Before I dive into this account, I misspelled the word “fallacy” on purpose. It’s a reference to the disturbing and tainted legacy of my former church’s founder. The story I share concerns a “prophecy” the founder made over 30 years ago that never came to pass. Still, a lot of my friends fell for the sales pitch.
Thanksgiving weekend, 1987, was supposed to be a fun time for everyone. Most normal people, unless they were on duty, went home on leave to visit loved ones. I didn’t have enough leave yet to take an extended vacation, so I joined the rest of the guys at the church for a big Thanksgiving dinner at a Norfolk supper club, hosted by the founder. The dinner would wrap up and we would load up in vans and return to the church for an evening service.
The founder stated that night what we thought was a prophecy:
“Behold, thus saith the Lord; give Me 200 men who did not care where they ate, where they slept, where they lived, or whether or not they ever get married. If you give Me this, I will use you to win the world with the gospel.”
We were worshiping and praising the Lord for what we considered at that time to be a powerful message of prophecy. We believed God was going to use all of us to go out into the mission fields around the world. The message on the surface sounded noble. However, the founder was known to preach a doctrine called “eunuchship.” Eunuchship was based on a scripture in Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 19:12 (KJV)
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
This is the only place in the New Testament where Jesus spoke of this. The founder encouraged men to make a vow never to get married for “the gospel’s sake;” those who did were seen as an elite group in the ministry. I never made this vow. The men who did would find themselves cheated over time.
The single men in the ministry often lived in crowded apartments, sometimes up to six in a two bedroom unit. We would spend almost every waking moment doing busywork at the church, being basically free labor for the leadership and in some cases sex partners for the founder. Yes, the founder was a closeted homosexual yet he preached vehemently against homosexuality in public. Lack of sleep, no social life, little time for personal pursuits were common and we as a group endured it because we had this promise – especially those of us who “made the vow” – God would send us out.
As the years and decades passed, this promise fell flat. Only a small number of us who followed what the founder said ever got sent out. The majority were stuck at the church building, working low wage jobs, became socially isolated, and never fulfilled their dreams. These men, once young, grew old and lost the relationships that mattered most: family, friends, professional achievements.
After leaving, I realized how bogus the “phallacy” really was. I count myself thankful to God for never tossing my life away to that extent; I lost enough years as it was. I wanted to tell some of my friends who still attend how they’ve been cheated. They more than likely would reject me, stating I backslid and am reprobate. They still believe if they remain faithful, they will be sent.
These men will go to their graves never realizing the whole “prophecy” over 30 years ago was all a scam, meant to provide free labor and sex partners. In other words, a “phallacy.”
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