Fatal Spiritual Attraction
The importance of this editorial can not be overstated. There are some relations that happen in the church that become fatal. There are court cases and traumatic accounts that are mind blowing. Please note. This article is not counting the cases connected to the Catholic religion. The Protestant churches have just as many embarrassing records of fatal spiritual attraction.
These spiritual relationships have resulted in fatal blows to someone’s finances, to someone’s romance, and/or to someone’s faith. Often, all three areas of someone’s life can have fatal blows.
The relationship starts with an attraction that involves finances, romance, or spirituality. It seems so innocent, yet it becomes very fatal.
First for review, are spiritual relationships that have a fatal blow to the finances of someone. So many have suffered financially behind spiritual relationships. Every relationship has spiritual connections. It can be between a religious leader and a member, or it can be a member who has connected to another member with a commercial business. Let it be known that some relationships that were first spiritually based, then later, became fatal, because finances were greatly invested in it. So, how does it become fatal?! At some point, stewardship principles are ignored because of the spiritual trust of the relationship. This continues until the one pouring funds into the relationship runs empty or goes into the negative with loans. Thus, a fatal blow happens to the person with the funds. When the funds are depleted, then the one with the loss of funds is filled with regret of ever having a spiritual connection that was so fatal.
Next are the romantic relationships that lead to fatality. In this one, there is no innocence of any party involved. Some relationships start with good intentions, but others start with great deception (let no one know that romance is happening). No specific cases need to be named. How many times have we heard of religious leaders having illicit, sinful sex with the ones they are supposed to guide with integrity. In some cases babies were born. Some cases have molestation or rape. Once the corrupt relationship comes to light, fatality begins all around this relationship, and it usually has a domino impact on all around it. The church’s reputation and its members suffer fatal blows to confidence in the spiritual nature of the church. Families and friends can also have fatal consequences from the attachment to the spiritual relationship.
The third kind of relationship that can be fatal spiritually is toxic and or cultic. Clearly, there is nothing normal about an abusive spiritual relationship. Most of the time, the leader of the group is the abuser. Yet, there are members of a spiritual group who are contaminating a church. This is why the Apostle Paul noted that members like this can leaven the whole lump. In I Corinthians 5:5-7, a case was revealed about a mother molesting her son. Paul asked the church to address it before it became fatal. There are leaders that can be abusive and dictatorial. Also, in churches, there are gossipers, slanders, and obstructionists that can lead to fatal experiences. Both the leader or member can cause harm with these manners of fellowship. These interactions can have fatal consequences to the church and to the families connected.
There are cases when someone has experienced financial, romantical, and spiritual abuse.
All of the above is horrible and very avoidable if parties involved have boundaries. Most of the time, boundaries are ignored to honor a spiritual commitment….that’s when the consequences can be fatal.
