I was in Barnes & Noble the other day and picked up a copy of Time magazine’s commemorative issue on cult killers.  Charles Manson was the cover poster child as you might expect. As I leafed through the periodical, however, the images that caught my attention the most were those of the Jonestown Massacre.  “Of the nearly 1,000 church members who began the day in Jonestown, a cult commune, only 33 survived to see the next day.”[1]

I had forgotten the horror of that event.  Scenes of over 900 bodies in colorful cloths strewn, dead, across a landscape that looked otherwise like the setting of a benign Methodist camp-meeting.  But what happened that day shouldn’t be associated with church ladies and Sunday School picnics. It was the result of a deranged religious leader who used his charisma and spiritual influence to literally destroy children, families, marriages, and too many adults that let other people think for them. They literally drank the Kool-Aide-like substance in such a tragic way it’s hard to write about it forty years later.

This triggers for me a discomfort with one of the scarier verses in the Bible:

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. (Heb. 13:17, KJV)

The verse frightens me because of words like “obey,” “rule,” and “submit” being attached to religious leaders, especially given realities like Jonestown or the shame-based, abusive, cult-like church “home” of my youth.

As one who who still believes that the bible properly interpreted is a gift from God, I’ve thought deeply about Heb. 13:17 for years. I think there are some keys insights in the verse itself to help avoid the catastrophic harm that comes from blind obedience to church leaders.

• “they watch for your souls”—Watching implies action, attentiveness, vigilance, and a virtuous concern for your well-being.  If these words, don’t describe your pastor, elders, or leaders, you’re not in safe place.
• “they must give account—Accountability to God or wise people who care about you is a good thing in and of itself. Another way of saying this is: good and wise friends and leaders who watch your back or, in the context of the church, watch for your soul are a blessing. Think parents, guardians, and mentors. It’s good to have people in our lives that help us choose the better angels of our nature. In fact, as this passage teaches, church leaders themselves are under authority and accountable to God. Thus, a willingness to be in accountable relationships (Prov. 27:6,17) including voluntary submission to the loving, reflective, biblical leadership in a local church can be a gift.
• “do it with joy, not with grief.”—This implies leaders who value emotions, are gentle, empathize, and show kindness, love, and support. It implies warmth, acceptance, grace, and sensitivity. Biblical leaders always put the well-being and needs of individuals and families over church programs and pastoral ambitions. If the vibe or actions of a church’s leadership on the whole are inaccessible, authoritarian, cold, rigid, or harsh, your church is not a place to thrive and grow. You need to leave and find one that is.
• “have the rule over you.”—Have implies a state of being which, in the case of church authority, began with a voluntary association. Unless you’re a child, your church membership is something you chose. Never give up your responsibility to think for yourself. If you believe the leadership of your local church is toxic, GET OUT. Go love God and join a life-giving expression of his church somewhere else.
• “Obey them—Notice it doesn’t say “obey the one guy or girl.” It says obey them (See also Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 11:3). Only Jesus Christ is the Head of the church. Moreover, he—the one whose yoke is easy and burden light—is the Good Shepherd who leads his churches through his Word and the reflective leadership of a plurality of godly men and women.

The leadership that pastors, elders, and deacons have been entrusted with is servant leadership (Mark 10:45). It should never be carried out in a heavy-handed manner. Acts 6:1-7 gives a wonderful hand-in-hand picture of leadership working together with a congregation.  Elders should be free to set and guard the vision of the church (trusted and allowed to do what they were asked), leading gently but courageously.  Wise leadership fosters congregants that are informed, thoughtful, and not afraid to share their true thoughts and feelings. In The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner write, “Leaders involve, in some way, all those who must live with the results.”

May God give you and your family results consistent with faith, hope, and love. May even your decision to join a church or “march in ranks” (like the locusts we observed recently) be safe-guarded by intelligent and loving leadership teams in healthy, grace-based communities.

[1] For a thumbnail history of exactly what took place on Nov. 18, 1978, see this CNN fact sheet: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/12/jonestown.factsheet/index.html