"The women listening to the public confession wept for joy. They never expected to hear those words in their lifetime. I believe it's time for American men to make a similar public confession. I believe these words will be healing for women who have been hurt by men in the church. You don't have to use the words I've written below, but this would be a good place to start:
As men who are supposed to reflect the character of Christ, we acknowledge that, too often, women have been exploited sexually by men in Christian congregations. This predatory behavior has been at times ignored, minimized or even covered up. We repent on behalf of all abusers, and we ask for forgiveness from our sisters." - J. Lee Grady
America is not Uganda. More importantly, I cannot repent for you. It doesn't work that way. Having the non-abusive men repent for the abusive men will change nothing because the ones who needed to repent never did. Nothing man does, can be blamed on what God has decreed. The problem again is the men and women who all look the other way because the cult of personality pastor cannot be questioned. The reason why so many women were allowed to be abused by Ravi Zacharias and Mike Bickle has nothing to do with women not preaching with authority over men. That is an absurd premise. It has to do with men and women enabling those that abuse and supporting the abuser. J. Lee Grady writes for Charisma News. Steven Strang is the CEO, and he is on record as exonerating Mike Bickle in December! He said the advocates were just organizing a coup of a nasty church split. He said that Jane Doe number one, abused by Bickle for years, was just a tool of the devil. J. Lee Grady has no credibility to tell anyone else they need to repent for abusers when he writes for one and refuses to personally repent by stepping away from Charisma. Then maybe he can ask for forgiveness from his sisters. Properly advising sisters on what the bible says is never something we need to ask forgiveness of. Grady should know that.
"We recognize that in some cases, women who came to church seeking help after being sexually abused or violated did not receive the compassion and care they deserved. In some cases we minimized their pain, trivialized their trauma and blamed them rather than praying for their complete healing. We repent for not listening to women's pain or feeling compassion for their loss. We ask for forgiveness. We also recognize that in some cases, church leaders created an atmosphere of secrecy to enable abusers to continue in their sin. Some pastors or leaders even knowingly allowed abuse to continue, because they didn't have the courage to confront the abusers. Jesus was a defender of women when they were falsely accused"but we have not always been bold enough to defend the women who came to us for help. We repent for our unwillingness to speak out for women when they felt voiceless. We ask for forgiveness." - J. Lee Grady
It will be a recurring theme, but Grady writes for the most egregious Mike Bickle backer in Steven Strang. Charisma News constantly defends indefensible teachers. What Grady continues to do here is reprehensible. He is trying to split the bill for the transgressors amongst everyone. We all will have enough to deal with when it comes to our own sins, let alone something we had nothing to do with. Some cases? How about most cases! Let's just look around the Charismatic landscape. How does Bill Hybels happen? Ted Haggard? Ravi? Bickle? Tullian Tchividjian? Brian Houston? Carl Lentz? Bob Jones? Paul Cain? Bob Hartley? Darnell Barrett? The list just goes on and on and in each case the damage did not need to be so bad. Beloved, if J. Lee Grady is feeling guilty for being part of the enabling system at Charisma News he should repent and withdraw but to lay the blame at the feet of people who did nothing wrong is not the solution. Neither is trying to change what God has already ordered. His boss, Strang, publicly smeared all of Bickle's victims! Don't you tell me I am the one who needs to repent sir. That is you.
"We also acknowledge that in some churches, abusers used prophetic words or other spiritual gifts to manipulate women into sexual relationships. This is spiritual exploitation of the highest order. We believe any servant of Jesus Christ who uses Scripture or a prophetic message to lure a person into sexual sin should not be in ordained ministry. We repent for any instance of spiritual exploitation or deception to manipulate and control. We ask for forgiveness." - J. Lee Grady
This is so sad. Mike Bickle did not use prophetic words or spiritual gifts. He lied about using them. According to this narrative, God would have had to bestow upon Bickle gift after gift, while knowing full well that he was only lying about them to lure underage girls into bed. Sorry, God does not do that! I know this seems hard for Charismaniacs to grasp but Mike Bickle was not a prophet. He had no spiritual gifts because he never had the spirit of God. He lied about hearing from God, just like his predator brothers, Bob Jones and Paul Cain. He never heard from God to build IHOP. Never heard from him about the ungodly 24-7 prayer room. None of it was from God - we clear? Stop perpetuating this myth. You cannot ask forgiveness for his sins. Ask for your own. Ask forgiveness for enabling people like Bickle by refusing to listen to discernment ministries for decades that were warning you about IHOPKC. Stop splitting the bill.
"We acknowledge that God created male and female in His image (Gen. 1:27), and that men and women are equal in His sight. Yet because of male pride, many men view women as inferior"and as a result they believe they can coerce, dominate, demean and abuse women physically, emotionally and spiritually. We affirm that husbands are commanded to show wives honor, and treat them as "fellow heir(s) of the grace of life," according to 1 Peter 3:7. We repent for all cruelty and abuse associated with male domination, and we repent for any pain we have caused." - J. Lee Grady
