This page describes a pattern the Spider has observed. No one is named. Test it against Scripture, and against what you see.
It is a composite, drawn from years in more than one church, not a case study of any of them. The other side is given its due in Part II.Insiders, protected by the leader, harming the people, while everyone can see it.
“Thou … honourest thy sons above me” (1 Samuel 2:29). “He restrained them not” (3:13).
“Doing nothing by partiality” (1 Timothy 5:21).
Close to Jesus meant more correction, not less. Peter, James and John were the most rebuked.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8). Everyone at the Lord’s table comes for forgiveness.
“Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 20:10).
“A talebearer revealeth secrets” (Proverbs 11:13). Adding “let’s pray for them” does not change it.
“A busybody in other men’s matters” (1 Peter 4:15), listed beside the thief.
“I hear of your evil dealings by all this people” (1 Samuel 2:23).
“Men abhorred the offering of the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:17).
What this page is asking
This is an observation, not a case study. The Spider describes a pattern seen over years in modern churches led by one man. No preacher, church, member or family is described, and none should be guessed at.
The question, in a form that can be checked
In 1 Samuel 2–3, what exactly was Eli condemned for? Does the pattern of Eli’s house (favoured insiders, protected by the leader, harming the people) appear in modern churches? Does Scripture allow any group of believers to be presented as without sin? What does the Bible say about partiality in the church, about gossip and talebearing, and about meddling in others’ affairs? How did Paul treat his own “son in the faith,” and how did Jesus treat his inner circle? What should a church member do who sees this pattern?
Before you read: in Scripture, does being close to a godly leader bring more correction, or less?
Your answer is kept on this page only. You will be asked again at the end.
What the Spider holds, stated up front
- Eli was condemned as well as his sons: for honouring them above God, and for not restraining them when everyone could see what they did. Part I.
- Spiritual sons are a biblical idea, and most people in an inner circle are sincere. The Spider concedes this. Part II.
- In Scripture, being close to the leader brings more correction, not less. In Eli’s house it brought protection. Part III, the decisive contrast.
- There are no perfect role models, and no perfect children. Preferring some children for their parents’ sake is a false balance. Parts IV–V.
- Performed prayer, “holy gossip” and uninvited counselling are named in Scripture, and adding a pious phrase does not change them. Parts VI–VIII.
- A pulpit that shields the favourites and attacks the questioner is doing what Eli did, made worse. Part IX.
- Everyone can see it, and it drives people from worship. Parts X–XI.
- What a member can do, an interactive comparison, and a private self-check. Parts XII–XIV.
The prompt behind this page
This page was produced by giving the following brief to a frontier language model with web search, which assembled and checked the sources. It is published so you can run it yourself, change it, or reverse it. Two experiments are worth trying. Reverse it: ask for the strongest case that a pastor should protect the people closest to him from public criticism, written by someone who holds that view, and see what it does with 1 Timothy 5:19–21. Neutralise it: remove the Spider’s observations and keep only the texts, and see whether the comparison in Part III still makes the argument on its own.
Write a short, source-first, interactive opinion article, in
British English, for a general reader. Quote Scripture from the
Authorised Version. Verify every quotation, date and reference
against a reliable published source, and anything marked
"verify"; where an item does not hold up, drop it or soften it,
and say so. Do not invent quotes.
TITLE. The Spiritual Sons of Eli. Suggest two or three
subtitles for me to choose from, e.g. "When the Inner Circle
Cannot Be Touched", "Honouring the Sons Above God", "Close to
the Pulpit, Far From Correction".
FORM. A short dossier, a fraction of the length of a full one,
and an opinion piece, in the opinion form of Dossiers 76 and 79.
It follows on from 77 (Eli's Sons: A Warning to Whom?), which
read 1 Samuel 2-3 closely; do not repeat that reading, link to
it. Take the pattern the passage describes and ask whether it
still appears today. Write in the voice of the Spider, the
church member from 68 (Kill the Spider?), 69 (Educate the
Spiders, Maybe?), 76 (Against Baptism? The Spider Answers) and
79 (Take Notes. Then Check.), the one who asks the questions:
"the Spider believes", "the Spider has seen". Mark it clearly
at the top as "The Spider's opinion." Tone: direct, sober and
pastoral. This is about real harm, so do not soften the
pattern; but be fair to the other side, and keep the focus on
the pattern and the leader's responsibility, not on individual
members. Many people in an inner circle are sincere, and some
are themselves being used. Say so in one line.
SCOPE. An observation, not a case study: a composite pattern
seen over years in modern churches led by one man. No
preachers, churches, members, families or children are named
or described in a way that could identify them, and none are
supplied or guessed. No dates, occasions or timestamps. Readers
should test the pattern against Scripture, and against what
they see themselves.
THESIS. Eli's sons were not only his children. They were the
priests closest to him, and they could not be touched because
of who they were close to. In many modern churches with one man
in charge, the Spider has seen the same pattern: an inner
circle around the "man of God," held up as perfect examples,
whose children are favoured, who pray well in public, who are
free to gossip about others in the name of prayer and to meddle
in their lives in the name of counselling, and whom the pulpit
defends against anyone who asks a question. That is Eli's
house. And it leads where Eli's house led: "men abhorred the
offering of the LORD" (1 Samuel 2:17).
KEY POINTS, each in its own box.
- Eli's sins were not only his sons'. "Thou honourest thy sons
above me" (2:29). "He restrained them not" (3:13).
- The Christian life has no perfect role models. Everyone at
the Lord's table comes for forgiveness.
- Favouring the leader's circle and their children is a false
balance, and God calls it an abomination.
- Gossip does not become holy by adding "we should pray for
them."
- A pulpit that defends its favourites and attacks questioners
is doing what Eli did.
- Everyone could see it. "I hear of your evil dealings by all
this people" (2:23).
QUESTION TO TEST. In 1 Samuel 2-3, what exactly was Eli
condemned for? Does the pattern of Eli's house (favoured
insiders, protected by the leader, harming the people) appear
in modern churches? Does Scripture allow any group of believers
to be presented as without sin? What does the Bible say about
partiality in the church, about gossip and talebearing, and
about meddling in others' affairs? How did Paul treat his own
"son in the faith," and how did Jesus treat his inner circle?
What should a church member do who sees this pattern?
SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS.
1. Eli's house, in brief. One paragraph, linking 77. The sons
took offerings by force and abused the women who served at
the tabernacle (1 Sam 2:12-17, 22). Eli heard it from
everyone (2:23), spoke to them, but did not remove them.
God's charge was against Eli too (2:29; 3:13). Result:
"men abhorred the offering of the LORD" (2:17). Show the
four parts (insiders, protected by the leader, harming the
people, while everyone can see it) as a simple graphic.
2. Give the other side its due, in one paragraph. Spiritual
sons are biblical (1 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 10).
Paul said follow my example (1 Cor 11:1; Phil 3:17) and
told Timothy to be "an example of the believers" (1 Tim
4:12). Leaders' households matter (1 Tim 3:4-5). Churches
need mature believers; pastors need people they rely on;
prayer is commanded; pastoral counsel is a real calling
(Gal 6:1-2). The Spider must not commit the sins this page
names: judging hearts, or gossiping. Concede it all.
3. Paul's spiritual son, and Eli's: a side-by-side
comparison. 1 Tim 5:21; 5:19-20; 1 Tim 1:15; Gal 2:11;
Jesus and Peter (Mt 16:23), James and John (Lk 9:54-55;
Mk 10:35-45); Elisha and Gehazi (2 Kgs 5:20-27). Point:
in Scripture, closeness to the leader brings more
correction; in Eli's house, protection. Ask readers which
pattern their church follows.
4. "Perfect role models": none. 1 John 1:8; Rom 3:23; Mt
6:12; Mt 26:28; historic liturgies' general confession
(BCP; a Lutheran order; verify); Luther's simul iustus et
peccator (verify, Galatians 1535); Luke 18:9-14. Link 35
and 33.
5. "Perfect children," and preferred children. No family has
perfect children (link 54; 32; 17). Preference is a false
balance: Prov 20:10; 11:1; 20:23; Deut 25:13-16; James
2:1-9; 1 Tim 5:21.
6. Great public prayers, and acting the part: Mt 6:5; Lk
20:47; Mk 12:40; Mt 23:5; hypokrites as "stage actor"
(verify). Be fair: public prayer is good. Link 32 and 49.
7. "Holy gossip": Lev 19:16; Prov 11:13; 16:28; 26:20; Rom
1:29-30; 1 Tim 5:13; Mt 18:15; Luther's Small and Large
Catechisms on the Eighth Commandment (verify). Box it.
8. Meddling in the name of counselling: 1 Pet 4:15
(allotriepiskopos; verify gloss); 2 Thess 3:11; 1 Pet 5:3;
the historic seal of confession (Fourth Lateran Council
1215, canon 21; Canon 113 of 1604; verify). Be fair: real
care is asked for, confidential, accountable (Gal 6:1).
One line on safeguarding; not legal advice.
9. The pulpit as their shield: Eli at least spoke to his
sons (2:23-25); a pulpit that defends the favourites and
attacks the questioner has turned the passage around.
1 Tim 5:20-21. Link 77, 37, 06, 70, 69.
10. Everyone can see it: 2:23; Samuel's sons (1 Sam 8:1-5).
Present as the Spider's observation, not proven fact.
11. Where it leads: 2:17. People leave because they cannot
bear what they see at the front. Link 11.
12. What a church member can do, as a card: name the pattern,
not the person (Mt 18:15); do not join the holy gossip;
you may decline counsel you did not ask for; watch whether
the leader corrects his own circle; ask who the leader
answers to (link 79, 43); take notes and check (79);
remember Samuel (3:15-18).
INTERACTIVE. "Eli's house or Paul's?": rows for the inner
circle, perfect examples, preferred children, public prayer,
holy gossip, counselling, the pulpit's defence, what the people
see; columns Eli's house (verse), What the Spider has seen (one
general line), What Paul told his spiritual son or What Jesus
did with his inner circle (verse); each cell expands to the
full verse. End: "Which column does your church look like?"
OPTIONAL SELF-CHECK. A short private checklist, not scored
publicly, presented as the Spider's opinion, with a reminder to
apply it to yourself first (Mt 7:3-5).
PROMINENT BOXES, strong and clearly bordered, so that a reader
who skims only the title, the boxes and the closing question
gets the full force of the argument: The Spider's opinion;
Eli's house; Eli's sin; Paul's spiritual son was told; Close
to Jesus meant more correction; No perfect role models;
Preferred children are a false balance; Holy gossip is still
gossip; Counselling no one asked for is meddling; Everyone can
see it; Where it leads.
EARLIER ARTICLES. Link rather than repeat: 77 (main link), 79,
78, 37, 06, 70, 43, 54, 32, 17, 35, 33, 49, 11, 68, 69, 76.
OUTPUT: a single self-contained interactive HTML page, professional
and readable, light theme by default with a dark switch, stating the
question at the top and publishing this prompt in full. Also a
plain-English quick version and a Simple English version.
The page you are reading is the output of that brief after the sources were checked. The subtitle used here is “Close to the pulpit, far from correction,” one of the three suggested, and can be swapped. Everything marked “verify” was checked. Twelve things corrected, qualified or extended the brief, and each is marked where it arises.
1. 1 Timothy 3:4–5: added, because it cuts the other way. The brief cites it for the other side: leaders’ households matter. It does, but the verse sets a test the leader must pass, not a privilege his household enjoys. A man who cannot rule his own house is, by Paul’s standard, unfit to oversee the church. Parts II and V.
2. James and John in Mark 10: “rebuked” softened to “corrected.” When they asked for the best seats, Jesus did not rebuke them in so many words. He said “Ye know not what ye ask” (10:38), and then taught all twelve that “whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister” (10:43). Luke 9:55 does say “he turned, and rebuked them.” Part III.
3. Luke 9:55: a textual note. The words “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” are in the Authorised Version but missing from many of the oldest manuscripts, and most modern translations omit them. The page relies only on “he turned, and rebuked them,” which is in every text. Part III.
4. “Most rebuked”: kept for the box, made exact in the text. The Gospels record more corrections of Peter, James and John by name than of any other disciple: Peter at Matthew 14:31, 16:23 and 26:40, and John 13:8 and 18:11; James and John at Mark 10:38 and Luke 9:49–55. The box’s wording stands on that count. Part III.
5. Luke 18:11 and Proverbs 26:20: wording corrected. The Pharisee prays “I am not as other men are.” Proverbs 26:20 reads “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.” Parts IV and VII.
6. Proverbs 20:10: applied by analogy, and the direct texts added. Proverbs 11:1, 20:10, 20:23 and Deuteronomy 25:13–16 concern weights and measures in trade. The page applies them to partiality by analogy and says so. It adds the texts that address partiality directly: Leviticus 19:15 (the verse before the talebearer), Deuteronomy 1:17, James 2:1–9 and 1 Timothy 5:21. Part V.
7. Hypokritēs: confirmed, with the history noted. Thayer’s lexicon gives “one who answers, an interpreter; an actor, stage player; a dissembler, pretender, hypocrite.” In classical Greek it was the ordinary word for an actor on the stage. Scholars debate its earliest sense, so the page says only that it was the word for an actor. Part VI.
8. Allotriepiskopos: confirmed, with a caution. The word joins allotrios, “belonging to another,” and episkopos, “overseer”; Thayer glosses it “one who takes the supervision of affairs pertaining to others and in no wise to himself (a meddler in other men’s matters).” It occurs only here in the New Testament and is rare elsewhere, so its exact sense is debated; one older suggestion was “informer.” Part VIII.
9. Luther’s Large Catechism: confirmed in substance, quoted in his words. Luther does say that a neighbour’s secret sin, even a true one, is not to be spread, and that judging and reproving belong to those with an office to do it: “no one is allowed publicly to judge and reprove his neighbour … unless he have a command to judge and to reprove.” He names the government, preachers and parents. The page quotes him rather than paraphrasing. Part VII.
10. The seal of confession: confirmed. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215), canon 21, in Tanner’s translation: a priest who reveals a sin disclosed in confession is “not only to be deposed from his priestly office but also to be confined to a strict monastery to do perpetual penance.” The proviso to Canon 113 of the Church of England’s Canons of 1604 charges the minister “that he do not at any time reveal and make known to any person whatsoever any crime or offence so committed to his trust and secrecy,” with one exception for crimes that could cost the minister his own life to conceal. Its force in modern English law is debated, and the page makes no legal claim. Part VIII.
11. The liturgies and Luther’s simul: confirmed. The Book of Common Prayer (1662) directs the General Confession at Morning Prayer “to be said of the whole Congregation after the Minister, all kneeling.” The Lutheran Service Book’s Divine Service has the pastor say “Let us then confess our sins” and the congregation: “we are by nature sinful and unclean.” Luther, Lectures on Galatians (1535), on Galatians 3:6: “a Christian man is righteous and a sinner at the same time” (Luther’s Works 26:232). Part IV.
12. Context noted for three verses. 1 Timothy 5:13 is said of younger widows, and 2 Thessalonians 3:11 of idle members; the page uses them for the vice they name, not their setting. In 1 Samuel 8:5 the elders were right about Samuel’s sons, but their remedy, a king, “displeased Samuel” (8:6). The page uses only what they saw. Parts VII, VIII and X.
What follows
Eli’s house, in brief
Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests. They took the worshippers’ offerings by force, and lay with the women who served at the door of the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:12–17, 22). Eli heard about it from everyone: “I hear of your evil dealings by all this people” (2:23). He spoke to them, but he did not remove them. God’s charge was against Eli as well as his sons: “Wherefore … honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?” (2:29). “His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (3:13). The result: “men abhorred the offering of the LORD” (2:17). The full reading, verse by verse, is in Dossier 77, Eli’s Sons: A Warning to Whom?
- InsidersThe priests closest to the leader. His own house.1 Samuel 1:3; 2:12
- Protected by the leaderSpoken to, but never removed.1 Samuel 2:23–25; 3:13
- Harming the peopleOfferings taken by force; women abused.1 Samuel 2:13–17, 22
- While everyone can see itThe reports came from all the people.1 Samuel 2:23–24
Insiders, protected by the leader, harming the people, while everyone can see it.
“Thou … honourest thy sons above me” (1 Samuel 2:29). “He restrained them not” (3:13).
Not “he sinned with them.” Eli’s sin was the honour he gave them and the restraint he did not use. God also says he judges Eli’s house “for the iniquity which he knoweth” (3:13). Eli knew.The other side, given its due
Spiritual sons are a biblical idea. Paul called Timothy “my own son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2), Titus “mine own son after the common faith” (Titus 1:4), and Onesimus “my son … whom I have begotten in my bonds” (Philemon 10). Paul told believers to follow his example: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1; see Philippians 3:17). He told Timothy to be “an example of the believers” (1 Timothy 4:12). Leaders’ households do matter (1 Timothy 3:4–5). Every church needs mature believers whom others can learn from, and most pastors have people they rely on, as Paul relied on Timothy. Praying for one another is commanded. Pastoral counsel is a real calling: “ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1–2). The Spider concedes all of this, openly.
And the Spider must be careful not to commit the very sins this page names: judging hearts, or gossiping about people. That is why this page describes a pattern, names no one, and tests the pattern against Scripture rather than against anyone’s reputation.
Spiritual sons are biblical. Untouchable sons are not. The responsibility for the difference rests on the man in charge.
Paul’s spiritual son, and Eli’s
Paul had a spiritual son, and so did Eli. Put what Scripture records side by side.
The Gospels record more corrections of Peter, James and John, by name, than of any other disciple. They were the three Jesus took with him into the house of Jairus, up the mountain and into Gethsemane (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33), and in Gethsemane it was Peter who was asked, “Simon, sleepest thou?” (Mark 14:37). The closer they were, the more plainly they were told.
“Doing nothing by partiality” (1 Timothy 5:21).
The charge is given “before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels,” and it comes straight after the instruction to rebuke a sinning elder “before all.”Close to Jesus meant more correction, not less. Peter, James and John were the most rebuked.
- In your church, are the people closest to the pastor corrected more than others, or less?
- Which column above does your church follow?
“Perfect role models”
The Christian life has none. In the pattern the Spider describes, the inner circle is held up as people with perfect lives: the marriage to copy, the home to admire, the family that never struggles. That is the opposite of the Christian walk, in which everyone is a sinner who keeps returning to God for forgiveness.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” — “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”1 John 1:8; Romans 3:23John writes “we.” He includes himself.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”Matthew 6:12Taught to every disciple, in the same prayer that asks for daily bread.
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”Matthew 26:28Everyone at the Lord’s table comes as a sinner. There is no other way to come.
The General Confession, “to be said of the whole Congregation after the Minister, all kneeling”: “We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.” — “Let us then confess our sins”: “Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean.”Book of Common Prayer (1662), Morning Prayer; Lutheran Service Book, Divine ServiceThe historic liturgies begin with a confession said by the whole congregation, the minister included.
“Thus a Christian man is righteous and a sinner at the same time, holy and profane, an enemy of God and a child of God.”Luther, Lectures on Galatians (1535), on 3:6; Luther’s Works 26:232Simul iustus et peccator. Not a stage the mature grow out of.
“God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are” … “God be merciful to me a sinner.” “This man went down to his house justified rather than the other.”Luke 18:9–14Told “unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”
A church that presents some members as sinless is preaching a different Christianity from the one at its own Lord’s table. The spiritual pride involved is examined in Dossier 35, Proud of Our Humility!, and the idea of two grades of Christian in Dossier 33, A Relationship Only Some Can Have? The Spider does not repeat them here.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8). Everyone at the Lord’s table comes for forgiveness.
“Perfect children,” and the children who are preferred
The Spider has seen the inner circle’s children presented as perfect, and given preference over other children: for roles, for attention, for praise from the pulpit. Two things need saying.
No family has perfect children
Scripture never says one does. Godly parents in Scripture had wayward children, and wayward parents had godly ones. Eli himself is the first example. That ground is covered in Dossier 54, Even God Has Prodigals. And children who are made into a display learn to perform: see Dossier 32, Can You Fool Your Children? and Dossier 17, How to Make a Child Anxious. The children held up as perfect are often the ones carrying the heaviest weight.
Preference is a false balance
“Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.”Proverbs 20:10; see 11:1; 20:23; Deuteronomy 25:13–16Said of weights in trade. The Spider applies it by analogy: one scale for some, another for the rest.
“Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.”Leviticus 19:15; see Deuteronomy 1:17The direct command. It sits one verse before the talebearer (Part VII).
“But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”James 2:9; read 2:1–9The church seats the rich man in the good place and the poor man at the footstool. James calls it sin.
“… without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.”1 Timothy 5:21The charge to Paul’s own spiritual son.
The children of a congregation all belong to the same Lord. Weighing some on a different scale because of who their parents are close to is the sin Proverbs names. And the other children notice. They learn early what the church rewards.
“Divers weights … are alike abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 20:10).
Great public prayers, and acting the part
The Spider has noticed that the spiritual sons of Eli learn to pray well in public, and to act the part. Jesus spoke to this directly.
“When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.”Matthew 6:5
“Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.”Luke 20:47; see Mark 12:40
“But all their works they do for to be seen of men.”Matthew 23:5
The word Jesus uses, hypokritēs, was the ordinary Greek word for an actor on the stage. His charge is not that they prayed. It is that they were performing.
The gap between the public and the private life is examined in Dossier 32, Can You Fool Your Children? and the leader exempt from his own standard in Dossier 49, Do As I Say, Not As I Do.
“Holy gossip”
The Spider has seen the inner circle given free rein to speak about other members: their marriages, their children, their money, their struggles, mixed with “we should pray for them.” Name it plainly. It is gossip. Then test it.
“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people.”Leviticus 19:16
“A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” — “A whisperer separateth chief friends.” — “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.”Proverbs 11:13; 16:28; 26:20
“Whisperers, backbiters …” — “tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.”Romans 1:29–30; 1 Timothy 5:13Paul lists whispering among the marks of a mind turned from God.
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.”Matthew 18:15Not the prayer group first.
Adding “let’s pray for them” does not change what the words do. If the people listening are not the person concerned, and have no responsibility to help, it is talebearing, and the prayer request is its cover. A real prayer request can be made without the details. God already knows them.
“A talebearer revealeth secrets” (Proverbs 11:13). Adding “let’s pray for them” does not change it.
If the listener is not the person concerned and has no duty to help, it is talebearing. The prayer request is its cover.Meddling in the name of counselling
The Spider has seen the inner circle step into other people’s marriages, children, finances and decisions, uninvited, and call it counselling. Test it.
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.”1 Peter 4:15The Greek word, allotriepiskopos, joins “belonging to another” with “overseer”: roughly, a self-appointed overseer of other people’s affairs. It is rare, and its exact sense is debated. Peter lists it beside murder and theft.
“For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.”2 Thessalonians 3:11
“Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”1 Peter 5:3If the elders may not lord it over the flock, neither may the elders’ friends.
The historic Church guarded what was said in confidence, and punished those who did not. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215, canon 21) ordered that a priest who revealed a sin disclosed in confession be “deposed from his priestly office” and “confined to a strict monastery to do perpetual penance.” The Church of England’s Canons of 1604 (Canon 113) charged the minister never to “reveal and make known to any person whatsoever any crime or offence so committed to his trust and secrecy.” What a church once punished as a grave offence, the pattern the Spider describes treats as a perk of being close to the pulpit.
“A busybody in other men’s matters” (1 Peter 4:15), listed beside the thief.
The pulpit as their shield
The Spider has seen the man in charge use the pulpit to defend his circle, and to attack anyone who asks even a simple question. This is Eli’s failure, made worse. Eli at least spoke to his sons: “Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear” (2:24). He failed by not removing them. A pulpit that publicly defends the favourites and publicly attacks the questioner has turned the passage around: the people are rebuked, and the insiders are protected.
Paul’s instruction to his own spiritual son runs the other way. Rebuke the elder who sins “before all,” and do “nothing by partiality” (1 Timothy 5:20–21). The insider is the one rebuked in public. The ordinary member is the one protected.
A pulpit that defends its favourites and attacks questioners is doing what Eli did, and more.
In Dossier 77, a sermon turned Eli’s warning against the “inside people” in the congregation, when every person God condemns in the passage is a priest. See also 37, The Pulpit Is Not a Weapon; 06, Are You With Me, or Against God?; 70, A Free Pass for the Anointed?; and 69, Educate the Spiders, Maybe?Everyone can see it
In Eli’s day, the reports came “by all this people” (2:23). A generation later, Samuel’s own sons “turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment,” and the elders of Israel came to Samuel and said it to his face: “thy sons walk not in thy ways” (1 Samuel 8:1–5). The people always see it.
This is the Spider’s observation, not a proven fact. In modern churches with this pattern, the hypocrisy is evident to almost everyone, except the man in charge. Or else it is evident to him too, and he has chosen not to act. Scripture says which of the two Eli was: God judged his house “for the iniquity which he knoweth” (3:13).
“I hear of your evil dealings by all this people” (1 Samuel 2:23).
Where it leads
“Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD” (2:17). The harm in Eli’s house did not stop with the people who were wronged. It turned people away from worship itself.
The Spider’s opinion is that the same thing happens now. People leave, not because they have stopped believing, but because they cannot bear what they see at the front. Some go to another church. Some go nowhere. The question of what a teacher answers for in the people who leave is asked in Dossier 11, How Many Did You Drive Away?
“Men abhorred the offering of the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:17).
What a church member can do
- Name the pattern, not the person, until you have spoken to the person.“Between thee and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). Otherwise you are doing what this page warns against.
- Do not join the holy gossip, even when it is offered as a prayer request.Ask, kindly: “Have you spoken to them?”
- If you are counselled without asking, you may say no.“Thank you. I will take that to my pastor” or “to someone I have asked” is a complete answer.
- Watch whether the leader corrects his own circle, or only those outside it.That is the difference between Paul’s house and Eli’s.
- Ask whether there is anyone outside the congregation the leader answers to.See Dossier 79 and 43, The Board That Only Says Amen.
- Take notes, and check what is preached.Two minutes, as set out in Dossier 79, Take Notes. Then Check.
- Remember Samuel.He was a boy, and he was afraid, and he told Eli anyway: “And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him” (1 Samuel 3:15–18).
Eli’s house or Paul’s?
Eight marks of the pattern. For each, the left column is Eli’s house, the middle is what the Spider has seen, in one general line, and the right is what Paul told his spiritual son or what Jesus did with his inner circle. Tap a verse to read it in full.
Which column does your church look like?
A private self-check
This is the Spider’s opinion, offered as a checklist. It is not scored, and nothing you tick leaves this page. Start with yourself.
- Have I passed on someone else’s trouble as a prayer request?
- Have I given counsel no one asked for?
- Have I wanted a place close to the pulpit for what it gives me?
Close to the pulpit, far from correction
Eli was not a wicked man in the way his sons were. He was “very old” (2:22), and they were his sons. When the word of judgement came, he accepted it: “It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good” (3:18). But God’s charge against him was not about what he felt. It was about whom he honoured, and whom he did not restrain. The Spider believes the same word stands over every pulpit with a circle around it that no one may correct.
Paul had a spiritual son too. He loved Timothy, and the first thing he charged him with was to have no favourites.
Now, after reading: in Scripture, does being close to a godly leader bring more correction, or less?
Eli’s house, or Paul’s: which column does your church look like?
Check it yourself
This page is short because the reading of the passage is published elsewhere. If you read only one thing more, read Dossier 77.
- 1. 1 Samuel 2–3. Ten minutes. Read it, and count how many times Eli hears and how many times he acts.
- 2. 1 Timothy 5:17–22. Two minutes. Paul’s instructions to his own spiritual son about elders who sin.
- 3. James 2:1–9 and Leviticus 19:15–18. Partiality, and the talebearer, side by side.
- 4. Luther on the Eighth Commandment. Small and Large Catechisms, in Triglot Concordia, trans. F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau (St. Louis: Concordia, 1921); online at Project Wittenberg and bookofconcord.org.
- 5. Luther on Galatians 3:6. Lectures on Galatians (1535), Luther’s Works vol. 26 (St. Louis: Concordia, 1963), p. 232.
- 6. The seal of confession. Fourth Lateran Council (1215), canon 21, in Norman P. Tanner, ed., Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils (Georgetown, 1990), vol. 1; Church of England, Canons of 1604, Canon 113, proviso.
- 7. The general confessions. Book of Common Prayer (1662), Morning Prayer and Holy Communion; Lutheran Service Book (2006), Divine Service.
- 8. The Greek words. Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, on hypokritēs and allotriepiskopos; for fuller discussion, BDAG.
- 9. Earlier dossiers. Linked rather than repeated:
77Eli’s Sons: A Warning to Whom?The main link. The close reading of 1 Samuel 2–3. 79Take Notes. Then Check.The Spider’s practical companion: accountability and checking. 78“This Church”: False Teaching in Two WordsThe gates-of-hell promise applied to one congregation. 37The Pulpit Is Not a WeaponThe pulpit used against particular people. 06Are You With Me, or Against God?Questioners treated as rebels. 70A Free Pass for the Anointed?Untouchable insiders. 43The Board That Only Says AmenWhen no one can restrain the leader. 54Even God Has ProdigalsNo family has perfect children. 32Can You Fool Your Children?Performed faith, and what children see. 17How to Make a Child AnxiousChildren who must perform their faith. 35Proud of Our Humility!Spiritual pride in ministry. 33A Relationship Only Some Can Have?Two grades of Christian. 49Do As I Say, Not As I DoLeaders exempt from their own standard. 11How Many Did You Drive Away?The people who leave. 68Kill the Spider?Who the Spider is. 69Educate the Spiders, Maybe?What Scripture requires of a teacher who is asked. 76Against Baptism? The Spider AnswersThe Spider’s first opinion piece.
No preacher, church, member, family or child is named or identifiable on this page, and no sermon, date or occasion is referred to. The pattern described is a composite. This page states an opinion about a pattern and about a leader’s responsibility; it does not judge any person’s faith, sincerity, character or standing before God.
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