Pastor Creflo Dollar and Abuse: The Blindness of Idolizing Man
UPDATE Sept 2021: I have come to believe that Jeff Crippen does not practise what he preaches. He vilely persecuted an abuse victim and spiritually abused many other people in the Tillamook congregation. Go here to read the evidence. Jeff has not gone to the people that he spiritually and emotionally abused. He has not apologised to them, let alone asked for their forgiveness.
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[October 22, 2022: There have been some changes made to this post. For more information, read the Editors’ notes at the bottom of the post. Editors.]
The following comes from a news article (link below) taken from Fox News today. As you read, carefully consider in particular the statement that I have bolded, and then let’s think seriously about what happens when people turn a church leader into an idol:
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar has taken to his pulpit to deny punching and choking his 15-year-old daughter, telling his congregation the allegations made in a police report are nothing but “exaggeration and sensationalism.”
“I will say this emphatically: I should have never been arrested,” Dollar said Sunday in his first public appearance two days after police charged him with misdemeanor counts of simple battery and cruelty to children.
The pastor got an enthusiastic ovation from the packed church as he took the pulpit at the World Changers Church International in the Atlanta suburb of College Park. He addressed the criminal charges head-on for several minutes before moving on to his sermon.
“I want you all to hear personally from me that all is well in the Dollar household,” Dollar said.
The 50-year-old Dollar is one of the most prominent African-American preachers based around Atlanta, with 30,000 members in the Atlanta area and a ministry of satellite churches across the U.S.
He was arrested after his 15-year-old daughter called 911 at about 1 a.m. Friday and told a Fayette County sheriff’s deputy that she and her father argued when he said she couldn’t go to a party. A police report says the girl told a deputy her father charged at her, put his hands around her throat, began to punch her and started hitting her with his shoe. The deputy noted a scratch on her neck…. [Emphasis added.]
Read more: Pastor Creflo Dollar denies attacking daughter [Internet Archive link]
Alright then. Here are the adoring throngs, applauding a man who has just been thrown in the slammer for assaulting his daughter. Enthusiastic ovation. What are the dynamics of this? The masses must laud their leader. He cannot be wrong. The thing cannot be admitted. Else all else will crumble, and the masses like what they have. So, when he stands up in front of them, fresh from the Atlanta jail, he simply need tell them “all is well in my household.”
All is well? Give us a break! All is obviously not well in a home where the children feel the need to call 911, tell the police that dad choked them, and dad gets arrested. Even if the whole thing is a false charge, invented and conspired by wicked children who are ticked off at dad because he won’t let them go party, all is not well in that household! All is not perfect in my home, but you don’t see the police showing up here and me having to get bailed out of jail. What this pastor should have done is announced his leave / resignation or whatever until this entire matter is concluded and his claimed innocence is proved.
You can be sure that there will be more to this story. This is the blindness of the idolatry of a man and it serves to hide evil very effectively. I pray that the Lord will shine His light and reveal all that is wicked in that place for all to see.
In the meantime, I wonder how many people in that church will be going to this pastor for counseling? Oh, and by the way — I wonder how this all is going to affect the sales of his books on marriage and family, such as The Successful Family. Here is the summary [Internet Archive link]1 of that book which appears on his website [Creflo Dollar Ministries]:
The Successful Family
Price: $12.00
Do you know the basic needs of men and women? Are you making the most of your single life? Have you discovered ways to divorce-proof your marriage or to have a victorious blended family? The Successful Family: Everything You Need to Know to Build a Stronger Family by Dr. Creflo A. Dollar and Taffi L. Dollar, is a comprehensive guide on the family. With practical exercises, personal accounts and a solid biblical foundation, The Successful Family is a must-have for every home. Order your copy today! [Emphasis original.]
Right, I will get right on that!!
1[October 22, 2022: We added the link to the summary of the book as it appeared on Creflo Dollar’s website, Creflo Dollar Ministries. The Internet Archive link is a copy of that summary. Editors.]
[October 22, 2022: Editors’ notes:
—For some comments made prior to October 22, 2022 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be an exact match.
—For some comments made prior to October 22, 2022 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be found in the post.
If you would like to compare the text in the comments made prior to October 22, 2022 that quoted from the post to the post as it is now (October 22, 2022), click here [Internet Archive link] for the most recent Internet Archive copy of the post.]
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- Posted in: Unjust church responses
- Tagged: abuser's tactics, church response to abuse, evil, false Christians, false teachers, idolatry, Jeff Crippen, leadership, pastors
A Cry For Justice 
As tragic as this story is — I am just wondering if it was really necessary to mention this pastor’s ethnicity (particularly seeing that the issue of “ethnicity” has not been brought into
posts noting the behavior or views of other pastors — ex. Piper, MacArthur, etc.).
On the one hand — we say that God sees no difference between “Greek and Jew”; “Man and Woman”; etc. — yet — on the other hand, when it comes to certain groups (ex. the ethnic group to which this pastor belongs), people seem to think nothing of bringing some “difference” (as in “different” from “the rest of us”) about the person into the picture.
If this situation had happened with John MacArthur — I strongly doubt that his “ethnicity” would have even been noted, yet alone pointed out, in the article.
Many “ethnic” minorities have been at the forefront in working to help abused women, children and others (including the “ethnic” group of which this particular pastor is a part) — and often while receiving constant critiquing and criticism from both society and the church — and the last thing we, as Christians, need to do is make it seem as if someone’s “ethnicity” played a part in their behavior or as if domestic violence is “applauded” by any given “ethnic” group.
Good point, Survivor. (The ethnic reference was made by “Fox News”. We just quoted their story.) It’s true, isn’t it? The issue here has nothing to do with black, yellow, red, or white. It has everything to do with sin and deception and discernment. They could have just said “the 50-year old Dollar is one of the most prominent preachers….” and that would have been quite accurate. Abuse, power, control, and entitlement know no cultural or ethnic boundaries. Sin is sin and evil is evil. Thanks for pointing this out.
Thanks for pointing out that the story was from “Fox News”.
After I hit the “Post Comment” button I realized that I did not take care to note that the story was not created by this web page / blog.
Sorry about that and thanks for clarifying the story source for readers as well as for noting the fact that (as you so aptly put it)….
By the way — this website that you have created (as well as the sermons that you have posted) have helped so many survivors of abuse by “Christians”.
May God bless you (and all involved) for making the decision to create this site and take the stand that you have.
Thanks for pointing out that the story was from “Fox News”.
After I hit the “Post Comment” button I realized that I did not take care to note that the story was not created by this web page / blog.
Sorry about that and thank you for clarifying the story source for readers — as well as for noting the fact that (as you so aptly put it)….
By the way — this website that you have created (as well as the sermons that you have posted) have helped so many survivors of abuse by “Christians”.
May God bless you (and all involved) for making the decision to create this site and take the stand that you have.
This pastor equated himself to Jesus and Paul, as they were also imprisoned. Talk about narcissism….and Scripture twisting. They were imprisoned for speaking truth. He had threats of being arrested for abusing his child. I hope there is a safety net in place for this child when / if she returns home. I would hate to see what happens behind those closed doors.
And, Survivor, you are right….ethnicity has nothing to do with it.
I went briefly to Dollar’s website and his name is incredibly ironic. Pastor Dollar has big dollars and a basic tenet of his “Gospel” is the health, wealth and prosperity message that so many people flock after. If you go to the doctrinal statement on his church’s website, you find a rather orthodox statement of faith, but curiously he inserts in the very doctrinal statement of his church that is supposed to unite the fellowship there, a “truth” that tithes and offerings are to be given to the local church!! Talk about a red flag! This is really a clear example of what Jesus meant when He said that we will know them by their fruits. This man’s fruit is rotten and the pathetic thing about it is that he has cranked out books on marriage, on family, on….whatever. I say to anyone who is in a megachurch that is centered around one personality who knows everything about everything and writes books on everything, run now before the wolf gets you!
We weren’t there. A young girl was. It continues to anger me how eager many believers are to accept what a man (or woman) says when there is no one around to say otherwise. Passion somehow equates to innocence. These same hearers are similarly quick to judge or condemn the innocent victim.
I can’t count the number of women who have been blindsided by friends and fellow church-goers who have heard the abuser’s lies and accepted them and either silently or openly criticized the abuser’s victim – to the delight of the abuser. Discernment seems to have been set aside, apparently under the guise of “saving marriage”, since the abuser insists he is working at the relationship and his victim has selfishly refused to do her part. Lies. All lies.
That pastor’s daughter will likely face a heavy load of condemnation and confusion. She may well doubt her value and her faith and perhaps even her own understanding of what is true.
Ultimately God knows the truth and sees the heart of that man. If the allegations are true, that pastor will ultimately reap what he has sown. Of that I am certain.
The congregation at that church is as blind as a welder’s dog! (That’s Aussie slang, by the way.)
And it’s not just my favourite new gem of Aussie slang, it’s a picture of how this blindness comes about. The welder puts on his helmet and holds his burning torch to the metal. The flame is so bright it would turn him blind, but the helmet protects his retinas so he doesn’t become blind. His dog, however, doesn’t wear a helmet, and by looking at the flame made by his beloved master, he slowly turns blind.
The flame is the sin of Mr Dollar (how aptly he is named!). If we gaze at sin long enough without recognizing it as sin, our spiritual retinas will be burned to a crisp and we won’t be able to recognize sin anywhere. We will think “It’s all OK!”
This is such an excellent analogy. The increasing, gradual blindness of the dog. Spiritual retinas, burned to a crisp, leaving us unable to recognize sin anywhere.
And so many people do think ‘it’s all ok!’
Thanks for reminding me about the analogy of the welder’s dog.
I had forgotten I wrote that!
TW can you please put that analogy onto this page: Allegories, Analogies, and Fairy Tales — from Comments.
Thanks. 🙂
Pastor Jeff wrote:
Different reason. Different pastor. Same prayer.