Something's Not Right

Reviews

Wade’s work in communication theory is a must read for survivors, institutional leaders, and everyone. In a powerful, easy-to-grasp book, Wade distills the strategies and communication tools abusers use to manipulate, abuse, and resist accountability and transparency. Understanding these dynamics empowers survivors to recognize and name what they have experienced and empowers all of us to identify and stand against abusers and abusive organizations. Reading this book and evaluating leaders and ministries with this knowledge will change you forever, for the better. Something’s Not Right is a beacon of truth and wisdom for the abused and a help in their healing. It is a warning about power mismanagement as well as a guide for eradicating evil from our churches. Wade Mullen’s expertise provides a window into the insidious language of abuse and impression-management strategies so often present among church leaders. Something’s Not Right is essential reading for every leader. Wade Mullen brilliantly unpacks the game plan organizations often use to manage their image in a crisis and to self-preserve at all costs. This book will change the way you see and think about abuse forever. Wade Mullen has uniquely identified the hidden behaviors of abuse and has demystified the tactics used to hold victims in silent captivity. His research and voice have been an essential component of my own healing journey as well as a pathway forward in dealing with organizational dysfunction. His work is a useful tool for informative and transformative introspection for victims and organizations alike. This profound work offers a path toward authentic forgiveness, healing, and freedom. Wade’s work is essential reading for our growing understanding of toxic and abusive systems. His deep experience and profound insights will provide clarity for those who are confused and pave a pathway for a necessary reckoning and the ultimate healing we long for. In his book Something’s Not Right, Wade Mullen brings insights, research-based knowledge, and clarity to the heavy topic of abuse. His years of work provide readers with a language that gives voice to those who have been silenced by abuse. He unpacks a vocabulary that can help individuals identify and articulate tactics abusers use. While he vulnerably shares his own journey of navigating abuse, he also provides a stunning picture of hope for the reconciliation and restoration that is always possible. This book is a must-read for those who have navigated abuse, anyone who helps survivors find healing, and leaders who steward churches and organizations that want to safeguard their cultures and systems from abuse. I first met Wade Mullen where this book begins, during his first steps of a journey to understand and free himself from an abusive church and its leadership. In the time since, I’ve witnessed God’s voice speaking through Wade to research, identify, and call out abusive systems and to advocate for victims and survivors. Something’s Not Right offers a balm for the abused, a platform to hear their stories, and a pathway for the church to stand by their side. If you are a victim of abuse, this book will identify the tactics of manipulation and misuse of power you have suffered from, giving you a language to name and confront that sin. If you are a pastor or Christian leader, your eyes will be opened to the overt and nuanced ways abusers sow deceit and doubt in you, co-opting you into silence (often unwittingly) at the very time victims need you to speak truth and be the comfort of Christ. This book offers you a glossary to discern and steps to address the scourge of abuse. Wade Mullen is one of the most important voices in evangelicalism right now. His experience and research into Christian institutions and how they can and do enable abusers is vital reading for anyone who wants to be an advocate for survivors—or to gain an understanding of what makes so many of us culpable in protecting power. Mullen uses real stories, extensive research, and gentle truth telling to highlight what is possibly the most pressing issue facing the church today: How can we stop the epidemic of abuse within our sacred institutions? Mullen offers us a sincerely thoughtful, incredibly practical, and truly compassionate book on abusive systems and the consequences of cover-ups. Full of relatable examples and opportunities to tend to one’s own pain from abusive systems while leaving room for self-evaluation, this book holds up an overdue mirror. Mullen vulnerably relates to the reader, offering us a glimpse into his own experiences with toxic leadership, and moreover equips us to recognize patterns of organizational abuse and what repentance actually looks like in such instances. I cannot recommend this accessible book strongly enough to anyone considering leadership in the church, society, or politics. I will be making it required reading for teams and organizations that I work with going forward. Expand reviews