Guard Your Heart When The Church Stumbles

When church scandals break, the headlines move fast and the hot takes come easy. We wanted to slow down and ask the harder questions: how do we tell the truth without turning justice into a spectacle, and how do we protect people while resisting the mob’s appetite for more? From the televangelist collapses of the 1980s to today’s social media “prophecy,” staged miracles, and platform-driven hype, we pull back the curtain on deception and the subtle ways it thrives when discernment gives way to performance.

We talk candidly about Jesus’ warning to “take heed that no one deceive you,” and why discernment requires both courage and empathy. That means exposing manipulation, false teaching, and spiritual abuse without celebrating anyone’s downfall. We share a raw personal story of being exposed and the damage done when private failure becomes public currency, spreading to people who cannot help and only wound. The result is often a witch-hunt culture where suspicion replaces wisdom and accountability collapses into shaming. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and outrage doesn’t make a church healthy.

So what’s the better path? A ministry of reconciliation aimed at restored relationship, not a rushed return to ministry. We lay out practical principles: keep your head low, guard your tongue, involve the right people, practice discretion without cover-ups, and stay anchored in a culture of honor. Platforms come and go, but relationships are eternal. Truth and mercy can meet when we refuse to pigpile and choose to rebuild trust with patience, boundaries, and real repentance. If you’re longing for a church culture that handles hard things with both clarity and compassion, this conversation will give language, hope, and next steps.

If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help others find the show. Then tell us: what does wise, compassionate accountability look like where you are?

Transcript

Deception And Manufactured Miracles

Judgment Begins In The House

Warning Against Pigpiling

God Feels And So Should We

SPEAKER_00 0:31

I don't know how many of you remember the 1980s, right? Some of you wish you could forget the 1980s, but in the nineteen eighties, specifically 1987 and 1988, there was a scandal that broke out in the charismatic world that really rocked things in a negative way. And that was the scandal of Jimmy Baker and the PTO Club and Jimmy Swaggert and the televangelist networks that he had going on. And along with a seemingly endless list of folks that were being exposed for either false teachings or wrongdoings of some sort. And it seemed like it was just unending. And on one hand, I remember feeling, you know, that this is good. This is a good thing. It's good to get some of this stuff exposed because, you know, judgment really does need to begin in the house of God. I mean, if things are going to get cleaned up, they should get cleaned up in your backyard first, and then take it outside. But anyway, there was a big long list of scandals that took place. And it was, on one hand, really healthy, and then on the other hand, there's this thing that took place called pig piling. You know what I mean? Where people started jumping on and really rubbing everyone's face in this mess that really only a few people had created, but that few people had made a big mess. And a lot of us were left with our face with a bunch of stuff on it that we didn't care for, but had to deal with. Well, you know, we kind of weathered that. I mean, the church has weathered a lot of things, and we, as a body Christ, weathered that. And now recently, we've had another barrage of exposés that have come to the forefront, and they are legitimate exposés. And it's specifically pertaining to a lot of the things that have gone on in the name of spiritual gifts, like prophecy, miracles, healings, things that are a little bit, shall we say, like you could put on a good show if you could manipulate those, manipulate those things. And that is exactly what was taking place and has been taking place. People have been manipulating social media and pretending that it's how they're getting prophetic information from God when really they're not. One of the key things that he said was, look out for deception. In fact, he said, take heed. In Matthew 24, verse 4, he says, take heed that no one deceive you. And you underscore that word deceive. And that that's kind of an important point to look at because there are a lot of things and a lot of ways which we can get deceived. Excuse me. We can get deceived by things that we see done, but they are fake miracles. Right? There was one person that was using chicken innards as pretend tumors that he was removing from people, and he'd have the gizzards and things of that nature up his sleeve, and then he would maneuver his hand around and pretend like he's pulling out a tumor from somebody. That's deceiving. Or claiming that you have a word of knowledge concerning somebody, but you got their information from their social media profile. And you're claiming God gave you that information, that's deceiving. But there's also deception that comes from false teachings. In fact, I did some research concerning this, and I came up with the understanding that at least 40 different times throughout church history, including now, 40 different things have come up that have been issues that the church has had to contend with, that have been false teachings or false messiahs, or things that are fake, right? Things that are fake. And judgment. Cleaning house, once again, needs to come first into the house of God before it can be exported anywhere else. Right? You gotta take care of your own stuff first. So I'm glad that God is doing it, but the pig piling part, that's the part we gotta look out for, guys. And that's what I'm highlighting right now. And that is be careful, man. Be careful what your attitude's like when you hear about other people and other things getting exposed. Because if our attitude is one of like, good, I'm glad they're finally getting what's due, that's not coming from the heart of our Heavenly Father. That's not his attitude. This stuff breaks his heart, man. Because really, many people that are involved are his children. And you as a parent, I mean, if you saw your kids doing stuff that was wrong, man, it would, I mean, you'd feel that. And it would be upsetting. I can only imagine how God feels. Because God feels. And God is capable of experiencing his feelings being hurt. And that notion alone has more than once stopped me in my tracks when I realize I have actually hurt God. He's not some energy force that is impervious of anything negative being experienced, or anything painful. Jesus felt the nails as they were piercing his flesh. He felt the whip as it came across his back. He felt the crown of thorns shoved onto his head. I mean he felt. He felt feelings of pain for the Pharisees. The very people that would ultimately sign his death certificate, he felt for them. He felt for them. God feels. And he doesn't look for us to feel sorry for him in that respect, but he feels. And there's a sense right now in my own heart that it doesn't bring God any pleasure to expose things. And it shouldn't really bring about any pleasure for us either. And if it does, there's something wrong with our heart. Because really, we are called to be into a ministry of reconciliation. Yes, things need to be exposed, but pig piling on top of something that's come to the forefront.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

And saying, Yeah, I knew they were no good. In fact, here's a little more dirt.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

And sooner or later, people start fabricating dirt. And then it's a witch hunt for everybody. Pretty soon everyone is suspect. The result of pig piling. And the result of people becoming God's personal police officers, having to police the area now. And anything that you don't agree with, you call a heresy. Just because you don't agree with it. Pigpiling. You see, two wrongs don't make a right. And when people pigpile on a situation when really people are supposed to be providing reconciliation, the powers of darkness get as much pleasure from that as producing the scandal to begin with. God has called us into a ministry of reconciliation where we are able to restore people into a place of being capable of being back at the table in right standing with God and with each other. That's the ultimate end of reconciliation is restoration of relationship. First and foremost, because relationships are what's at stake. Religion, having a big religious machine, ah, all that stuff is gonna come and go. Big ministries, they're gonna come. Big ministries, they're gonna go. But relationship is eternal. Tongues, prophecy, all the gifts, eventually they're gonna fade. But relationship, that's gonna remain through an eternity.

From Exposure To Witch Hunts

SPEAKER_01 12:33

My heart does not rejoice when I see people exposed. Why? Because I've been exposed. I've been exposed in my life. I've been exposed for being somebody who could not keep his mouth shut. I had a need to tell people about things that I saw in other people's lives. And I would share those things with other people. Man, that was wrong of me.

Reconciliation Over Spectacle

SPEAKER_00 13:34

And eventually I got exposed. And it was so embarrassing. More than embarrassing, it really was a kind of an internal crisis for me because I on one hand I really didn't want to do what I was doing, but on the other hand, it seemed like I couldn't control myself. But the person who exposed me took it one step too far. And they started sharing that with people that had no business knowing my business because they would not be part of the solution and they weren't part of the problem. But it didn't take long before most everyone knew my business. And I couldn't even walk into a convenience store, and people would look at me and ask me how I was doing, but they looked at me, not wanting to know how I was doing, but they wanted to know if I had any more dirt to share. And it got so bad that eventually I had to move. And my process of reconciliation didn't take place until twenty some years later. You see, when pig piling happens, it can really affect a person's life. It affected my life. Even though I was wrong in what I was doing, it'd been taken too far. And I'm not saying that that cost me the 20 years alone, but it factored into it. And I'm glad to say now that that's been taken care of. But there are things that take place that I think we need to be observing in our own lives in these days that we're in right now, because you know, the sword is cutting through, but the excuse me, the sword cuts both ways. It's coming back. So we need to keep our heads low. When we see things going on in our brothers and sisters' lives, it's not our place to gloat over those things. It's our place to see people restored in a spirit of humility and also having some discretion. So when people take out the trash, it doesn't get strewn about the streets before it can be put away and burned properly. We need to be able to deal with issues that are difficult and deal with them effectively, but also discreetly.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Where we can have a culture of honor and not have it a culture of cover-up. But we can still have it be a culture of honor where we have reconciliation in the forefront. Not reconciliation to ministry, reconciliation to relationship. Because relationships are really where it's at. Let's pray.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Father, God, I ask that you'd take this simple podcast episode and that you'd broadcast it to the right places so the right people can hear.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Take these words, God, and cause them to be impacted by your grace.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

They would carry your grace, your ability to see things restored, your way, your grace, your wisdom, your love. Help us navigate through these times, Father, that we're living in, where things are being exposed, and teach us, God, help us not to pig pile, to deal effectively with things so we can see reconciliation of relationships taking place.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

And that being what ministry is all about.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

We thank you, God, that you're faithful to accomplish these things by your spirit in the very name of Jesus. And we say amen. Amen, man. Amen. All right, folks. We love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifereontheire at gmail.com. Or you can type in LifeRun the Fire and just look us up on the web. We'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, God bless you. Adios, amigos.