I Accidentally Joined a Cult: Part 3
Toxic Teachings That Harm the Vulnerable
TW: sexual abuse, child abuse, domestic abuse, religious trauma
For fifteen years, I was a willing and active participant of a cult I thought was a regular church network called Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC). Although SGC claims to be a “global community of churches,” this label is misleading, as their teachings and practices have historically and consistently been that of a cult.
As I mentioned in my last article, Miriam-Webster defines cult as “a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious.” “Spurious” means “not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit.”
The scope of this (lengthy!) article will be to dissect some of the central teachings of SGC that are unorthodox and spurious: “not from the claimed source” of the Bible.
This group claims to have a high view of Scripture while misleadingly labeling their teachings “biblical” and “gospel-centered.” They offer a counterfeit of biblically faithful teaching and a perversion of the gospel.
They teach something that is so opposite of what the Bible truly says, which harms their followers and manipulates trusting people into believing that their own abusive teachings are actually what God says, so to question or defy these teachings is to question or defy God. This cult is, therefore, even more insidious than other cults, such as Scientology, which make no claims to biblical faithfulness.
Unfortunately, the toxic teachings within SGC are extensive. Although this is by far my longest article in this series, there is no way to be exhaustive in explaining the many harmful teachings within SGC. You will not find most of these teachings on SGC’s website, as they have scrubbed the internet of everything pre-2015. During my time in this cult, their website contained an extensive “resources” section of all their conference messages, sermons, and articles. However, I noticed that as of their most recent sexual abuse scandal, they removed most of their online content while claiming they have nothing to hide. If only former cult members could scrub their minds of these teachings and undo the ongoing effects of listening to these destructive messages.
While many of their destructive teachings were given from the pulpit, much more is “caught” than explicitly taught. The very culture of Sovereign Grace was toxic. It was in the air we breathed. Some of the worst teachings were given behind closed doors, in private meetings and counseling sessions with pastors, rather than from the pulpit.
If I had to narrow down the most destructive, unorthodox, and spurious teachings of SGC, I would put them into three categories: patriarchy, parenting, and psychology. These are the three main categories I have personally witnessed and have heard countless heartbreaking stories about the devastating effects these teachings have had on good, trusting people who simply wanted to know God and obey Scripture.
Patriarchy
From its inception, the Sovereign Grace cult has put a premium on setting themselves apart from what they call the “feminist culture” by promoting patriarchy, or what they call “biblical manhood and womanhood” or “complementarianism.”
Many churches and Christians hold a “complementarian” view in a way that is not abusive towards women. The following description of patriarchy is not true of everyone who believes that men and women are called to different roles in the home and church. Those beliefs are not unorthodox or necessarily abusive. However, the way SGC teaches and applies their patriarchal beliefs goes beyond the scope of orthodoxy and has directly resulted in an ongoing epidemic of abuse within their congregations.
In order to support their own patriarchal agenda, SGC leaders deliberately apply irresponsible methods of biblical interpretation they would never tolerate were it any other topic. For example, they “proof-text” passages such as Genesis 2–3, Proverbs 31, Ephesians 5:22–33, and Titus 2:3–5. Proof-texting is the erroneous practice of isolating a Bible passage from its literary and historical-cultural context and applying it to modern times without any regard for the original author’s intention for their original audience. The first rule of hermeneutics is “context is king.” SGC leaders know this. However, they promote intentionally sloppy exegesis in order to serve their own self-indulgent agenda, and the results of their error have devastated untold numbers of people.
Not only is this teaching spurious and abusive, but it is unorthodox, and some would even say, heretical. This is because of the tactics they employ to convince their followers that the oppression of women is good for women and essential to the gospel. They twist and pervert the doctrine of the Trinity by teaching that Jesus, God the Son, has always been subordinate to God the Father yet is equal to God the Father; therefore, women who willingly submit to men remain equal in value and worth. “See? It’s actually a good thing that your husband dominates you and orders you around, and you must obey. It’s what Jesus did, and He’s still God. You get to be like Jesus!”
They directly apply their faulty doctrine of the Trinity to male-female relationships and infer authority/ submission power structures of the sexes. This heresy is called eternal subordination of the Son (ESS). I am indebted to Aimee Byrd’s excellent book “Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood” for explaining this in more detail (pp.100–102). Much more has been said and written about the heresy of ESS, but suffice it to say, it is one of many deliberately deceptive tactics SGC employs to try and convince their followers that the subjugation of women is not only right and good, but what God requires from his people, and that it is a beautiful picture of the gospel! They have even gone so far as to require agreement with their patriarchal teachings a matter of genuine Christian faith. If you disagree or even question their doctrine, they respond by questioning your reverence for the Bible or even your salvation. During my time in this cult, I was repeatedly told that I was not “delighting in God’s good design” simply because I questioned their teachings and the many restrictions they placed on women.
Regarding the above “umbrella of authority” graphic that SGC subscribes to, Rachel Held Evans wrote,
“This authority structure is typically described as a series of ‘coverings’ or ‘protections’ but unfortunately, the effect is often the opposite, as abused women and children find they have no recourse or power, as every decision in their lives must be made by a series of men, many of whom are more invested in protecting the reputation of the ministry than the people in it.”
The rotten fruit of this teaching is widespread and overwhelming. Tragically, this indoctrination begins early, where young girls are oppressed from an early age. I remember overhearing debates about whether it was “appropriate” to allow girls to play contact sports since this was viewed as not feminine. I have heard stories about little girls being told to submit to their biological brothers’ “authority.” I listened to many debates about whether or not girls should be educated to the same degree as boys since the assumption was that they would ideally grow up to be stay-at-home mothers, so what was the point of sending them to college? In fact, adolescent girls were often homeschooled and enlisted as “mother’s helpers,” being sent to the homes of other church members and “helping” a mother with child care or meal planning. Girls are indoctrinated from a young age that their highest calling is to be a Stepford wife rather than an individual pursuing whatever path she chooses for herself.
The patriarchal teachings within SGC are directly responsible for their rampant domestic and sexual abuse crisis since women are required to submit to men “in all things, as unto the Lord.” Women are explicitly told to willingly subjugate themselves to men as if submitting to God- thereby viewing the man as God and herself as a subordinate. My former pastor, Tony Walsh, preached a sermon on 3/5/2017 called “Marriage: A Wife’s Role” in which he stated that a wife must submit to her husband in all things, that every single area of her life must be subject to him. He also stated at the 15:10 mark,
“Nowhere does it say for the wife to submit to your husband as the head, as long as he’s a worthy head, or as long as he’s functioning in a way that’s acceptable to you. That qualification is not made. The reality is, he is the head. Your husband might be a poor head… but the wife is to submit and subject herself to her husband because he IS her head as appointed by God.”
Walsh also preached a sermon on 3/11/2018, called “Glorifying God in Your Marriage,” in which he disparaged the #metoo movement, stating that wives should remain in abusive marriages for the glory of God:
“God might in fact be calling a spouse who is in fact the, quote, victim of an abusive relationship, to persevere in that relationship so that their sinning spouse can be brought to repentance.”
(The above links will not work since both of these sermons have since been removed from their website. In fact, all sermons that were given before Dec. 2019 have been removed. But they have nothing to hide, right?)
When a wife in SGC is being abused, she is blamed and told that she should simply do a better job of submitting and have more sex with her husband. She is discouraged from reporting her abuse to anyone outside of her church but is required to meet with church elders to seek to reconcile with their abuser. SGC has recently adjusted their PR by publicly saying that any abuse victim should report their abuse to the police. However, that is not what they have said in private marriage counseling sessions and certainly not what they have historically been telling their members. I have heard countless stories of wives being required to return to abusive husbands, being told that their abuse is merely “a sin issue” (more on this later), and therefore to forgive is to demonstrate the gospel. I have heard stories of husbands in SGC physically sitting on their wives until they submit. I have heard of husbands spanking wives to “discipline” them, which was eerily reminiscent of a scene in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” When husbands are unfaithful to their wives, the wives are blamed and told to simply have more sex with their cheating partners.
Wives are taught to “be attractive, available, anticipatory, aggressive, and adventurous.” Women are told that they must always have sex with their husbands, no matter what. Further, they are blamed if their husband is unfaithful. They are taught that a husband’s self-control is dependent on his wife’s physical appearance. This has caused untold damage to women, who often already struggle with body image. If a husband looks at pornography or has an affair, the wife is often blamed and told she should work harder on her own physical appearance.
In SGC’s marriage book, “Love That Lasts,” (Gary and Betsy Ricucci, p.149) wives are told:
“If I want my husband to desire me, I need to look desirable.”
Women are further blamed for men’s bad behavior with countless messages about “modesty” to prevent men from objectifying them. Rather than men being held accountable for their perversion, the women are blamed, implying that their mistreatment could be prevented by simply wearing more modest clothing. A pastor on the SGC leadership team advised me to “wear more modest clothing” when I told him I felt like an older man was leering at me. There was even an infamous “modesty checklist” that we were told to tape to our mirrors or closet doors.
CJ Mahaney himself preached several sermons on modesty, and was weirdly obsessed with controlling what women wore. Predictably, women are reluctant to report sexual assault in this cult, believing that they did something to invite their assault, and if only they were more modest, they could have prevented it. They also are hesitant to invite further scrutiny and humiliation into what is already a horrifying situation. So, they stay quiet, ingest the message that it was their fault, and just try harder.
Wives are also told that they are never allowed to “not be in the mood,” but must always comply when their husband initiates sex, no matter what.
“Denying sex to one another is never legitimate…. Ladies, when your husband initiates lovemaking, what’s on the line is nothing less than his heart, his leadership, and his perception of your respect for him. Consistent refusal and rejection could tempt him in ways you might never imagine! Remember this the next time you’re ‘not in the mood.’ Instead of looking at your own circumstances, look to God’s Word and cry out for the grace to serve your husband” (Gary and Betsy Ricucci, “Love That Lasts,” pp.146–147).
“Crying out for the grace to serve your husband” is not consensual sex. However, the idea of consent is entirely absent from SGC’s extensive teachings on sex. It is implied that consent is not needed in marriage and that when the wedding vows are exchanged, the wife is giving permanent consent to her body. Carolyn Mahaney writes,
“When we choose to obey God and give our bodies to our husbands — even if we don’t feel like it — God will reward us with pleasure.”
Women are taught that when they have non-consensual sex with their husbands, they are obeying God, and God will reward them.
In reality, non-consensual sex within marriage is called marital rape, and it grieves the heart of God. However, SGC has historically and consistently taught women that to experience marital rape is to obey God and an excellent way to “serve your husband.” This teaching is deplorable and, again, has led to the sexual abuse of many within this cult.
In her book “Feminine Appeal,” as well as her many speaking engagements on the subject of marital sex, Carolyn Mahaney, the cult leader’s wife, encourages abuse victims to discuss their sexual trauma with her pastor and his wife, who are not licensed therapists or certified in trauma therapy, and therefore not qualified to treat her. Qualified, licensed therapists are seen as a threat, and SGC members are highly discouraged from seeking help outside their church (more on this later).
Mrs. Mahaney also counsels sexual abuse victims to consider the story of an exemplary abuse survivor who found the “cure” to her trauma by shaming herself and “looking to the cross.”
“He showed me Calvary once more… I saw the horror of my sin, nailing the Son of God to that miserable cross, torturing Him, mocking Him, spitting on Him. Yet He had forgiven me freely. No one had committed such atrocities against me. How could I do anything less than forgive?
Forgiveness came. And with it came healing, complete peace and freedom — absolute freedom — to serve my God and to enjoy His love and peace now and forevermore” (Carolyn Mahaney, “Feminine Appeal,” pp. 74–75).
Let that sink in. Carolyn Mahaney tells abuse victims that “absolute freedom” and “the cure” to their sexual trauma comes from seeing “the horror of [their] sin,” nailing Jesus to the cross, and that this will lead them to “forgive” their abusers. Consider the horrific spiritual abuse that results in using the cross to shame abuse victims into denying their abuse, identifying primarily as a “sinner,” and ignoring the very legitimate consequences that they must now live with every day as a result of what was done to them.
Let’s be clear: This is pure evil. These are not the teachings of a legitimate church. This is a cult.
Note: for further study on biblical passages that appear to endorse patriarchy, I highly recommend the following books:
Parenting
The next unorthodox and spurious teaching within SGC is what they call “gospel-centered parenting.” Their teaching is unorthodox, even heretical, in asserting that parenting children the “right” way will result in obedient Christian children. They teach that it is a parent’s job to “cultivate a culture for regeneration.” My husband and I were told by our former SGC senior pastor that “it’s so much harder for kids to get saved when they leave the home.” In other words, parents can save their children through correct parenting. This is heretical to the orthodox Christian faith, which teaches that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone, “not of your own doing… not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). To claim salvation by anything other than the work of Jesus is outside the realm of orthodoxy and is a heretical teaching.
We were also told by our pastor Pete Payne, an SGC leader who trains future pastors at the SGC pastors’ college, “You always start with the externals [behavior], before the internal [character]”. Again, this is heretical and unbiblical since Jesus says the opposite:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:27–28).
“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matt. 15:7–9).
In other words, SGC teaches something that is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. They teach their own commandments and traditions and label something “biblical” that is not only unbiblical but downright dangerous.
Further, their teaching is spurious in that they call it “gospel-centered parenting,” yet their teachings are anything but gospel-centered. The gospel means “good news” but SGC leaders proactively prescribe physical and spiritual abuse as faithful, biblical discipline. This is anything but good news for children or parents.
Biblical Discipline or Physical Abuse?
Larry Tomczak, the co-founder of SGC, wrote a book in 1982 called “God, the Rod, and Your Child’s Bod.” In this book, Tomczak claims that faithful, “biblical” parenting includes physical beatings and will result in obedient, compliant children. It should be noted that Tomczak, among other SGC leaders, was later named in a lawsuit for beating a child, identified as Carla Coe, forcing her to remove her clothing against her will, and beating her bare buttocks with various instruments, including but not limited to, plastic and wooden sticks. This abuse continued over a 25-year-span of childhood and into adulthood. “On several occasions, Defendant Tomczak imprisoned Carla Coe and denied her food for extended periods of time. Defendant Tomczak verbally admitted on one or more occasions to the individual Defendants and to the Church that he abused Carla Coe. No one reported the beatings to the secular authority.”
While this might sound shocking, it is altogether consistent with SGC’s teachings about parenting. Pete Payne and his wife Betsy demanded that my husband and I spank our teenage sons for not reading the Bible, praying, and standing during worship during church services. When we refused, our character and our love for our children was called into question. They condemned our children’s behavior and pressured us through guilt to physically abuse them, especially our son with special needs. Again, when we refused, they ultimately told the entire congregation that there were “concerns about [our] parenting.”
Pete also told us that he spanked his sons well into their teenage years and punished one of his children by neglecting his education (he was homeschooled), forcing him to copy Bible verses over and over for two weeks instead of doing schoolwork. They wanted us to follow their example of similarly punishing our children and were very frustrated when we again refused.
A former member told me that an SGC pastor taught at a teen retreat, “Your bodies are not your own; they belong to your parents until you marry, and then they belong to your spouse.” An SGC pastor also bragged from the pulpit “that because his kids were disrespectful, he and his wife only fed them plain rice for a week…they talked about how after day 3 or so they allowed salt or butter on the rice and the whole family was so thankful for ‘blessing’ of it.” This pastor promoted malnutrition and neglect as an appropriate form of discipline.
Many have told me stories about wooden spoons being left out at church bathrooms or sticking out of diaper bags as a sign that they were “faithfully disciplining” their children. Physical beatings occurred many times a day, to children as young as toddlers, for any minor infraction or not “obeying the first time, every time, with a happy heart.”
Teaching parents that they can save their children from hell if they follow the correct principles has led to many parents becoming obsessed with controlling their children, not allowing any ounce of individuality, independence, or deviation from the cult. Normal developmental stages were stifled, as children were not permitted to test the boundaries, express themselves, rebel, question authority, or anything else that is a normal and healthy part of human development.
The end result has been extensive psychological damage amongst the vast majority of children who grew up in SGC.
Not surprisingly, there have been lawsuits “against Sovereign Grace Ministries, Covenant Life Church, Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax and ten pastors including C.J. Mahaney, in Montgomery County, MD, alleging defendants conspired to commit and/or cover-up child sexual abuse in their respective organizations.”
When children are taught from a young age that God says that they must obey their parents immediately, without question, no matter what, they are groomed for abuse. They are brainwashed to not report abuse or even to identify what is happening to them as abuse. Children were required to thank their parents for their beatings immediately after they were administered, and if they didn’t comply, more beatings were the punishment. They are taught that their abuse is “biblical” and “gospel-centered” and “for their good.” They are taught that their abuse is their own fault and a direct result of their “sinful choices” or “disrespect” or any other number of supposed infractions.
Again, is it any wonder that Sovereign Grace Churches has an epidemic of abuse since their inception? Is it any wonder that there has been a thirty-year-long effort to cover up this abuse? Is it any wonder that they so adamantly refuse a third-party, independent investigation?
SGC’s teaching on parenting could not be further from the gospel.
It stands in opposition to the Bible, in which Jesus displayed a generous love for children and a hatred for the mistreatment of little ones (Matt. 18:6).
Psychology
The final toxic teaching that SGC espouses is a disdain for psychology. As Mahaney’s followers sang, he “made sure psycho-babble got nixed.” Rather than respecting the work of mental health professionals, SGC employs “biblical counseling” and refers suffering people to pastors and lay people rather than licensed professionals for therapy.
Full disclosure: I used to believe this wholeheartedly. I disparaged friends and family who sought mental health treatment and I belittled the mental health field. I say all of this to my shame as I reflect on my former ignorance. As I describe SGC’s disdain for psychology, I write as someone with firsthand knowledge these ideas, having deeply internalized and defended these teachings.
Biblical Counseling vs. Psychology
What is biblical counseling? My husband, Keith Daukas, wrote an excellent article summarizing “biblical counseling.” My description below borrows heavily from his article, as he has said it better than I can. Biblical counseling teaches:
1. The Bible alone is sufficient to provide counseling to every person.
2. The Bible alone defines the categories used in a counseling session.
3. The Bible alone defines the mark of health.
1) Biblical counselors claim that the Bible is sufficient for any counseling situation.
They believe the Bible teaches this in 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” They interpret “all things that pertain to life and godliness” as any situation that a Christian may encounter in life, whether that is abuse, trauma, anxiety, depression, or addiction. They believe the Bible is sufficient to treat these and any other mental illness.
Again, their grave error is that they proof-text this passage. Was Peter actually writing this introduction of his second epistle to tell the church how they should counsel abuse victims and those who suffer anxiety disorder? Of course not. Their error in claiming that the Bible alone is sufficient to provide counseling to every person is that it ignores the fact that the Bible is only sufficient to do that which it was intended to do.
To claim that all you need is the Bible for any counseling situation is to try to make the Bible function in a way it was never intended.
The Bible doesn’t tell us how to lower our cholesterol, prevent cancer, or create new neural pathways when recovering from trauma. The Bible was not written as a scientific textbook, and neuroscience, like any other field of science, is not explicitly addressed in Scripture. As such, “biblical” counselors ignore important aspects of neuroscience, such as neuroplasticity, the chemical and biological effects of trauma, anxiety and depressive disorder, and the neurological causes of addiction and mental illness.
2) The Bible alone defines the categories used in a counseling session.
The “psycho-babble,” as they call it, are the clinical terms for mental illness such as anxiety disorder, depression, PTSD, addiction, and abuse. If the Bible alone defines the categories used in a counseling session, then everything is reduced to a “sin issue.” When I was a member of SGC, we were encouraged to only use “biblical language” to describe our struggles. Rather than saying “I’m feeling overwhelmed” we were instructed to say, “I am struggling with unbelief.” We were constantly told that our greatest problem was not anything outside of ourselves, but our own sin.
The clearest, most widespread example of this is CJ Mahaney’s consistent teaching that any suffering we experience is better than we deserve:
“I am most definitely, with hell as my point of reference, get this, I am doing better than I deserve…. Those who are amazed, truly amazed they have been given grace they did not deserve, instead of the judgment they so richly deserve, in light of their sin and the holiness and the wrath of God, those who have been humbled by this gospel of grace, those people are characterized by gratefulness…. They are convinced they are doing better than they deserve, regardless of their circumstances… because their point of reference is hell…. If my point of reference is hell, and I recommend that as a point of reference, I am doing better than I deserve. Whenever I complain, it’s obvious I have drifted from this gracious reality.” (C.J. Mahaney. “Better Than I Deserve.” Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, 1/13/2013).
This “better than I deserve” teaching is drilled into cult members in SGC. Any time someone asked, “How are you?” you were expected to say, “Better than I deserve!” Members of SGC are constantly being told that the worst sufferings they experience are better than they deserve since they are filthy sinners who deserve hell and God’s wrath. “Abuse? Better than you deserve. Your husband is cheating on you? Better than you deserve. Cancer? Better than you deserve.”
“The gospel” according to SGC is a shame-based self-reproach that is obsessed with the thought: “I am the worst sinner and I deserve hell.”
When they claim to be “gospel-centered” this is what they mean: “I deserve hell, yet I received mercy; therefore, I should be grateful for whatever life brings me and never complain.”
This is why so many abuse victims were told things like “There’s no such thing as abuse, only worse sin.” When innocent parties are hurt by others, they are told, “What idol in your heart is God revealing? What are you ‘craving’?” When wives complained about their husbands’ unfaithfulness or mistreatment, they were rebuked and asked what their sin was, because if your job is to always see yourself as the worst sinner, you are never allowed to “complain” about being mistreated.
It’s why SGC’s addiction treatment program claims,
“The problem for the addict is far worse than their suffering and the battle against addiction. The real problem is sin and the need for Jesus.”
The reality that addiction often has underlying issues such as trauma and chemical imbalance is ignored, and licensed professionals are replaced by “the local church” in order to treat these neurological and psychological ailments.
Keith writes, “If the counselee has suffered traumatic abuse and has been triggered by such abuse, Biblical counseling will not recognize such triggers as the natural effect of trauma. Instead, Biblical counseling will attempt to address trauma-induced triggers as symptoms of unbelief in the promises of the Bible. This poor approach will cause more harm to the counselee than the very trauma he/she experienced! Instead of a licensed therapist providing care, the counselee is to pray more/read certain Bible verses, etc.”
3) The Bible alone defines the mark of health.
Again, quoting Keith, “The goal of biblical counseling is for the counselee to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which will set the counselee free from their addictions and/or disorders. ‘Health’ will be if the counselee converts to Christianity and becomes a faithful, active member of the church.”
The mark of health of the counselee is that they believe the right things and become more invested in the church. Since biblical counseling is inadequate to treat psychological disorders, they cannot claim any objective healing to those disorders. If every mental and emotional ailment is reduced to a sin issue, the goal is to force the sufferer to “repent” and “trust the promises of God.” This is why, for example, a dear friend of mine who suffers from severe anxiety disorder was constantly told to trust God more, read the Bible more, believe more, and pray more. The result of this “biblical” counseling was that her condition only worsened over time.
Being told repeatedly that your sufferings are a direct result of your sin, that God is placing these sufferings in your life to “reveal the idols in your heart” is re-traumatizing and has resulted in widespread damage within SGC.
Everyone I know who has left SGC has needed trauma therapy to process the untold damage that occurred under this teaching.
Biblical counseling essentially tells people “Shut up about your abuse and trauma. Those aren’t even biblical categories. You are the worst sinner of all, so who are you to complain? Your horrific abuse is better than hell, so you should be grateful.”
This is why, as I mentioned before, Carolyn Mahaney advised abuse victims to use the cross of Christ to shame themselves as a “cure” for their trauma. It’s why abused children in SGC were brought in to meetings with their abusers and forced to “forgive” them, rather than the police being called and being kept safe.
This counseling method also contributes to their “us vs. them” distrust of “outsiders” that are characteristic of all cults. When I finally left SGC, I was extremely reluctant to begin therapy, suspicious that any therapist would challenge my “biblical” beliefs and compel me to mistrust everything I held dear. In reality, the opposite was true. It was through both reading the Bible to see Jesus for who He truly is and trauma therapy that I began to truly heal and see SGC’s spiritual abuse and lies.
In conclusion
Writing these things is not easy. Researching and revisiting these toxic teachings has been difficult, as my mind is flooded and my heart is broken for the many, many vulnerable souls this cult has preyed upon: abused women and children, the mentally ill and traumatized: good, trusting people who simply wanted to do the right thing, and were exploited and further traumatized by this group that claims to help and heal people. It’s not just that this cult’s teachings are unorthodox and spurious, but they are corrupt.
SGC spiritually abuses their members by twisting the Bible and perverting the gospel into something that is so harmful to people that it has left many devastated and worse off than if they never encountered this cult.
My hope in exposing this cult’s toxic teaching is that it will affirm to their victims that they were wronged and that it was not their fault. I also hope churches and organizations that partner with Sovereign Grace will rethink their partnerships. My hope is that this cult is no longer seen as a “gospel-centered” organization with biblical teaching since they teach something that is the polar opposite of the good news of the gospel.
The truth is that God has created every human in his image, deserving of love, protection, and safety. He does not view us primarily as sinners but as His prized creation. His love for us is vast and immeasurable. He is not constantly disappointed with us, or angry with us. The first recorded emotion of God in response to human sin is sorrow, not anger. He has created us in his image, and as such, each of us deserves love, protection, and safety. He did not create us just to send us to hell because he hates us. He created us with value and dignity and worth, to join him in his good work that he is doing in the world.
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love…. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him…. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him” (Psalm 103:8–13).
(This is part 3 of a 6-part series. Please also read part 1, part 2, part 4, and part 5. Part 6 is forthcoming).
