Saturday 29 March 2014

An Update on My Story

Creative Commons
A little while ago, I heard of a rather ironic turn of events at the church I 'left' - elder J had announced his resignation from leadership. Now this is a guy who was so determined to be THE leader that he was willing to bully and abuse his brothers and sisters to achieve it. Of course, the decision to resign was cloaked in the spiritual language of 'feeling led' etc, but it just sounded like spin doctoring from where I stood. At the end of the day people had been sacrificed on the altar of this man's ambition. 

But I was reasonably certain that elder R, who had been part of the founding of the church, would never let J take control of what (I conclude) he sees as 'his' church. When it's the same person who is left standing after each and every leadership spill, you can join the dots for yourself...

Why do we keep seeing churches being run like a business? Same cut-throat methods, same 'leadership' style. People damaged without compunction because they are seen as being expendable. Why do people see the church as a place to play politics and create a power base.

Didn't Jesus denounce the religious leaders of his day for acting this way?

There are far too many stories of heartbreak, betrayal and abuse in the one place where everyone should actually be safe! But what should be a place of sanctuary has become a place of danger. How can we keep behaving this way, or allowing this to happen without raising the slightest murmur of alarm?

4 comments:

  1. These are great questions, LL. Of course, whenever sinners share life together, eventually everyone involved is going to get hurt to some degree. But having said that, it's time for revolution, an overhaul of the who, why, when, where and how of the church Jesus is building. "No church is perfect" can't continue to be our justification for unbiblical, un-Kingdom structures and practice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Couldn't agree more, James, bring it on! Maybe it would help if we kept reminding ourselves that it's Jesus who builds his church - not men.

      Delete
  2. I'm so glad you just wrote that. That overhaul I mentioned...it's so easy for me to forget who the Master Mechanic is. I'm no longer in the institution - but the institution is still in me, unfortunately. That is my battle - letting Jesus build.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, the unlearning can be hard, can't it. But so liberating! :D

      Delete