A question from long ago
A long time ago on this website we published an article called:
Struthers Memorial Church and the focus on an elite
It contained a recommendation for those attending Struthers churches to require a clear statement from their church leader
It said:
We would ask the SMC leadership to speak individually to each person in their congregations and tell them one of the following 2 things:
1 I believe God has placed you in my congregation for a reason and I want you to get all the help I can give you to develop your life in Him. We should meet together and seek to plan for the deepening of your spiritual life, identify and make space in this church to develop your ministries and gifts and seek to understand what your needs of me as your Pastor are, to help you find fulfilment for all your human need at every level in Christ. (The last phrase was one frequently used by one of the founding SMC leaders indicating his belief that Jesus died to heal in every way the body, soul and spirit of man)
or
2 I am not drawn to you. I do not regard you as someone I have any feeling of pastoral care for. If you improve you attitude and performance in the following ways ____________________ I may find I am interested in being involved in your spiritual walk at some time in the future. If you want to attend meetings at my church in the meantime, that is okay, but whether you do or not will make little difference to me.
Some people may have actually done this; but it was mainly intended to draw attention to the disparities in the way different people are regarded by the leader of their own Struthers branch. Based on the attitude they saw coming from their church leader some felt loved and some felt hated. Suggesting this be asked directly was designed to show the harm caused by the favouritism and partiality of this biblically forbidden leadership approach.
So how do the leaders regard those attending now?
Many years later as we look at Struthers now - certainly many have left and a large number have also joined the online chorus of disapproval.
So have any lessons been learned and how do the present leaders (and the new overall leader) now regard the remaining loyal people sitting in front of them?
That question is answered with great clarity in the recent Thought for the Week 3/11/2024 placed by the leader of the churches on her Cumbernauld website.
A suitable title for it would have been: "The prophets who never get it wrong and the children who think too highly of themselves"
From it the following quotes are taken:
......1. Believe in the Lord your God.
2. Believe in the prophets.
….The second is vital if you want to succeed spiritually. You learn to trust in the prophets, the ministers and leaders. If you lose your trust, you lose your footing. Satan will have won by creating a wedge between you and the prophets. Very soon, you no longer see them as the prophets of God. This is disastrous for our spiritual lives. The enemy has won, and you will have lost the unity, the bond, and the trust that bound you in the body of Christ.
There is a third thing that I have observed amongst folks recently. Some like to watch what the enemy is doing and saying. They think they are wise and mature enough to do this. They think they can keep strong and help in the church but still be aware of what’s happening out there. They want to keep a careful eye and warn those who pay little attention to the enemy.
And what begins to happen? They lose their trust and suddenly observe their brother, sister and even their church from a distance, and then, the wedge is driven in dividing the body of Christ.
…..
We are dealing with wolves, friend. The wisest stay clear of what they see and hear among the wolves. Be wise: learn that you are but a child and cannot cope with the onslaught of the enemy. You think too highly of yourself if you think you can deal with his insinuations....Believe in the Lord and believe in the prophets, and you will succeed.
3 points in reaction to that
1 The biblical instruction is that the prophecy has to become true for the prophet to be regarded as trustworthy. If the prophecies do not come true – based on evidence and outcomes - that claim to be a prophet must be rejected.
So which prophecies of these Struthers "leader prophets" are we to consider in making that required evaluation?
How successful has been:
The vision of continuing growth in the number of churches?
The vision for the growth of membership numbers?
The vision for people coming into the church through running the coffee & cake shops?
The vision of many individuals in Struthers churches becoming more powerful and effective in public ministry than those from other churches due to the claimed "holiness" teaching?
The prophetic identification of individuals for future leadership who never subsequently came into future leadership?
The vision for the hugely expensive and hugely subsidised and now defunct private school?
The vision and frequent claim of being a growing group of churches across the UK?
The 45 year old vision for a revival in Scotland centred on Struthers?
And how can we regard as success the claims of so many now that "prophetic" "words of knowledge" have been grossly inaccurate, deeply unhelpful and harmfully misapplied?
Which of these shall we use to evaluate the Struthers leadership claims of successful prophecy as the Bible requires us to do?
Which of these can we use to justify the deeply alarming demand from those same people that congregational brains cannot be used in the evaluation of prophetic success, but the demand for unthinking obedience is all that is required?
Are those responsible for the safeguarding policies in Struthers Memorial Church content that this teaching is consistent with the measures they have put in place? It may be time to speak up.
2 Quote:
The second is vital if you want to succeed spiritually. You learn to trust in the prophets, the ministers and leaders. If you lose your trust, you lose your footing. Satan will have won by creating a wedge between you and the prophets. Very soon, you no longer see them as the prophets of God. This is disastrous for our spiritual lives.
The claim is if you do not "trust the prophets" in the extreme ways described "Satan will win in your life". Where in that teaching is the evaluation and ability to weigh carefully and intelligently test against scripture what the prophet says?
It seems to be entirely absent from this teaching. There are no biblical safeguards. There are no institutional safeguards.
The claim is the prophet, minister and leader is always to be seen as right and perfectly reflecting the mind of God. But, as we have pointed out before, it is never made clear which leaders, preachers and junior assistants this slavish obedience directive applies to.
And again - given that Struthers is a Mosaic/Apostolic hierarchy rather than having any recognisable New Testament governance structure - where are the safeguards?
1 Corinthians 14:29: Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
The Pauline instruction is to weigh carefully what is said by those claiming to be prophets. It is also possibly wise to wonder why some speakers continually use their platform to insist that their teaching, ministry and prophecy must be acknowledged and admired by all. This flies in the face of Christ’s own teaching which says
John 5:31: If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.
This should alarm many in Struthers who may have to honestly admit that when the leadership speak it frequently contains for an extended length of time the demand to recognise the value of the leadership ministries of the few people leading Struthers.
This seems at odds with the teaching of Jesus. He teaches self testimony is worthless - so we must conclude time spent using the platform in this way of no value to His kingdom. Is this time therefore simply being wasted? Jesus clear teaching seems to be indicating that is a reasonable conclusion.
This extensive self promotion should also be completely unnecessary if ministries are operating biblically and benefitting the congregation – which is what they are for. These ministries do not exist to bring honour and attention to those operating in them – nor to provide opportunity for boasting of how highly they should be regarded.
Is the only safeguard the claimed infallibility of the prophet as claimed by the prophet?
If so we suggest that you put your arms around your family and run from this so fast you cast up a cloud of dust behind you.
3 Even more alarming is the bizarre degree to which people are supposed to revere these self claimed ministries – even to the exclusion of their right to understand real and very serious issues affecting the church and make appropriate judgements relating to their own Christian lives.
And in this Thought for the Week such a demand for staggering degrees of mindless obedience are present.
Quote:
There is a ... thing that I have observed amongst folks recently. Some like to watch what the enemy is doing and saying. They think they are wise and mature enough to do this. They think they can keep strong and help in the church but still be aware of what’s happening out there. They want to keep a careful eye and warn those who pay little attention to the enemy.
And what begins to happen? They lose their trust and suddenly observe their brother, sister and even their church from a distance, and then, the wedge is driven in dividing the body of Christ.
We are dealing with wolves, friend. The wisest stay clear of what they see and hear among the wolves. Be wise: learn that you are but a child and cannot cope with the onslaught of the enemy. You think too highly of yourself if you think you can deal with his insinuations. You can’t touch the fire and remain unhurt. Stay well clear of it.
You are all children. You all think too highly of yourselves.
So the leader has observed that people in the church are looking at information, facts and opinions now available online in relation to Struthers Memorial Church and makes two clear statements about these people.
they think they are wise and mature enough BUT They lose their trust and suddenly observe their brother, sister and even their church from a distance, and then, the wedge is driven in dividing the body of Christ.
AND
learn that you are but a child and cannot cope with the onslaught of the enemy. You think too highly of yourself...
Now we are not for one moment suggesting that the leader of the churches does not actually think this. In fact we do fully believe this is what she truly thinks as she looks out on the Saturday night congregation.
As in the New Year Word 3 article the same speaker looks at the people in front of her. Many have attended 5 meetings a week for 30 or 40 years in their belief that this will grant them spirituality and a level of Christian value which they are taught cannot be bestowed upon them in other churches.
Yet her assessment of those same people is the following:
“learn that you are but a child and cannot cope with the onslaught of the enemy. You think too highly of yourself”
Something of a relief
Many of us were told when we left Struthers we were settling for a "lesser spiritual path" and would never "fulfil our calling" unless we remained and submitted to the leaders thoughts, whims and long term neglect.
So it comes as something of a relief to read this Thought for the Week.
It appears that if we had stayed we would be, like those she speaks of in her church today, weak and limited and incapable of spiritual insight. We would be too immature and childish to have any responsibility to understand truth and reality in relation to Struthers church, its present parlous moral and financial condition, and its poor treatment of people.
Only that spoken from the platform is safe. Only that - mindlessly unevaluated - is what these weakling children can cope with. Many of these people are now in their 50s and 60s and older.
ANY exposure by ANY of them to ANY testimony online that might dispute that will destroy them because they are so weak, proud, easily confused and incapable of coming to any remotely adult conclusions in relation to their own life. That is literally - literally - what is being taught.
As time goes on and more of the voice of Struthers teaching is shared online we are gladder and gladder we are no longer there being taught that which is indefensible as the ministries disappear, the complaints increase, the financial burdens grow and the congregations shrink.
How are the attendees supposed to feel when hearing this?
How does that make you feel Struthers person? All your years of loyalty and sacrificial attendance have resulted in their view of you as weak, unspiritual incapable of discernment and useless.
Learn you are but a child.
Given the seriously advancing age profile of the congregations this is particularly sad and inappropriate. There are people who have tried all their lives to support SMC, funded the various visions which come and then suddenly go, and were told by doing so they would become spiritually strong and be valued.
If they found that Thought for the Week deeply discouraging that would not be at all surprising.
A New Question
So - It may be time for a new question to be asked of the leadership
It is even simpler than before.
Am I : but a child and cannot cope with the onslaught of the enemy. (and) You think too highly of yourself
or am I someone strong and capable in the Lord who is allowed and trusted to read online criticism and understand it and evaluate it wisely and find the mind of God on these things?
We suggest you immediately ask the writer of this Thought for the Week if you are one of the former people or one of the latter.
As the overall leader of all the Struthers churches it is claimed she is specially called to the highest responsibility for your spiritual life.
Or you can simply submit forever to her view of you as a mewing incapable idiot child to be denied information she deems unsuitable. And you can also understand that she sees you as someone so fundamentally disloyal a mere word seen online that claims the "prophets" have not acted perfectly will see you marching off the premises.
Or you can be someone who is free to obey the instruction of Paul to hear AND EVALUATE the prophets and bears a responsibility to ask, seek and knock in pursuit of the truth and live in it with strength and integrity – fully able to look directly at the present and the past.
That would be what strong and capable Christian adults would do. Those who do not dishonour their God by continuing to live as children; but have to be living in the freedom purchased at great cost on the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ.