inside” is rare – so what would have happened if Mike Guglielmucci had have showed his sin?

We, the leaders of the charismatic community, have operated in an extremely low level of discernment. Frankly, we often don’t even try to discern. We assume a person’s credibility based on gifts, charisma, the size of their ministry or church, whether they can prophesy or work a miracle, etc. (Miracles and signs are intended to validate God and His message, not the messenger; sometimes they validate the assignment of an individual, but never the person’s character, lifestyle or spiritual maturity.)

We know how ruthless and unforgiving Christians can be to one another…

But would it have mattered?

Would Mike Guglielmucci’s confession to a smaller sin, even in September 2006 (just prior to the cancer story/myth/deception, but still while he was under Planetshakers’ authority) – would this have ended it all before it got “out of hand”?

My point remains – Planetshakers needs true pastoring, where we might receive a soft shoulder, insightful word, caring teacher, probing question or a firm rebuke…

Delegating authority to one man (Urban Life Group Coordinator, Ben Fewster), who in turn delegates authority to dozens of small group leaders who aren’t trained or skilled in pastoral care – what hope is there for the broken, the misguided, the hurt or those lacking in faith.

Planetshakers – please shepherd your flock!

I’m going to finish on a comment from “Julia”:

It´s sad that Planetshakers reaction is: Mike didn’t work here anymore, we didn’t know about it, etc etc. In other words: “DON’T BLAME US”. It seems like that’s all they care about.

Mike was involved with them for a long time, during his addiction. In those 16 years of his addiction, he didn’t feel safe enough to find ONE person to tell the truth to.

In my opinion, everyone who was involved in Mike’s life, ESPECIALLY church leaders (but also his family & friends-but I’m sure they already do that), should examine right now if they contributed to an environment where Mike was put on a pedestal, where there was no accountability and where there was no safe place for him to admit his addiction.
Planetshakers was a big part of his life, and they shouldn’t be thinking about their reputation, they should very very seriously analyse if they worried enough about their pastoral care and how this could have happened.

That’s the saddest part for me, that he felt like he had to carry this burden alone for 16 years, that just speaks volumes to me.

Planetshakers Dilemma?: Quality of Belief over Quantity of Believers?

Planetshakers boasts to be one of the fastest growing AOG churches in history.

Let’s flip that coin for a moment…

Mike Yaconelli (until his death in a car accident in 2003) claimed to have “…the slowest growing church in America” in Yreka, California, and wrote several popular books for youth leaders.

Here’s a quote that was left on this blog, from Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mike Yaconelli.

“Remember always that human need is infinite, and that the number 5 bears the same relationship to infinity as does the number 5 million.

Therefore, wise persons are going to make conscious decisions that have a qualitative impact on infinity rather than a quantitative one”

Mike Guglielmucci – Hillsong’s Brian Houston Comments

Came across these links and wanted to post them up:

Raw footage of Danny Guglielmucci speaking to journalists outside Edge Church

Hillsong’s Brian Houston’s Response

Also, check out the Today Tonight interview with Mike Guglielmucci

Real-Life Expectations of God and the Numbers Mentality

“Mike” had an interesting comment on the need to “Feel” a distant God for ourselves, how this creates the wrong expectations, and how we place individual celebrities (who in fact are sinners, like all of us) in a place of reverence reserved God:

My heart does go out to the number of young Christians that have or will have been affected by this. But this only shows how there are a number of people out there who base their faith not PRIMARILY on God’s Word but to the ‘celebrities’ of Christian worship.

Unfortunately, that is the problem today where the people seek instant gratification in all walks of life. So when there is a massive concert, people flock to, get saved and then go back to their normal lives. And the fact that human nature to “see and feel” God that they put idols in their lives.

No doubt that Mike G. will be accountable for his actions to God for what he has done and what he has failed to do.

And to those Christians that were deeply affected by this: you need to ask the question – Who do I really believe in – Jesus Christ or the person on the platform?

NV: Youth groups have fun events to get the numbers going. Then numbers fall off when you start getting serious with God and the Word. And then this is viewed as a failure. I think this is a wrong perception prevalent in many churches today – numbers is a measurement of success and growth. God never gave a minimum quota but rather He just said to “GO and make disciples of all nations”

We as a church need to get rid of this “NUMBERS” mentality and focus more on the needs of the individual rather than our own church image.