BEMA Episode Link: 242: Spiritual Abuse — Commodities and Variables
Episode Length: 47:49
Published Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2021 01:00:00 -0700
Session 6
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings begin a series that reflects on the heartbreaking realities of spiritual abuse, using notes from a recent conference to guide the conversation.

Discussion Video for BEMA 242

Thought of the Day: Imposter Syndrome — Marty Solomon, YouTube

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Transcript for BEMA 242

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA 242: Spiritual Abuse - Commodities and Variables

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 242: Spiritual Abuse - Commodities and Variables Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: Introduction to a four-part series on spiritual abuse, examining posture toward Generation Z and foundational concepts of treating people as commodities rather than human beings

This episode launches a four-part series on spiritual abuse, beginning with personal reflections and insights from a campus ministry conference. Marty shares wisdom from Leah Schrumpf, a campus minister at Purdue who is training in spiritual abuse counseling. The episode explores the importance of posture toward younger generations, the need for trauma-informed ministry, and the Jewish understanding of true repentance beyond mere confession.

Key Takeaways

  • Our posture toward Generation Z (and all people) matters deeply because humans are born to see their face reflected in the face of another
  • Generation Z has become what it is because of the context and world that previous generations created for them
  • Ministry must shift from information transfer to transformation through relationship and family
  • When we treat people as commodities and variables to be manipulated for ministry goals, we commit violence against them and strip them of their humanity
  • True repentance is a five-step process, not just confession, and requires acknowledgment of harm, restitution, plans for change, and actual behavioral transformation
  • Most pastoral training programs lack trauma-informed education, creating a dangerous gap in spiritual leadership preparation
  • Empathy is essential for ministry and transformation, despite recent pushback against it in some Christian circles

Main Concepts & Theories

Generation Z Context

Generation Z represents the largest generation to date, comprising the children of Gen X parents. This generation ranges from current college students to those in their mid-to-late 20s. Unlike Millennials (the last children of Boomer parents), Gen Z has grown up in a world characterized by:

  • Unprecedented access to information through the internet
  • Increased awareness and openness about mental health and therapy
  • A cultural shift toward losing the stigma around counseling
  • The context and conditions created by previous generations

According to research referenced at the conference, many Gen Z individuals associate the term “evangelical Christian” with “child molester” or “sex offender” - a shocking finding that demands self-reflection rather than defensive dismissal.

The Mental Health Epidemic

Marty observes that nearly every college student he worked with closely ended up in some form of therapy. Rather than viewing this negatively, he frames it as:

  • Increased cultural awareness of mental health needs
  • Reduction of stigma around seeking professional help
  • A natural result of information accessibility and story-sharing
  • Evidence of a generation more willing to pursue emotional health
The Need for Trauma-Informed Ministry

A critical gap exists in pastoral training. Marty reflects that in his four years of Bible college training for pastoral ministry (2001-2005), he received zero training on trauma or being trauma-informed. This creates dangerous situations where spiritual leaders:

  • Lack understanding of trauma’s impact on individuals
  • Don’t know the dos and don’ts of trauma-sensitive care
  • May inadvertently cause harm through ignorance
  • Cannot properly support people in their most vulnerable moments

Being trauma-informed is not optional for effective ministry in the current cultural context.

Seeing Our Face Reflected in Another

Leah Schrumpf’s profound insight: “We are born to see our face reflected in the face of another.” This means:

  • Part of being human is recognizing our shared humanity
  • Belonging comes from seeing ourselves in our mentors, teachers, pastors, and leaders
  • When leaders look at us with empathy and solidarity, we see what we could become
  • This reflection is the essence of discipleship
  • Without this mirror, people feel isolated, misunderstood, and dehumanized

The current general posture toward young people - characterized by disdain, eye-rolling, and dismissiveness (“snowflakes,” “they’re in so much therapy”) - fails to provide this essential reflection.

From Information to Transformation

Ministry has traditionally focused on data transfer and information sharing. However, in the information age, people don’t need more information. They need:

  • Family and belonging
  • Relational engagement
  • Transformation done appropriately in community
  • Love rather than lectures
  • Empathy rather than expertise alone

This connects to Romans 12:2 - “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Significantly, this verse about transformation appears in the context of Romans 12-14, which focuses entirely on loving one another and spiritual family. Transformation happens through loving relationships, not through information alone.

People as Commodities and Variables

Leah’s most powerful statement: “If we see people as commodities, and if we treat them as variables to be manipulated, we are executing violence on them, because we’re not treating them as human beings, we’re treating them as something else. We’re removing their humanity.”

This happens when:

  • Saving souls becomes more important than loving people
  • The Great Commission supersedes the Greatest Commandment
  • Metrics and numbers drive ministry decisions
  • People become tally marks rather than individuals
  • Ministry goals take priority over human dignity

This approach mirrors exactly what an abuser does to their victim - stripping them of humanity and treating them as a means to a personal goal. In ministry contexts, the goal may be:

  • Ecclesiological (church growth)
  • Theological (doctrinal purity)
  • Corporate (organizational success)
  • Missional (evangelism numbers)

Regardless of how “righteous” the goal appears, treating people as commodities to achieve it constitutes spiritual abuse and violence.

The Five Steps of True Repentance

Drawing from Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg and Jewish tradition, Marty outlines repentance as a comprehensive process:

Step 1: Confession Confess the sin to God and any relevant parties affected by the wrongdoing. This is not confession to the whole world, but to those directly impacted. Most Christians equate confession with repentance, but confession is merely the beginning.

Step 2: Acknowledge Negative Impact Recognize and articulate how the sin negatively impacted others. This requires:

  • Connecting the dots from the wrong action to its consequences
  • Understanding effects on victims’ ability to trust
  • Recognizing damage to people’s view of God or spiritual leaders
  • Moving beyond self-focus to other-awareness

This step is often skipped entirely, especially by those with narcissistic tendencies, because it requires vulnerability and deep empathy.

Step 3: Make Restitution Make any possible and necessary amends or reparations. This might include:

  • Financial compensation for tangible damages
  • Public acknowledgment of wrongs when appropriate
  • Going above and beyond (the Torah principle of adding 20%)
  • Acknowledging that some emotional harm cannot be fully “repaid”

This is about justice and putting the world back together, not just saying sorry.

Step 4: Outline Future Behavior Changes Communicate clearly to wronged parties how you will behave differently moving forward. This includes:

  • Specific plans for avoiding similar mistakes
  • Accountability structures
  • Ongoing education and training
  • Commitment to continued growth

Step 5: Actually Change Your Behavior Follow through and demonstrate changed behavior over time. Only when this step is completed has repentance run its course. Repentance (from the Hebrew “teshuvah”) means to return or make a U-turn - it refers to actual behavioral change, not mere acknowledgment of wrongdoing.

This framework explains why many public apologies feel hollow - they use the right words but lack acknowledgment of harm, restitution, plans for change, or proven behavioral transformation.

Examples & Applications

The Participation Trophy Debate

People criticize Generation Z for being coddled with participation trophies and score-free games. But where did that come from? It was a reaction by Gen X parents against:

  • Overly competitive, win-at-all-costs sports culture
  • Emotional damage caused by excessive pressure on children
  • Authoritarian parenting styles of previous generations

Rather than dismissing the response, we should reflect on what in our previous approach necessitated the correction. Whether it was an overcorrection or appropriate adjustment, it didn’t happen in a vacuum.

Ministry Metrics Creating Commodities

When a pastor or ministry leader:

  • Focuses on conversion numbers at year-end reviews
  • Measures success by attendance figures
  • Prioritizes “decisions for Christ” over relational discipleship
  • Evaluates staff based on quantifiable outcomes

They may believe they’re honoring God’s mission, but they’re unconsciously treating people as variables in a success equation. Even if individual interactions feel genuine, the underlying system reduces humans to statistics.

Trauma in Ministry Settings

A college student experiences spiritual abuse from a campus ministry leader. Without trauma-informed training, subsequent pastors and counselors may:

  • Minimize the student’s experience
  • Pressure premature forgiveness
  • Focus on the student’s role in conflict
  • Fail to recognize symptoms of spiritual trauma
  • Inadvertently re-traumatize through ignorant responses

With trauma-informed training, leaders would recognize triggers, provide appropriate space for healing, validate experiences, and connect students with professional resources.

Confession Without Repentance

A youth pastor is discovered to have inappropriate relationships with students. He:

  • Confesses to church leadership (Step 1)
  • Issues a public apology using the right language
  • But never acknowledges specific harm to victims (skips Step 2)
  • Makes no restitution to those hurt (skips Step 3)
  • Offers no plan for how he’ll prevent future abuse (skips Step 4)
  • Quietly moves to another ministry after a brief break (skips Step 5)

This is confession without repentance. True repentance would require completing all five steps, potentially taking years and including permanent removal from ministry roles where similar abuse could occur.

Empathy in Transformation

A college student struggling with doubt and faith questions needs transformation. Two approaches:

Information-focused: The leader provides book recommendations, theological arguments, apologetics resources, and Bible verses to study.

Transformation-focused: The leader listens with empathy, shares their own journey with doubt, creates space for questions without judgment, walks alongside the student in community, and allows transformation to emerge through relationship.

The second approach recognizes that the student doesn’t primarily need more information - they need to see their face reflected in someone who understands and still maintains faith.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

Contemporary Research on Generation Z and Faith
  • Barna research on Generation Z’s religious affiliations and perceptions
  • Studies on why young adults are leaving evangelical churches
  • Analysis of effective ministry approaches with younger generations
  • Examination of how social media and internet access shape faith development
Trauma-Informed Ministry Training
  • Development of trauma-informed curriculum for seminary and Bible college
  • Best practices for pastoral care with trauma survivors
  • Understanding different types of trauma and their spiritual impacts
  • Integration of psychological insights with theological frameworks
  • Legal and ethical considerations in pastoral counseling
Jewish Perspectives on Repentance (Teshuvah)
  • Maimonides’ teachings on repentance
  • The High Holy Days and repentance practices
  • Comparison of Jewish and Christian understandings of forgiveness
  • Restorative justice principles in Jewish tradition
  • How Jewish repentance practices might inform Christian discipleship
Systemic Issues in Ministry Culture
  • How church growth movements have shaped pastoral priorities
  • The relationship between metrics-driven ministry and spiritual abuse
  • Theology of success in American evangelicalism
  • The professionalization of ministry and its unintended consequences
  • Alternative models for measuring ministry “success”
Empathy in Christian Theology
  • Biblical foundations for empathy and compassion
  • The incarnation as the ultimate act of empathy
  • Examining pushback against empathy in contemporary Christianity
  • Distinction between sympathy and empathy in pastoral care
  • Jesus’ example of entering into others’ experiences
Spiritual Abuse Definition and Recognition
  • Comprehensive definitions of spiritual abuse
  • Warning signs and red flags in ministry settings
  • Power dynamics in spiritual leadership
  • Differences between difficult leadership and actual abuse
  • Support resources for spiritual abuse survivors
Narcissism and Ministry Leadership
  • Narcissistic tendencies versus Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  • How ministry structures can attract or enable narcissistic behavior
  • Self-awareness practices for leaders
  • Accountability systems to prevent abuse of power
  • Healing paths for leaders recognizing harmful patterns

Comprehension Questions

  1. According to Leah Schrumpf’s insight, what does it mean that “we are born to see our face reflected in the face of another,” and why is this important for ministry and discipleship?

  2. Explain the difference between confession and repentance according to the Jewish five-step framework. Why is confession alone insufficient?

  3. How does treating people as “commodities and variables to be manipulated” constitute violence and spiritual abuse, even when done with seemingly good intentions like evangelism?

  4. What is the significance of the statement “this generation has come to be what it is because of the context that we created for them”? How should this shape our posture toward Generation Z?

  5. Why does ministry need to shift from information transfer to transformation, and what role does relationship and family play in this transformation according to Romans 12-14?

Summary

This introductory episode to the spiritual abuse series establishes critical foundations for understanding how well-intentioned ministry can become harmful. The central revelation is that when we treat people as commodities - as variables to be manipulated toward ministry goals like conversion numbers or church growth - we commit violence against them by stripping away their humanity.

Marty shares insights from campus minister Leah Schrumpf about the importance of posture toward younger generations, particularly Generation Z. Rather than dismissing or looking down on young people, we must recognize that they are products of the world previous generations created. Humans are born to see their face reflected in the face of others; when leaders fail to provide this empathetic reflection, they deny people the belonging and recognition essential for discipleship and transformation.

The episode challenges the information-transfer model of ministry, arguing that in an information-saturated age, people need transformation through relationship and family rather than more data. This connects to Romans 12’s call to transformation through the renewing of the mind - a renewal that happens in the context of loving community, not isolated study.

A significant portion addresses the gap in pastoral training regarding trauma-informed care. Most ministry leaders received no education about trauma, creating dangerous situations where they may inadvertently harm vulnerable people. This must change as mental health awareness increases and more people seek therapy without stigma.

Finally, Marty introduces the Jewish understanding of repentance as a five-step process: confession, acknowledging negative impact on others, making restitution, outlining plans for behavioral change, and actually changing behavior over time. This framework reveals why many apologies feel hollow and why confession alone is insufficient. True repentance requires the complete journey of restoration.

The episode closes with Marty’s personal commitment to this process, acknowledging his own participation in systems that perpetuate spiritual abuse and his ongoing journey toward becoming a more trauma-informed, empathetic, and Christ-like leader. This sets the stage for deeper exploration of spiritual abuse in subsequent episodes while establishing a non-defensive, growth-oriented posture for the conversation.

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