Vol. 1 - No. 2
February, 1982
THE CROSSROADS
PRAYER PARTNER FALLACY
by Jack L. Holt
The church of Christ is made up of people who have been
called out of the world by the Gospel, and who are God's very own
possession. From the time the church was established until now, the
keeping of God's people separated from the world and its ideals has been a
constant battle. The devil is in the eye-blinding and mind bending
business. What he cannot destroy, he will corrupt. He is always on the
job. (1 Peter 5:8)
In the first century the church faced many isms, Judaism,
gnosticism, materialism and partyism. To meet these and other errors God
revealed His truth through inspired men to His church. That body of truth
is complete and final. The truth that guided the church as it faced errors
and problems then is to guide the church today. The church must believe
and follow that truth.
In recent years a liberal attitude toward God's perfect
pattern of truth has spawned another ism that has divided the church. This
popular ism is liberalism. Liberalism left the pattern and promoted
institutionalism, and in so doing opened a Pandora's box of grief and
problems for the liberal churches. One departure always leads to another
for digression and departure never stand still. Sinking further into the
depths of departure is one of God's present judgments upon those who leave
His perfect pattern. Now, among the liberals a cultic movement called the
"Crossroads Movement," is giving some of the liberal churches
and preachers no end of trouble. This is one of the fruits of their no-patternism
philosophy.
The Crossroads Movement was born in Gainesville, Florida.
The father of the movement is said to be Chuck Lucas. But a look at the
movement will show that it is a mongrel with many fathers. This movement,
like many cultic movements, consists of a blending of teachings picked up
here and there and then woven into the cultic philosophy that makes up the
Crossroads creed. This movement began within the liberal churches, and to
give it the bona fide orthodoxy the claim is made, "we follow the
pattern." And to further give the movement the appearance of
orthodoxy the movement has been blessed and praised by well known
preachers.
However, the Lord tells us the true test of any movement.
"A tree is known by its fruits." (Matthew 7:20) This statement
is made in the context of Matthew 7:15, "Beware of false prophets
", and refers to the teachings of men. (vs. 16) When men are
properly taught, they will not embrace some human movement, but they will
prove themselves to be good fruit by "doing the will of
God."1(Matthew 7:21)
In all cult movements there are three basic features: (1)
a low view of Jesus, (2) a low view of Scripture, or (3) both. In the
Crossroads Movement you have a low view of the Scriptures for men have
imposed their system on the Word of God. In the hierarchal structure at
Crossroads, Chuck Lucas sits on the throne. After him come the campus
ministers, then the soul talk leaders. The elders of a local church do not
really fit into this structure. The elders instead of overseeing the flock
are merely to stand off to one side, nod approval when the structure
moves, and then tell the treasurer to pay for it. The movement works
within churches to capture the church for the Crossroads hierarchy. When
the movement has the power, all who will not go along with the movement
soon find themselves on the outside looking in.
Among the cultic practices of the Crossroads Movement is
the assigning of prayer partners. In the prayer partner setup the upper
echelon assigns a "father confessor," to each new recruit. This
father confessor is regarded as superior, and to that confessor 'the new
convert is to confess every sin no matter how personal or private it may
be.2 (Even to the "sin" of honoring father and mother above the
cult, or the "sin" of taking time from the cult for one's
family). The confessions that are made become the common property of the
cult leaders and may be used to whip the recruits into line. One wise man
observed: "If you want to become the slave of another, tell him your
innermost secrets."
In this prayer partner business the Crossroads hierarchy
doesn't have anything new. The Roman church has been a master in the
slavery of the confessional for centuries. Lucas and others have merely
picked it up and adapted it for their own purposes. The superior prayer
partner puts the new recruit under the impression that if he/she doesn't
tell all to the father confessor, there is no real trust, but evidence of
spiritual pride. They convince the inferior prayer partner that this lack
of trust will retard spiritual development and hinder progress up the
spiritual ladder to the higher echelons of the cult structure.
Of course, the superior prayer partner doesn't have any
spiritual pride! He just acts from humility when he sits on the throne of
gnostic holiness and considers himself far above the sins of lesser
mortals and hears their confessions! What brazen arrogance! I wonder if
this superior one ever "considers himself, lest he be tempted?"
Or "takes heed lest he fall." (See Galatians 6:1; 1 Corinthians
10:12) This business of confessing one's sins to a prayer partner is a
degrading and corrupting process to both alike.
Some years ago (my copy has no date) a Roman priest,
Chiniquy, wrote a book, "The Priest the Woman and the
Confessional." He wrote, "Perhaps the world has never seen a
more terrible, desperate, solemn struggle than the one going on in the
soul of the poor trembling young woman who at the feet of that man (priest
or prayer partner, JLH), has to decide whether or not she will open her
lips on those things which God and her womanly honor and self
respect, tell her never to reveal to any man." (pp 7-8) He further
writes, "My infallible church (now the hierarchy at Crossroads, JLH),
was mercilessly forcing me to oblige these poor trembling, weeping and
desolate girls and women to swim with me and all her priests (prayer
partners, JLH) in those waters of Sodom and Gomorrah under the pretext
that their self will would be broken down (see the cultic personality
destruction? JLH), their fear of sin and humility increased (guilt
feelings abound, JLH) and that they would be purified by our
absolutions," (or rise higher in the Crossroads structure, JLH). (p.
9)
The foregoing quotes show the thought control and slavery
involved in the degrading practice of making fallible creatures pour into
the ears of some father confessor the secrets of their hearts. The Roman
church knew how to make slaves through the confessional box centuries
before Lucas blended it into his new movement.
In an effort to justify this prayer partner business there
is an appeal to James 5:16. James says, "confess your faults one to
another, pray one for another:" Now to whom does the superior prayer
partner confess? Who is the ultimate father confessor in this prayer
partner chain? Who has the power to select and appoint a father confessor
for any Christian? Since James said, "Pray one for another,"
when does the inferior pray for the superior? This perfidious prayer
partner practice has broken up homes and families. Chiniquy asks,
"What would you do to anyone mean enough to peep or listen, through
the keyhole of your door, in order to hear or see anything that was done
therein? But what is the confessional, if not the keyhole of your
house and of your very chamber, through which the priest (superior prayer
partner, JLH), can see your most secret words and actions, nay more, know
your most intimate thoughts and aspirations." (p. 83).
When the prayer partner pries into the private matters of
the new recruit and learns that he/she has an attachment to the family,
mother and father; or husband or wife that may interfere with the new
converts complete commitment to the cult he then proceeds to tear apart
the family relationship by convincing the recruit that the cult comes
first.
The Scriptures teach us to confess our sins, but to whom
are we to confess them? Since all sin is against God we confess our sins
to Him. David said, "Against thee only have I sinned." (Psalms
51:4) In Psalms 31:5 he said, "I have confessed my sins unto the Lord
and He forgave me." Next, we are to confess our sins to the one(s)
we have sinned against. (Matthew 28:15; James 5:16) Then there is an
obligation to confess our sins to those whom we may have caused to
stumble. But God never commands us to confess our sins to some father
confessor in a prayer partner relationship. What a blasphemy it is for a
self appointed father confessor to hear confessions and then leave the
confessor with the impression that cleansing can come, not just by
forgiveness from God, but through more dedication to the cult. Shades of
the Roman church, "do penance!"
There is no reference in James 5:16 to a confession that
is to be made to a church, to the elders, nor to a prayer partner. The
prayer partner practice of the Crossroads church is simply an adaptation
of the Roman church confessional. This cult needs to be exposed for what
it is, and the people of God should never surrender the freedom they have
in Christ for any human system in or out of the church.
(1) See
"Commentary on Matthew & Mark," by J. W. McGarvey.
(2) See "contending for the Faith," for Nov. 1980 and July 1981.