A Friend Named Grief
Grief is a strange friend. Whenever grief shows up at your door, you know that something bad has happened. Everybody deals with the arrival of grief in a different way. Some blow up in anger. Others seek someone to blame (many times justifiably). Many can do nothing but weep. Some attempt to deny that he is even there. However, if you will take grief in and embrace him long enough, he can be a great vehicle of change in your life.
This is where I find myself after watching the first episodes of the Let Us Prey documentary series. I am grieved. I am grieved for the victims who were taken advantage of by men who should have used their position to lift them up and have a positive impact on their lives. I am grieved by many in the IFB who have rushed to publicly defend these men at the expense of the victims (I am honestly shocked by how many it’s been). I am grieved for the mudslinging that this has caused on social media between otherwise reasonable people. And threaded through all of this, is the fact that this great evil and the ensuing fallout happened in the name of Christ. It sickens me.
Without going into detail, sexual abuse has had a huge impact upon my life, family and ministry. It’s the main reason that I’m going back to school to become a certified biblical counselor. My wife and I have had to deal with things behind closed doors that would make grown men cry. Again, when I say that I am grieved for these victims, it’s not just a cliché. I intend to let grief stick around long enough to make a change in me. (If anyone reading this is a victim of sexual abuse and needs an advocate, my wife and I have helped many people and would love to help you)
Where Do We Go From Here?
This blog article isn’t going to be a detailed review of Let Us Prey. I believe that for any thinking person the evidence speaks for itself. I know that many are angry because they feel like this documentary is a smear campaign against the church. Honestly, the motives really don’t matter in the face of facts such as these. As an IFB pastor (more on this later) I am looking in the mirror and asking myself, “where do we go from here?” This will be the central pondering of this blog.
What Exactly is The IFB Anway?
Put yourself in my shoes for just a minute so you can better understand the quandary that I find myself in. I was saved in an IFB church at the age of 14 (that was in 1999). The church that I was saved and discipled in definitely checked a lot of the stereotypical boxes that we so often hear about. It was a very revivalistic style of church. The doctrine and discipleship definitely could have been deeper. Just like any other church, it wasn’t perfect. With that said, there were never any sexual scandals of any kind. The pastor was there for over forty years and had a great reputation in the community. And my experience at that church was a positive one overall.
Key for the purposes of this blog, I never even heard the name “Jack Hyles” until years after I left that church in 2006 to serve in another church. So imagine my confusion as the producers of Let Us Prey told the world that Jack Hyles was actually the one that founded the IFB. Now anyone in the know recognizes the fact that Hyles didn’t found the IFB anymore than Peter Ruckman founded the King James Bible (and no, this isn’t an endorsement of Ruckman). The fundamentalist movement really began near the turn of the 20th century and initially stretched across denominational lines (for a great read on this period of history see George Marsden “Fundamentalism and American Culture”). The original fundamentalist movement was an anti-movement that sought to reestablish the fundamentals of Christianity in the face of the decaying culture and theological liberalism within the church. This was a good thing.
However, movements can be hijacked and labels can have their meaning changed. This leads me to ask the question, whatever the movement started out as, what has it become? What is the IFB? What does it mean to be an Independent Fundamental Baptist? And is this label worth fighting for?
I was talking to my friend Dave Mallinak this morning about these very issues (Dave recently wrote an incredible blog series about what he wishes would change within the IFB, check those out here https://davemallinak.com/2023/08/01/what-i-wish-would-change-among-independent-baptists/). We agreed that labels are supposed to speak to certain consistencies within a generalized group. So what consistencies are true of the IFB as a whole in 2023? For one thing, a large portion of the IFB has adopted a KJVO position that is so radical that men like John R. Rice are rolling over in their grave. I have my reasons for being a King James man, but I know many good men who haven’t come to the same conclusions. I don’t think that the exclusive use of the KJV is a litmus test for who is or isn’t a false teacher. And I certainly don’t believe that an English translation is double inspired and has replaced or superseded the original languages that they were translated from. Such a belief is destructive to the doctrine of preservation.
Another consistency seems to be a level of separation that’s unhealthy for the body of Christ. I think that biblical triage is a good thing. I think that we need to recognize the difference between fellowship and cooperation. There are churches and pastors in the valley where I live that are my brothers in Christ and we enjoy fellowship, but we are different enough to where I think we understand that there should be a limited or non-existent level of cooperation and that’s ok. Where I pastor in the mountains of Mormon country Utah, there aren't enough Christians or churches here to be too tribal. We need each other.
I’m sure that I could list other things, but even stopping at these two I have already ostracized myself and am left wondering if I have left the IFB, or have they left me? If I’m being honest, many times I feel like a man with no country.
This leads to perhaps the greatest question, has Hyles hijacked the IFB? Are they the new brand? The media and the culture certainly think so. If so, then another consistency that you can add to the list is sexual abuse and cover ups. I found it interesting that yesterday as I was pondering on the content of this blog that I came across an online poster for an upcoming IFB meeting. The featured speakers for this meeting are Jack Trieber, Bob Gray Sr. and Bruce Goddard. What do all of these men have in common? Let’s see, oh yeah, they all have connections with Hyles and they have all defended, and/or covered for abusers. Goddard was even featured in Let Us Prey for covering for two different associate pastors under him for raping underaged girls in the church (both have since been convicted). Trieber tried so desperately to cover for Cameron Giovannelli, the former president of his bible college, for having sexually assaulted a high school student at the Christian school where Giovannelli was the principal prior to moving to California. He was later convicted (and pleaded guilty) in large part due to the fact that Pastor Stacy Shiflett exposed him (standing ovation!) (you can read about this in Shiflett’s book “Wolves Among Lambs”).
As I looked at this poster for the upcoming meeting, I found myself angry. Do these men have any discernment at all? Any shame? How do they continue to dance around the 800 lb gorilla in the room? Who would host these guys? And together I might add! I guess we can argue about who the “true IFB” really is, but one thing is for sure, is that whatever these guys are, I’m not. In fact, I’m again em.
I began this blog by asking where we go from here. I can’t answer for anybody else, but the first thing that I want to do is publicly separate myself from the Hyles brand and others like them. I remember when President George W. Bush addressed the nation after 911. He made the statement that the U.S. would make no distinction between the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. I want it to be known that I make no distinction between the abusers and the pastors and churches that harbor them. This is not an agree to disagree issue with me. There is no brand or affiliation worth winking at that kind of wickedness. My only brand is Christ and He made it really clear where He stands when He preached a message that could have been entitled “Millstones for Molesters.” I have set my face against the likes of you.
An Interesting Proposition
The founding pastor of the mission church where I currently serve in Utah told me that years ago when our church was looking at getting a new church sign that they made the decision to leave out the word “fundamental”. The reason that they did this is because of how the Mormons would see it. The fundamentalist Mormons are the stereotypical incestuous polygamists that you’ve heard about (ironically, they are also up to their neck in sexual abuse scandals, Google Warren Jeffs).
I wholeheartedly support the decision to take the word “fundamental” off the sign. Is it time that Independent Baptists like myself do that same thing? I mean if Hyles and the crazies truly have hijacked the IFB ship, I say let them drive it off like the Titanic. I don’t need the label. I can do just fine as an Independent Baptist. I recognize that this raises some logistical issues with understanding our fellowship, but so be it. We can post our confession online.
I know that some might be really resistant to this suggestion. But what if you had that same mentality about the word “gay”? We all know that “gay” is a beautiful English word that means happy, but not anymore. I haven’t heard a single preacher stand in the pulpit and say, “Bless God, I’m gay and I don’t care what anyone thinks.” Why try so hard to defend being a fundamentalist?
Concluding Thoughts and Solutions
I’m just one man. I pastor a small Independent Baptist Church in Utah. I can’t do a whole lot, but upon examination of our church bylaws, I realized that we don’t have any clear cut policies or training in place should the pastor ever be accused of sexual misconduct. I am a firm believer in the autonomy of the church (that is that we are self-governed). I believe this to be the biblical model. If the church has Godly leadership, this can be a real blessing because there is no corruptive interference from outside the church. However, if wolves make their way into the leadership of an autonomous church, there is usually no one who is able or willing to hold them accountable. I hope to remedy this in our church.
Dave Mallinak and I are in the process of drafting policies that will be voted into our respective church by-laws mapping out the process by which leaders in the church are to investigate and hold pastors accountable in the case of alleged sexual misconduct (involving the authorities when required). There is biblical precedent for this, “the elders that sin rebuke before all that others may fear.” (I Timothy 5:20). I want to be held accountable, and I want to make sure that policies and training are in place to hold me accountable. But I also want to make sure that the leadership that comes in after me will be held accountable as well. The plan is to release these policies to the public so that other churches may follow suit if they see fit.
Some Closing Farewells
To victims of abuse in the church, both in the documentary and not, I am so sorry. I am sorry for what you went through, and for what you are going through now. And my prayer is that you can find grace and peace. I pray that those who harmed you in the name of Christ, don't taint your view of Christ. Salvation in Him is the only way to true freedom and peace.
To the “IFB” who is more concerned with protecting a brand than protecting victims, your days are numbered. Your echo chamber is getting smaller everyday. We can thank God for the internet because it has taken your mindless monologue and turned it into a dialogue. Dialogues expose faulty and cultic monologues.
To the Independent Baptists like myself, it’s time to take a stand. We ought to be the loudest voice and the first line of defense against arrogant and sinful men who choose to wear our label. Choose a side because the stakes are too high. If not, then grief is sure to make a visit to our churches and our homes before too long. At the end of the day there are only two types of pastors, those that make decisions based on fear of the consequences, and those that make decisions based on what's right and what is pleasing to Christ.
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