Watching the movie The Circle last night I couldn’t bear to believe the uncanny resemblance and parallels from our past (not to mention the vanity of SM), bringing on a kind of PTSD of the soul that I’ve heard of and seems common after leaving these toxic hive mind cultures. An excellent portrayal.

As I watched further it became very clear that this is exactly how many -not all but many- evangelical church groups function like. Especially when they entangle you with their “Care/Small Group” model of gospel “care, accountability and overseers involvement”.

Without exaggeration their methods and “community” are much like the scene set 30 minutes into the movie where “Community leaders” begin to inquire about your life, “sins”, church attendance, commitment, their observations of you and whether you’re OK, along with a host of other intrusions made to appear as “care”. Often times done through propped up individuals or couples who at best are functionally mere acquaintances rarely having earned the right to be that personally involved or intrusive in ones life or family while rarely if ever allowing such reciprocal intrusion into their own lives. A well honed skill learned from the top. 

These quasi “facilitators/ counselors/ extensions of pastoral care” appointees then pick up absurd ideologies of exempting scrutiny of their actions by such foolish notions brought up earlier in my experience such as “I have examined my heart, I don’t see I’ve done anything wrong or sinned against you”, the height of arrogance and evasive tactics learned, once again, straight from the top.
Again, often times conveniently putting young couples or young parents who barely know what they are doing (take for example the now apologetic retracting author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye Joshua Harris, written at age 21) with their own lives, as overseers and “facilitators” who are more enamored with a sense of privilege with their “qualified” appointment having no idea what they are actually becoming party to in this “innocent” so called “gospel centered” world of religious addiction.

Question almost everything when you smell these types of activities that you just can’t put your finger on in a “church group”. If you smell even a hint of it in the “gospel” air, without question these behaviours are at play and well concealed doing untold damage to souls around you unchecked. Such individuals described above in some of these environments merely and naively become the leaderships means of probing, silencing those who question,  and tools to do their dirty work, simply enamoured by being chosen or thought worthy for “leadership” capacity.

” ‘The Circle’ draws a chilling warning about social media and privacy invasion”… and a whole host of other psychologically codependent environments and communities rubber stamped as “gospel centered” that cannot function as required, expected or profitably when people exercise the ability to think freely and independently as God desires in our quest to know Him. Therefore for them to survive and thrive it’s imperative that ALL accurate rendering or “interpretation of truth” and “recommended reading” come only from themselves specially prepared for your “qualified” consumption. 

As depicted in the movie, transparency in religious environments is often like that of a one way mirror where your life is scrutinized and that of those whose livelihood depend on the illusions of “above reproach” uprightness is well hidden in a shroud of secrecy and shell game theology where the lines of truth with application are often on the move & justified while the teaching of the extension of “grace” to questioning parishioners is the paramount go to doctrine that keeps dissenters at bay.  

Even though over time these types of environments often implode with significant life damage and disillusionment, it’s not very long before “the scattered” religious splinters, splits and factions and their self beleaguered leaders and following begin to set up shop elsewhere to become “the Gathering”. With followers unable to pry themselves from the “group” for fear of spiritual isolation and fear of well ingrained ideology and misconstrued clever theologies of God and His church. Then implementing within these splinters the same previous activities as now renewed actualized fervor and new “theologically sound” commitments (again) in new and different locations now multiplied then spread further desperately looking for new sources of Ponzi style funding to sustain their careers and known successful phishing programs within “the gathered” institution aimed at the local community. Been there and seen it all. 

Christ and the message of hope through forgiveness is indeed to be shared across the world through genuine sacrifices, truth, justice, love through acceptance and unadvertised care done in secret, but not through this often now corrupt evangelical institution that in the end produces more apostasy through the vehicle of (known hidden) hypocrisy over time than true genuine free thinking (Berean) followers of Christ as the real church. 

And BTW beware of the heavily managed so called “safe” church “social media” tool called “The City” developed by the team of the now long defunct Mars Hill congregations, the apparent brainchild of the fallen authoritarian pastor Mark Driscoll run out of town.

All in the name of Christ and “the glory of God”.

Poignant excerpts:

“I can’t be a part of this world you’re creating.. Look at these people, does it really seem OK to you? Do you ever leave this place Mae..?”

Questions I frequently asked myself when I was once part of that hive gospel mind.
Penetrating questions that possibly the Spirit of Christ is often asking of us.