This page describes a pattern the Spider has observed. No one is named. Test it against Scripture, and against what you see.
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).
Eli’s house, in brief
Eli’s sons were priests. They took the worshippers’ offerings by force and abused the women who served at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:12–17, 22). Eli heard about it from everyone (2:23). He spoke to them, but did not remove them. So God charged Eli too: he honoured his sons above God (2:29), and “he restrained them not” (3:13). The result: “men abhorred the offering of the LORD” (2:17).
- InsidersThe priests closest to the leader.2:12
- Protected by the leaderSpoken to, never removed.2:23–25; 3:13
- Harming the peopleOfferings taken; women abused.2:13–17, 22
- While everyone can see it“By all this people.”2:23
The question. Does this pattern still appear in churches today? Does Scripture let any group of believers be presented as without sin? And what does Scripture say about favouritism, gossip and meddling?
What the other side would say
Spiritual sons are biblical. Paul called Timothy “my own son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2), and told believers to follow his example (1 Corinthians 11:1). Every church needs mature believers, and most pastors have people they rely on. Prayer for one another is commanded, and real pastoral care is a calling (Galatians 6:1). Most people in an inner circle are sincere, and some are themselves being used. The Spider concedes all of this, and must also take care not to judge hearts or gossip, which is why no one is named.
The Spider’s answer, briefly. The question is not whether there are spiritual sons. It is what happens to them when they do wrong. And 1 Timothy 3:4–5 cuts the other way: a leader who cannot rule his own house is unfit to oversee the church.
Paul’s spiritual son, and Eli’s
“I charge thee before God … that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.”1 Timothy 5:21Paul to his own spiritual son.
“Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.”1 Timothy 5:20Said of elders who sin.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”1 Timothy 1:15
“I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”Galatians 2:11Paul, of the apostle Peter.
“Get thee behind me, Satan.”Matthew 16:23Jesus also rebuked James and John (Luke 9:55) and corrected them when they asked for the best seats (Mark 10:35–45).
“Is it a time to receive money?”2 Kings 5:26Elisha did not protect his servant Gehazi.
In Scripture, being close to the leader brings more correction, not less. In Eli’s house, it brought protection.
What the Spider has seen, and what Scripture says
“Perfect role models.” The inner circle held up as people with perfect lives. But “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8). Every disciple prays “forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12), and the historic liturgies begin with a confession said by everyone, minister included. Luther: a Christian is “righteous and a sinner at the same time.” See Dossier 35 and 33.
“Perfect children,” and preferred ones. No family has perfect children (Dossier 54), and children made into a display learn to perform (32, 17). Favouring some children for their parents’ sake is partiality: “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin” (James 2:9; see Leviticus 19:15). Proverbs calls a double standard of weights an abomination (20:10).
Great public prayers. Jesus warned against praying “that they may be seen of men” (Matthew 6:5). His word “hypocrite” was the Greek word for a stage actor. Public prayer is good; the question is whether it is addressed to God or to the room.
“Holy gossip.” “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people” (Leviticus 19:16). Jesus says go to the person “between thee and him alone” (Matthew 18:15), not to the prayer group. Luther: “put the best construction on everything.”
If the listener is not the person concerned and has no duty to help, it is talebearing. “Let’s pray for them” is its cover.
Meddling as “counselling.” Peter lists “a busybody in other men’s matters” beside the murderer and the thief (1 Peter 4:15). Elders are not to be “lords over God’s heritage” (1 Peter 5:3). The historic Church punished a priest who revealed a confession (Fourth Lateran Council, 1215). Real care is asked for, kept confidential, and given by someone accountable. Meddling is none of these.
The pulpit as their shield. Eli at least spoke to his sons (2:24). A pulpit that defends the favourites and attacks the questioner turns the passage around. Paul says the sinning elder is rebuked “before all” (1 Timothy 5:20). See 77, 37, 06 and 70.
Everyone can see it, and it drives people away. In the Spider’s observation, almost everyone sees it except, perhaps, the man in charge. The elders told Samuel to his face, “thy sons walk not in thy ways” (1 Samuel 8:5). And people leave, not because they have stopped believing, but because they cannot bear what they see at the front (Dossier 11).
What a church member can do
- Name the pattern, not the person, until you have spoken to the person.
- Do not join the holy gossip.Ask: “Have you spoken to them?”
- If you are counselled without asking, you may say no.
- Watch whether the leader corrects his own circle, or only outsiders.
- Ask whom the leader answers to.See Dossier 43.
- Take notes, and check what is preached.Dossier 79.
- Remember Samuel.A boy, afraid, who told Eli anyway (1 Samuel 3:15–18).
Eli’s house or Paul’s?
Eight marks of the pattern, side by side. Tap a verse to read it in full.
A private, unscored self-check is in the full dossier. Start with yourself (Matthew 7:3–5).
Eli’s house, or Paul’s: which column does your church look like?
Want the evidence?
The full dossier has the side-by-side comparison, Luther and the historic Church on gossip and confidences, the corrections made to the brief, and the prompt.
Read the full dossier → Simple English →