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| BEEN THERE, DONE
THAT |
The
“Great” Commission of Gwen Shamblin & Remnant Fellowship:
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Who
Dares Question the Great Oz?
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Sitting in the Seat of Mockers
 By
the next day, the city was still reeling. However, we felt the urgency
to go ahead and have our conference call with the leaders of Remnant Fellowship.
Our police officer friend could not be there understandably, but he and
his wife didn’t voice any questions about Remnant Fellowship. They
were the ones who felt most comfortable about joining the group, and so
Maria, myself, and the other couple continued with the conference call.
We gathered around the speakerphone after prayer to ask our questions of
Gwen Shamblin and the leaders of Remnant Fellowship.
As
I recall, all four of us somehow had the feeling this phone call would
be decisive. For myself, I decided to go ahead and ask the tough
questions I’d been holding back. All my life, both at home and throughout
my education, I had been taught to never shy away from the tough questions.
I had the strange feeling that I was about to do something forbidden, but
I believed that if this leadership had true confidence in their God-given
sanction to lead, they wouldn’t be afraid to answer tough questions.
After all, the leadership we had just left at our “counterfeit church”
responded to our request for discussion, allowed us to come into their
offices with extremely tough questions, and admitted that they didn’t have
perfect answers. We’d even questioned their right to lead (respectfully,
we thought), if they were not planning to obey “all of God’s Word.”
I
believed the leadership at Remnant Fellowship was much more holy and driven
to obey God than any other leadership I’d encountered, and so unless Remnant
Fellowship wasn’t what it appeared to be there should have been no problem
asking them the same kinds of questions. After all, it was they who
urged us to be deeply concerned with the obedience of a church’s leadership.
Surely they’d recognize the wisdom in our applying the same measure (commitment
to obey all of God’s Word) to them, given that, in truth, we hardly knew
them.
My
questions centered on who was actually in charge of the movement.
Who was the spiritual authority? How much autonomy did local Remnant
Fellowship branches have? What where the parameters of this global
authority they were talking about? What hermeneutic did they use
to interpret the Scriptures? What did they do when leaders differed
regarding how certain passages were to be interpreted? These are just a
few of the many questions I did not have answers to.
But
despite their appropriate nature, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach
that it would be a big mistake to ask such questions. I told our
little group that I thought that how they handled our desire to ask tough
questions would tell us a lot about them. They would either overwhelm
us with their soul-searching honesty, or they’d be angry.
That
night, we got a call from Gwen Shamblin, David Martin, Michael Shamblin
(Gwen’s son), Joe Langsdon, and Jayne Fiedler. (I can’t recall if
anyone else was on the Nashville end of the conversation.) After
asking about our safety and expressing their sympathies, they asked if
it would be all right if they taped the conversation for our absent friends.
I thought it to be a kind of odd request - after all, why shouldn’t our
friends get to be privy to the discussion? - but I didn’t object.
I
never received a copy of that audio tape, but I can reconstruct the highlights
of the conversation from memory. Remnant Fellowship may yet retain
the original tape, and might provide it to someone requesting a copy.
At
the very beginning of the “Q & A” session I decided to address the
sinking feeling in my gut, and began by asking, “How do you, Gwen, and
the leadership, feel about us asking these questions?” I expected
encouragement to continue. What I received was quite different.
Gwen
asked if she could be frank, and then related to us how put-off she was
because we were still questioning whether we were going to be involved
with the Remnant Fellowship church. She took our questions very personally,
and considered them to be rude, because she had forfeited her time, energy,
and long-distance charges to speak to us several times. She seemed
to be insulted that we could still doubt her intentions, and expressed
to us that while she felt it was okay for us to ask a few questions, she
had caught wind of the fact that many of the questions we had been hinting
around about and discussing amongst ourselves were questions about her
character.
She
was surprised that we could still be asking questions when God had revealed
Himself so clearly in the events of September 11, and (I’m paraphrasing
here) wanted to know how much more destruction needed to occur before we
would wise up. She obviously would have us believe that the attack
on the World Trade Center somehow fulfilled her previous “prophetic” statements
to the effect that God was judging the “counterfeit church,” and that only
a Remnant Fellowship in New York would give our city a fighting chance.
She pointed out that we’d been given a book revealing all of their intentions,
and that this was more than many other believers had been given.
At
this point all of us sitting in the room were aghast. Not because
of the audacity of what she was saying, but because we couldn’t believe
how angry we’d made her. Her voice was calm, but she was clearly
angry with us. All the other questions I felt I needed to ask went
right out the window, and I spent the rest of the conversation hoping to
get a word of self-defense in, as well as hoping I wouldn’t screw it up.
But
I was also extremely angry. Was she really going to use the events
of September 11 as an excuse to sidestep an open and honest discussion?
Gwen
also expressed anger with Maria, whom she labeled as too demanding when
she called on September 9 to try to set up this conference call.
She then said it had become clear to her that from our phone conversations
and information they’d gathered that there were divisions among us, and
that she was concerned because divisions come only from the Evil One.
I
felt it was time I made clear to her that I was generally the one who had
most of the questions. I wanted to hear what she thought of that,
and I thought it would take the heat off of everybody else if I said it.
Gwen
responded, saying that while it was okay to ask questions, it was her impression
that many of my questions had an insincere, “mocking” quality to them,
and were specifically intended to mock her. She said she felt that
I was dangerously sowing confusion and dissension in the group through
my questions, and that we were wasting God’s time by not making a decision.
She also indicated that while she’d been planning to come to New York for
a Rebuilding the Wall Weekend, she was now canceling the trip because there
was currently no Remnant Fellowship there — implying that we were responsible
for her decision.
I
was angry. It was difficult to get a word in edgewise and I could
see she’d just ripped any credibility away from any question I might ask
by single-handedly assigning blame for any arguments or confusion in our
group to my questioning nature. She then said that perhaps it would
be better if we avoided any more of these group “Q & A” sessions, and
suggested that if I had any more questions, perhaps she and I could discuss
them person-to-person. While still angry, I saw this as the only
alternative to getting my questions answered, and agreed to email her as
soon as possible.
The
conversation ended with the other couple apologizing for causing such trouble,
and for letting their pride run the show. We agreed to get in touch
with Remnant very soon. I was surprised when after we hung up the
phone, everyone in the room wanted to join Remnant! I felt just the
opposite. Didn’t this just show what I had predicted? Wasn’t I being
assigned all the blame for asking the questions, and yet, none of the questions
had been answered? Or even allowed to be asked?
My
brother and sisters differed. They viewed what had just happened
as “spiritual discipline” which our actions deserved, as we had been arrogant
to God’s authority on earth. (In truth, God had been convicting many
in our group of arrogance, and so, somehow, the shoe seemed to fit!)
They told me that they felt Gwen had been trying to show us love by correcting
us in our sin, and that I should be grateful that she was such a strong
leader. She was just trying to keep us pure, as well as the church.
While I now had serious checks in my spirit, I began to doubt my own feelings.
Maybe I was blinded by arrogance. Maybe I was further astray than I ever
imagined. Still, I could not imagine joining a group where the leadership
was not open to core questions being asked. How else could the leadership
be held accountable?
I
agreed to send the proposed email. I was still the only holdout.
Everyone else seemed committed to the idea of joining Remnant. I
felt the cold wind of isolation. I couldn’t go back to my old church.
It was in rebellion to God. I might not be able to join Remnant Fellowship,
because I doubted their integrity. Yet, where would I find a church
where all the members were sold out for God? We prayed over the previous
discussion, asked God to reveal His will for our group, and then parted.
Divide and Conquer
I
woke up on September 13 with a very heavy heart. I had a feeling
that I had made a huge mistake on the previous night, but I felt positive
about the fact that Gwen had acknowledged that she and I should discuss
my questions person-to-person. I began busily working away on my
email to her. I decided that many of the questions I had were peripheral
to the issue of “global authority,” and decided to address only that
question. However, I felt that I should get the interpersonal issues
out of the way. I had been prideful and mistrustful of her intentions,
and I knew that I needed to apologize and explain myself. My email
began with this apology.
| I am very sad, because
last night as we were talking I realized that I had been ungrateful to
you and the saints in Nashville and had participated in gossip and prideful
thinking about you. I want to offer my most profound apologies, and ask
you to offer me forgiveness, as you said words that were undeniably of
the Holy Spirit which convicted me and made me see how foolish I have been.
I know that you probably understand where I am coming from, and I know
that you are probably quick to offer forgiveness . . .I want to affirm
to you that you were right last night. I think some of our wires got crossed,
because the whole conversation felt very accusatory. But, I was definitely
struggling with pride regarding you and the message of repentance. I really
felt that we could take you guys or leave you, and that it was up to us.
In truth, it's up to God, and all roads appear to be leading to Remnant
at this point. But I want you to know that my concern and even fear was
not just about you; I love this group of NYC exiles here so much, and I
just don't want any of them hurt. I am very jealous that nothing will damage
their relationship with God or confuse them, and I was afraid that this
is what Remnant would do to them. I have seen what happened with the International
Churches of Christ and the vicious tactics of control imposed on brothers
and sisters in that church by calling down sin upon those who question
the church leadership. I really wanted to protect this group here, and
in truth I was the one bringing confusion on them. I guess I didn't trust
God to be the protector. I feel foolish.15 |
In
the aftermath of the whole affair, I am embarrassed that I was so apologetic.
However, I truly did feel convicted about my attitude towards her as a
person. Even if I had disagreements with the way she interpreted
Scripture or conclusions she had therefore drawn, I had been snotty and
prideful and somewhat unloving in how I spoke about her at times when she
was not there to defend herself. That is definitely behavior that
requires confession and repentance.
Looking
more closely at the email, however, also demonstrates how much I had been
confused by Gwen’s accusations. We truly had been experiencing confusion
regarding some of her teachings. I remember a time when one of the
members of our group was convinced that she was eternally damned because
she couldn’t get her eating under control (following the food rules).
But in my email, I take the blame for all of the confusion! That
“spiritual discipline” really had me reeling!
As
I was working on the email, I got a phone call from my friend on
the police force. He stated that Remnant had called he and His wife
that morning, had stated that it had been a very heavy conversation the
previous night, but that they felt the Spirit leading them to approach
them to found a Remnant Fellowship, New York City, with or without the
rest of the group. Apparently, the Remnant Fellowship leadership
in Nashville had realized that he and his wife had no objection to joining,
were only waiting on the rest of us to agree, and so they decided to move
right in and get the job done! My friend stated that given what he
had gone through the past two days (the events of September 11),
he felt that he couldn’t delay any longer on God’s calling. He assured
me that even though I still had doubts and had not made the decision to
join, he didn’t want me to worry that this decision would ever come between
us in friendship or brotherhood. “I don’t want you to worry that
this will affect our friendship,” he said. In retrospect, he meant
well, but that was a promise he would not be able to keep.
I
had a sinking feeling. We called the other couple who had been present
for the phone call the previous night. It seemed they had been in
contact with Remnant Nashville, and had also decided to join Remnant Fellowship.
I started to wonder what had happened to our agreement to make this decision
together as the Lord led us.
I
suddenly had a feeling that I’d better get this email off in a hurry.
I was now “out of the group.” My wife was despondent. We didn’t
want to be on the outside looking in. I went on to state that I felt
that I wanted to join Remnant Fellowship, and that it seemed that that
was the decision God was leading our group to. But, as I had questions,
I wanted to just get one concern out of the way.
| Gwen, if your patience has
not totally run out for me, may I respectfully submit one concern? I want
to assure you that I am in no way attempting to undermine your authority,
and I ask this because just as you want to present this fellowship before
Christ "without wrinkle or blemish," I want to believe in that too! . .
.As we were talking last night, all the peripheral issues and doctrine
stuff was swirling around in my head, and it all became very clear to me
and "jelled" around one central issue. On three occasions, I have heard
David Martin say that he, as an elder, submits to your authority, recognizing
that you are speaking God's truths and that a discerning man will listen.
I agree with him; he is right. When a prophet speaks, everybody should
listen. Furthermore, you do seem to have a global authority that God has
given you. However, my concern is that this movement is so young, and so
new, and I worry that, as of yet it is unlike the early church, where there
was a plurality of apostles and elders, so that when Peter's flesh got
in his way (Galatians 2) Paul had the discernment and the authority to
rebuke and restore him. Gwen, I am asking this because I know that you,
as a human being, must still struggle with flesh at times. I just want
to know that there are those (or that you are looking forward to the time
when there will be those) who have the maturity to also shepherd you, to
discern when you need guidance and shepherding. I want to know that this
is a body that will raise up a plurality of global leaders (evangelists,
apostles, elders, teachers, prophets) that will expand even beyond Weigh
Down, Weigh Down Advanced, and that God will use. I guess that I am praying
that you also want this. When I ask about vision, and calling, this is
what I am talking about. . . But my heart is heavy for you, and you are
in my prayers because I worry whether you are being shepherded by those
around you? Who is caring for you? Is there someone there capable of exhorting
you, encouraging you, building you up? Are people growing into those gifts?
Do you see it happening?16 |
In
my mind, I had done the best I could to ask a searching question in a respectful
way; I intended it to open up the door for dialogue and discussion, so
that I could learn more of Gwen Shamblin’s character. Not just what
she said on her videos and audiotapes, not just the impressions we had
gotten when we met with her in Nashville, not just the doctrine in the
notebook. I wanted to know her heart. I wanted to be able to
trust it. I had only to wait a little while for my answer.
Notice
in this email how I tiptoed around Gwen’s feelings about being challenged?
I had been burned once. I was bound and determined to not be burned
again! I sent the email to Amy Stites, Gwen’s personal assistant.
I decided that since it was an apology, and since the question pertained
to church leadership, that I should also send a copy to David Martin, Jayne
Fiedler, and Joe Langsdon. In my email, I asked Gwen or David Martin
to call as soon as possible so that we could repair our relationship and
work out our differences. I included numbers where I could be contacted,
and sat back to wait for what I knew would be a humbling conversation. |
ENDNOTES
15 Email correspondence sent to Gwen
Shamblin, David Martin, David Shamblin, Jayne Fiedler, and Joe Langsdon
on September 13, 2001. Email on file. [BACK]
16 Ibid. [BACK] |
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