Q & A

Why Are You  Speaking Out?

I could spew dozens of quotes about how keeping silent during times of injustice is siding with the oppressor. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel, Gandhi, that famous one by either Edmund Burke or John Stuart Mill … they’re meant to send inspirational shivers down the spine.

But I’m going to approach this topic from another direction, and share a quote by a woman who understood oppression. 

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker

Strong, charismatic leaders have a way of making us peons feel powerless. 

Large entities like Chesapeake Church have money and influence bolstering them up. A person who is mistreated by his or her church has few options. Fired wrongfully? Hire a lawyer! But legal counsel is expensive, and most ordinary citizens can’t afford to take that route. And many feel they have biblical reasons to not take professing Christians to court.

Chesapeake Church has money. A lot of money. Your money. They can ride out minor lawsuits. The average joe or jane can’t.

Then there’s the press! But unless a story is especially salacious, most reporters/ journalists aren’t interested in the goings-on of a local church.

A blog, however, is inexpensive and gets the message out there. Often, real change occurs ONLY when corruption and abuse is exposed.

What is the ultimate goal of sharing these stories?

To expose the truth. The leadership at Chesapeake Church should submit to a full investigation from an outside team.  They should accept recommendations regarding organizational changes and should commit to providing the congregation with a leadership model based on transparency and accountability. We believe Robert Hahn should step down, with pay, pending the conclusion of the investigation.

Why aren’t you sharing real names?

In an effort to maintain some semblance of privacy in the lives of people who have been victimized by abuses at Chesapeake Church, the editor of this blog does not plan to disclose real names unless given express permission.  Those persons have families who may not want this sort of exposure, and they deserve to feel safe in order to share their stories.

Is it biblical to publicly expose corruption?

It’s not the first line of defense.

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17)

But those who have broached the subject of wrongful actions with Robert Hahn and the leadership at Chesapeake have repeatedly been mistreated or ignored. So here we are.

There is biblical precedence for public rebuke.

Jesus did it: 

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:7)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23:25)

Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. (2 Timothy 4:14-15)

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. (3 John 1:9-10)

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. (1 Cor 5:1-2)

In Ephesians 5, Paul says the following:

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

Timothy says:

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2)

When Will You Be Done With All This?
I don’t know!  When all the stories are told, I guess.