At the beginning of 2019, I and the entire board of the Portland ministry we were on staff with resigned—all on the same day. There were a number of reasons behind it, but much of it ultimately all boiled down to a subject I want to discuss today: Manipulation and Control. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the goings-on behind the scenes of dysfunctional ministries that host big-name conference speakers for large events. Keep in mind that not all ministries who host big-name speakers are dysfunctional, nor are all speakers, by any means. However, there are definitely wolves among the sheep and as we are seeing God expose the hidden things in the church—gross sexual impropriety and much worse—it seems appropriate to speak out about the manipulation that can occur when egos and ministry-building get in the way of equipping the Body of Christ for works of service. While this is only one of the troubling manipulation-issues behind why we quit, we’re going to take a glimpse behind the conference curtain, looking at offering and sales manipulation.
Scripturally speaking, it is not wrong to take offerings at a meeting, nor do I think it is inherently wrong to sell resources such as books and CDs that a minister has produced. The issue isn’t so much in whether or not those things are happening, but how they can happen, and why. For example, I have literally been present for conversations between the ministry leader and “big-name” speakers where they were discussing who should announce the offering. Normal, right? It’s a good idea to communicate among those leading a meeting to identify who is doing what tasks. . . except that wasn’t the purpose of the conversation. The express point of that talk was to identify which person would be able to draw in the biggest dollar amount in the collection plate by leading the offering, and how they would go about doing it.
It was all about the money.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There is a practical side to wisely stewarding money, and any time I would lead the offering I would usually make a very brief statement about what the offering was for and why it was important, and then we would go about passing the plates. Everyone present already knows what an offering is, so letting people sow into the ministry to help cover the financial needs of running the event and further supporting the ministry seems perfectly reasonable to me. What is totally unnecessary is a 20-minute sermon to share bible verses we all know—especially when the only reason that message is being shared is to create an atmosphere that manipulates the listeners into being more likely to give. Some could argue that they are doing this to break off demonic strongholds that prevent people from giving how God wants them to, and I could certainly make a little room for that line of reasoning, but that isn’t usually what happens when speakers take offerings. They tend to dress it up and make it sound incredibly spiritual—as though God has ordained a special blessing for those who pay money into the plate on that particular day. They use super-spiritual language to try to sell God’s blessings in what is the Protestant version of old-time Catholic Indulgences.
Not only that, but these speakers know full-well that if they do all of this in a particular order that it will yield the highest monetary gain.
Step 1: Have worship so everyone opens their hearts.
Step 2: Have a well-known person share an offering message to turn those open hearts toward the subject of giving and generosity
Step 3: Plant the idea that they will receive something spiritually special on that night and that night only to create urgency in the room.
Step 4: Pray manipulative prayers over the congregation for those who pay money into the offering plate to pound home the urgency.
Step 5: Pass the plates and rake in the cash.
There is a sort of science to all of this based on how people function in group settings. When a group of people mentally focus in a particular direction, it creates a corporate energy in the room and if an individual is unaware then it is very easy to get swept up into that group energy. Essentially it is the same mechanism behind mob-mentality and why people who are normally peaceful and rational will go absolutely nuts when everyone around them is doing the same. Mob-mentality is a more violent mechanism of this same corporate energy, but in any group situation there is an opportunity for corporate energy to present itself. This happens at MLM conventions, sports games, movie theaters, protests and rallies, and more. And large church meetings are certainly not exempt. What sometimes feels like the Holy Spirit moving on our hearts is actually a combination of what God is doing in the room and the corporate energy of the group. And because our hearts have been opened up through worship, we become more susceptible to that manipulation—because it comes from the last place we expect it.
The same thing happens with sales at church conferences. Take the same group of people who have already been manipulated into giving more than they might otherwise have, and then have a big-name speaker share a message that also is the subject of a book they just wrote. As an author, I find it entirely normal that a speaker would talk about something they wrote a book about. The reason authors typically write books is because they have something to say about a topic, and in the case of ministers they often are trying to help the Body of Christ learn and grow in a certain area which is why they wrote a book and are speaking about it to begin with. I even find it perfectly normal that the speaker would announce that their new book is present, as some people will find that book subject legitimately helpful. The manipulation comes when the speaker talks about a topic and then at the very end of the message announces not only that they have their new book present (which, to some people, will be legitimately helpful) but then creates urgency by announcing a special sale, a limited time offer, and a limited number of books present—as though that same book can’t be bought online on a different day. Some ministers go so far as to peddle prophetic words as well—giving a “free” prophetic word or scripture to everyone who buys a book that day.
To balance this out a bit, it is important we understand that there are a spectrum of spiritual forces at work in any meeting. There is definite demonic resistance that wants to keep hearts closed off, prevent people from hearing God, and keep them from receiving from the worship and message. There is also angelic assistance to help protect from and clear out all demonic influence, open hearts, and help facilitate a revelatory flow for all present in the meeting. The Holy Spirit actively works in people’s hearts to create faith, love, hope, generosity and more, and reveal the fruit of the Spirit at work in our lives, and the unhealed aspects of our own hearts also come bubbling up to reveal our more base heart motives such as ego, self-centeredness, and pride. It is not always easy for a minister to try to sense the flow of what God is doing, discern how to push back against what the enemy is trying to do, and attempt to do it all in a way that releases the highest good for everyone present. It realistically isn’t possible to have everything perfect for every person at every meeting.
I truly believe that most ministers, pastors, and leaders honestly desire to honor God with the things they do in and around church meetings. And yet, having witnessed firsthand on multiples of occasions the intentional manipulation of the Body that can occur at big church conferences, it seems foolish to me to pretend that noble motives are the only things that exist. Thus, it seems that the instructions Jesus gave his disciples before sending them out still apply today: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) We must be wise to the schemes of the enemy, even those wolves who have infiltrated the flock, protecting our hearts from manipulation and control, all while keeping our hearts supple toward the Lord and all that He is doing in those same circumstances. It isn’t always easy, but by God’s grace, and through a greater awareness and discernment of what is going on around us, I believe we can succeed.
