Michael Kruger | Bully Pulpit | Steve Brown, Etc.| Key Life

Abusive church leadership – why does it happen and what can we do about it? This week, Steve and the gang hang out with author Michael Kruger to discuss this pressing issue. Michael's latest book is called "Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church" (https://amzn.to/3XMAXCs - @zondervan)

🗝️ Have you ever experienced bullying from church leadership? How did you handle it? Share your thoughts in the Comments. 🗝️

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GUEST BIO
Michael Kruger serves as president and Samuel C Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also a leading scholar on the origins and development of the New Testament canon. Michael has a new book out called "Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church" (https://amzn.to/3XMAXCs)

00:00 - Intro
03:20 - Meet Michael Kruger
04:34 - What motivated Michael to write "the book he didn't want to write"
06:15 - The church is NOT always the safe place it should be
08:21 - Creating a distinction between strong leadership and abusive leadership
09:26 - "We want to recover the kind of leaders that Jesus is asking us to be."
09:52 - The inherent danger of hiring the "superstar franchise player" pastor
14:30 - The role enabling people play in letting an abuser go unchecked
16:28 - Is abusive leadership a new problem? Or are we just now noticing it?
18:23 - Sometimes praise for a leader can be... dangerous?
23:13 - How a hyper-litigious society affects our tendency to cover for abusive leaders
27:03 - The need for a third party to investigate possible abuse
29:18 - "It's one thing to change process and structure - it's another to change culture..."
32:54 - The type of folks who abuse tend to also veer away from repentance
34:09 - The vital importance of proper leadership structure
37:48 - Steve's closing thoughts
40:04 - Next week's guest is...

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