Of Karma and Predators
Andy (Andrew) Comiskey is deeply wounded by a predatory Pastor that may provide an opportunity for him to empathize with victims of abuse that happened in his own ministry.
“I was a true believer, and they know this, who found that what I had bought into had blinded me from authentic truth. So of course, I had to be a villain (in their eyes) instead of considering I am a good imperfect person who was led out of the closet they believe God constructed for us.”
What if the wolf is in your back yard? Better yet, what if you are in theirs?
Listen, I love wolves. I think they are overly stigmatized and shouldn’t be. They are cool. And after vampires, werewolves are my favorite human monster hybrid.
I know. I just negated the whole don’t stigmatize wolves vibe, but whatever… werewolves and wolves are cool.
A popular idiom in Western cultures is that so-and-so and/ or such-and-such is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” In the church, that is taken to mean a predator is acting like their prey in order to get close to the prey and severely hurt/abuse them or cause them to “fall away” from God; that good, innocent people are completely taken off guard and caused to “stumble” or embrace ungodly things or ideas by people who never had their best interest at heart.
Once I helped shut down Exodus, and especially after I came out, I was told I was a wolf in sheep’s clothing (among many other worse things). That I was never truly a Christian and only in it for personal gain and to hurt others.
Of course that’s stupid and silly.
I was a true believer, and they know this, who found that what I had bought into had blinded me from authentic truth. So of course, I had to be a villain (in their eyes) instead of considering I am a good imperfect person who was led out of the closet they believe God constructed for us.
To the point…
Andy Comiskey is still suuuuuper mad (don’t blame him) about Mike Bickle abusing minors during his entire time at the Kansas City International House of Prayer. Andy writes (linkage his):
Firefly, an aptly named independent investigative report on Bickle and company, summarizes many voices alleging abusive misconduct in the house Bickle built. Here are the conclusions from this 68-page document.
…
Firefly affects a slow burn of a wound, now familiar. As I drive by the empty IHOP-KC buildings around our offices, I lash out angrily at individual faces, including my own, for not seeing things rightly. We are all cowards in a way, opting for the status quo. We want to prophesy pleasant things; we’d rather be sustained than be stoned.
…
Mike was untouchable. He gave the appearance of having transcended his own humanity. I observed him as asexual, one whom God uniquely set apart to pray and fast and see for us the bigger picture.
Closest staff gave Mike a pass. (I wasn’t among them; I left after a brief tenure when I discovered Mike was incapable of disciplining sexually immoral staff. I now see why.) His gifting tempted most to not question his lack of normal. Staff reframed his penchant for lithe young songbirds as ‘fatherly.’ When he walked naked out of the shower, they looked away. Weird glimpses of Mike in his man cave, a woman at his feet bearing essential oils, couldn’t be THAT.
But it was so, THAT… sexual abuse. I agree with Andy on this part; it’s horrible. Evil even. That a 24/7 prophetic prayer effort spanning many years couldn’t see the fangs underneath the prayerful muttering lips of a predator. When a prophet turns out to be a predator, I am not surprised anymore. They are everywhere. I know the pain of finding out that someone I thought was powerful and prophetic was not all they thought they were or claimed to be.
Like Andy. He used to be that prophetic voice in my life; not now.
The problem is in Andy’s past where he didn’t do good with his own ministry scandal. Andy, gets a smidge of credit, he didn’t excuse the abuse. But the smidge turns into a smudge in what he did do; he made it about himself and the victim was treated like a sidenote (in my opinion).
He made the abuse of a teen by a Youth Pastor he had hired, all about him and his ministry being “tested.” Making the parents of the teen seem conniving and the investigation over all of this a trial he and the ministry faced and learned a lesson from.
At the end of 3 years, the case was settled. Our insurance covered most of the costs. Our groups were reinstated at the Vineyard, with new boundaries and requirements intact. Not one story was printed about the tragedy. God spared us. His mercy leveled and sustained DSM.
Notice the priority of God sparing them (Desert Streams), not focussed on the victim’s well being.
The Opportunity…
I am 100% sure Andy does not believe in karma, but maybe Andy might consider the Christian lesson of what you sow, you will reap. Maybe, just maybe, Andy is in a position of being one of the sheep in the midst of an unknown wolf, just like the youth of his ministry were with the man who abused at least one teen in their midst.
Perhaps Andy could look at the thoroughness of investigation and accountability the Firefly project brought. They were employed to bring ALL the dirt out in the name of accountability and the victim’s truth. Unlike Andy, who settled and addressed the scandal defensively instead of selflessly.
Maybe the opportunity here is for Andy to do something, selflessly (not a new book or program) to support a secular effort to help victims of sexual abuse.
I don’t like hearing anyone’s anguish over leadership failures; including a failed leader (again in my opinion) like Andy. But, as I have had to own the shit I did in the past, I am hoping Andy will do the same in so many ways but at least in this situation where his staff abused that teen.
More about Randy…
WHY: A Memoir
Helpful resources…
