Unveiling the Dangers of Blind Obedience

Many leaders teach that Christians must obey and submit to their leaders and that challenging them is dishonoring. That can be true when you are following a leader seeking to imitate Christ; as Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

However, if I had applied that principle as a Muslim, I would never have converted out of my religion. So, there is something wrong with a teaching that says you can never question your leaders or what they are doing. It is a formula for keeping people stuck in false religion, cults, or under a spirit of religiosity, the kind that nailed Jesus to the cross. I do believe there is a place for honor, but I do believe that we are entering unprecedented times where we are seeing an increase of false teachers, people who love themselves (narcissists), and hypocrites arising. I believe that Christians need to be awake and alert more than ever and need to be Bereans more than ever—searching out the scriptures to see if they line up with what their teachers are teaching and how they are living out the things they preach. Some leaders start off well and on the right path, but sometimes they go off track and become tyrants, oppressive leaders, or narcissists.

We are taught that trials and tribulation test a man’s heart, but in actual fact, fame is the real test of a man’s heart (Proverbs 27:21). Sometimes, people fail, and leaders fail. And God doesn’t remove the gifts since they are irrevocable.

Robert Clinton, who wrote The Making of a Leader, did research where he discovered that only one out of every three or four leaders finished well. The three biggest temptations to leaders, which are also known to mankind, are money, sex, and power. These are the obstacles that prevent leaders from finishing well. It is sobering. God help us.

Find more resources in our topic-based catalog

Downloadable Resources 

• Signs of Spiritual Abuse or Cultish Environments Checklist 
• 20 Signs that You Might Be Experiencing Narcissistic Abuse
• How to Pray for a Narcissist Guide
• Healing from Gaslighting