The Unhealthy God-Man Concept

COMMENTARY: The idea of a man of God, specially chosen by God to lead and speak on behalf of God, and who therefore cannot be contradicted, is unhealthy and harmful to the life and work of a church.

During 2016, the focus has been on life in some small Danish religious sects, where there has been a speech omen leadership style described as dictatorial: “they speak and issue orders on behalf of God Himself”. Central to the sects is a strong leader, often referred to as the Man of God. There is no possibility of objection or criticism -- it is the word of God that counts.
FriKirkenNet completely disapproves of such a leadership style.

An Unhappy Cocktail
It is not unknown that sects are often built around strong leaders who manage to create a framework for their successors that immediately gives them a kind of security. They may even seek the strong management of performance and voluntarily and obediently submit to the domination of others. This - coupled with personalities who have no qualms about exploiting and manipulating other people - is an unhappy cocktail, which creates wounded victims who feel abused.

God's mouthpiece
The concept of the Man of God has its origins in the Old Testament (GT), where leaders such as Moses and several of the prophets were called the Man of God* in the sense of God's spokesman; that God speaks to and through when he wants to say something to his people. It is clear from GT that the status of the Jewish people among all other peoples was quite unique. Their leader had been chosen by God to speak His word to the nation about worship, legislation, morality, and guidance about the future.
As a nation, they were led by God—a theocracy which is not taught in the global Christianity of the New Testament (NT).

Distorted theology
The 1970s saw the rise of a movement — especially in the United States — called the faith movement or the theology of prosperity. Here, some developed a leadership style that drew its inspiration from GT's concept of godman. The priest, leader, or founder was called the anointed or The Godmanwho carried the vision for the church - all others were his auxiliary services.
In the most extreme cases, he should not ask anyone for advice or bother himself with the opinions of peers. There were no congregational councils or elders - you just had to follow what God had said to his chosen servant.
Both Evangelist and Fatherhuset, as well as several other so-called faith congregations, followed this model of leadership. The mixture of GT theology and New Testament Christianity is here completely distorted, and the consequences are evident in the form of abuse of power, theological malfeasance and economic malfeasance.

African chieftain culture
In the Danish environments mentioned above, there is also a strong influence from, among others, African preachers, who flocked to Europe in the late 90s and early 00s. They were strongly characterized by a theology of healing, exorcism, and material and economic advancement, which to this day influences large parts of the African Church. But there was also a strong focus on leadership with authority that requires subordination and obedience, and which draws its inspiration in the African chiefdom culture.

Unhealthy and harmful thought
New Testament Christianity is neither oppressive nor manipulative - it is liberating and serving. Leadership models in the NT may, in establishment phases, be individualistic (e.g., the Apostle Paul), but in congregational leadership it is always pluralistic. No one can claim to be a sovereign voice of God.
FrikirkeNet has, among other things, emerged to ensure healthy charisma in free churches and has since its inception had as a focus area to express the importance of healthy and transparent structures for management and finance. In this regard, we find the idea of The Godman Unhealthy and harmful to the culture and functioning of a church.

The Struggle for Religious Freedom
The history of the Free Churches dates back to the amendment made to the Constitution in 1849. The Baptists, who founded their first church in Denmark in 1839, were at the forefront of the struggle for religious freedom, which was thus incorporated into the June Act of the Constitution of 1849, with specific permission to be a member of “et in the Land recognized faith community”.
One was familiar with Lutheran elective congregations, which sorted under the bishop, but now the concept of the Free Church arose. They sorted not under the Bishop, but under the Church Ministry. They had, so to speak, freedom of method in relation to the form of worship, text readings and hymns, and as free schools (often Grundtvig) grew, so did free churches.

Sweden's largest popular movement
At the turn of the century, in Scandinavia there were strong spiritual movements underway of Lutheran, Baptist and Pentecostal observance. Many communities of interest formed associations during these years, as did religious groups. They were given legal status as associations or self-owning institutions. For example, from the beginning of the century until the 1930s, the Swedish Pentecostal revival grew to become Sweden's largest popular movement; larger and more influential than the trade unions - both in numbers and social engagement with food and clothing distribution.
The Free Churches were formerly organized in the Danish Council of Free Churches, but after many years merged with other church bodies and are today represented in the Danish Council of Churches and FrikirkenNet.

On behalf of the Free Church
Jørgen Mortensen, pastor of Copenhagen Free Church

* See, for example, Deuteronomy 33:1, 1 Samuel 9:7 and 1 Kings 13:6.

Model photo: Per Bækgaard