Healing and an Alternative to Disgrace for Maligned Pastors and Missionaries

DENVER - As counterintuitive as it might sound, many pastors, missionaries, and Christian workers are attacked, accused, and maligned to such a degree that they either leave the ministry, are forced to resign, or are fired outright.

Longtime minister Dr. Chris Creech wrote The Antidote: Real Biblical Cures for Toxic Churches, Ministries and Lives to help heal those who have been traumatically harmed by conflict while engaged in Christian ministry. The book helps Western and Asian pastors and missionaries learn why they endure abuse, how to prevent it, and how to stop it once it has begun.

Creech first became aware of this problem when he and his wife, Faith, were raising support to serve as missionary faculty members at a seminary in Singapore. Eventually, Creech learned that while many programs address surface issues that cause conflict, they fail to recognize an important truth: those who are addicted to attacking others often do so because they learned as children to validate themselves by either criticizing others or allowing the criticism of others. Until this underlying cause of conflict is addressed, notes Creech, those who enter conflict resolution may seemingly change their behavior only to revert to destructive, instilled patterns of behavior, once again causing or allowing conflict.

In response to the anguish and destruction he witnessed, Creech wrote The Antidote, which teaches the underlying causes of conflicted behavior from a Biblical viewpoint, helps readers learn how a person can be tricked into a behavior pattern that causes or enables conflict, and teaches readers how to end this destructive behavior through a simple Biblical process called “The Antidote.”

Creech comments, “When abused pastors and missionaries realize they have an alternative to suicide or accepting disgrace, real hope is restored. Real healing is possible, and an alternative to leaving ministry is found.” He adds, “I wrote The Antidote to help heal those who have been traumatically harmed by conflict in any Christian ministry, but the unforeseen benefit is that those who study the principles in this book often are prevented from taking their own lives.”

The Antidote is the recipient of the Bronze Illumination Award in the Ministry/Mission Category.

“Wow, this explains a lot about what is happening in my church. This book not only explains why people are acting out, but it also gives the reader tools to deal with toxic attitudes and behaviors. If you are a pastor or leader in the church, this is a must read.” | Peggy Heppner