Going for the Leadership Killing Fields

Dear Wormwood,

Here's one of the hottest topics I'm going to share with you. "How to Kill a Christian Seminary or Bible School: From Top to Bottom." Follow them subtly and you'll succeed if you do:

1. Choose (not elect) a president, administrators, and teachers who do not have effective church leadership experience or those who have indifferent attitude to local churches, spiritual leaders, or church associations in order to discredit his/her credibility to run a more complicated institution that is built to serve the church of Christ by training its leaders.

2. Call and install faculty and staff from the outside camp who do not share loyalty to the ideals of the founding leaders of the institution or church and let them gain power in order to manipulate the politics inside, to generate confusion and distrust, then moving away from serving the church of Christ and fellowship with spiritual leaders where they originally belong.

3. Create an administrative body whose decision making is subject to intimidation and allocate their secure position without accountability to any broader church association. Mutual cooperation between seminary and local churches is harmful to the agenda; the two must not have common goal--that is something harmless but actually rooted in self-interests.

4. Coagulate the secrecy of elite personnel in the financial office to manipulate records, accounting, scholarships, donations, endowments, etc. You can do this during or after installing weak financial assistants who can easily be bent to become scrupulous individuals inside, especially those who do not have moral ascendancy. Never mind the testimony of the higher ups who transact hideous arrangements--perhaps sending them to hell is better. Remember, our highway is "filled with good intentions."

5. Construct an environment of undeterred distrust, favoritism, and double-standard to students so that they will feel helpless and will not be able to make sensible decisions for themselves. When students are demoralized, it gives service to the agenda. What matters most is their money for the treasury. So make the institution as their “milking cow.” Faith is detestable, fee is acceptable--and what matters most.

6. Change the seminary policies to move away from serving the greater body of Christ, the Church, in order to serve and protect the personal interests, lucrative benefits, security of tenure, and secret agenda of the administrative core. The welfare and interests of the core administration are the utmost concern at stake. Hence, do not consult with opposite opinion because it will create a balanced perspective. Stay away from the "enemies" who are loyal to their Master. Exclude them in the meetings if possible.

7. Commercialize everything in the seminary, from teacher’s “professional fee” to parking space, dormitories to facilities, lodge and amenities, tuition and other tiny-gritty details. While students and pastors-to-be see the discrepancies, it will help them commercialize their call into careers because of the set examples. If time is right, sell the institution for closure. Again, Mammon is the asset here. Who can say no to money, especially if they think they "own" the institution now?

8. Compose and provide training without strong biblical foundation or create doubt on the sufficiency of God’s revelation through “scholarship” and theories that undermine it. Because the Word of God is a fierce critic of carnal agenda, place it under attack through sophisticated philosophies. It is better for them to believe in their theological idols, be it theologians or philosophies, than believe in the revelation of our Enemy.

9. Contain and suppress the voice that calls for transparency, honesty, accountability, integrity, even if this accent comes among the administrative staff whose loyalty is still leaning towards the ideals and tradition of the institution. This effort to restrain them will also make them helpless and cannot make sensible decision. Bully them; if they do not stand aside, they must be removed from their positions.

10. If you already have first male and female presidents in your administrative museum, why not try appointing a gay president or lesbian in the near future and you will have a “stormy night” to shaken the very foundation of their faith and tradition. Do this among your staff also through the idea of “tolerance” or "postmodernism" towards corruption of the old ideals of the faith. If there is no moral ascendancy, they can never have authority. That's what we want to see, isn't it, my beloved nephew?

Still, the secret belongs to unchecked leadership. By making them powerful above their fellow brothers and sisters, they will have sense of indispensability as if their work will not emerge someday. But if something will happen that the agenda is discovered, be strong. Just undermine their capability; after all they are not experts in this matter.

As the Filipino adage says, “even if you’re caught in the act, deny, deny, deny.” When this conspiracy comes into fruition and the fruit will reveal its true nature, hold on. You have succeeded in secularizing the seminary. Be proud because you have made them a part of the statistics of some world-renowned and lesser known institutions that were originally meant to built in serving God but now are in-full service to our idols and their man-made gods. Congratulations.

Go for the kill, my nephew.

You Dear Uncle,

Screwtape

P.S. By the way, there are successful attempts made here in the Philippines also. So stick with the plan. Because of their denial or obsession of the existence of the elite “principalities,” it is too way easy for them to go in the direction. Thanks to brother de-supernaturalization; he made an excellent job also. Keep in touch.

Warning: Due to the popularity of C.S. Lewis' works and the response of this article from readers, this original (and fictionalized) article is inspired from his Screwtape Letters. It is obvious, he is far far away a genius than this author.

Republished from: 7/1/08