Why do some churches have a history of church splits? Culture.
This friend in the second conversation said to me, “There’s a blog post for you. You need to talk about some of those dangerous cultures.”
Sadly, according to numerous statistics, more churches are in decline or have plateaued than are growing. Certainly not all growing churches are healthy. I would never define a “healthy” church exclusively as a growing church. I do believe, however, most healthy churches will eventually grow.
Some of that health in a church depends on the culture of the church. How do people respond to church leadership? How do they respond to each other? How do they react to change? How are decisions made? What upsets people most? What is the atmosphere—the mood—of the church during the week and on Sunday? How does the church treat vocational staff?
All those are usually relative to and indicative of church culture.
So, I decided to post about some of the most toxic church cultures I have observed. Most likely you’ll have some of your own to share.
Here are seven of the most toxic church cultures:
1. Selfish
Some churches are filled with people who just think they have to have it their way. And they fold her hands—and sometimes hold their money—until they get it.
2. Prideful
This is a culture that is proud of their heritage—which is a good thing—but is resting on their laurels. They refuse to realize it’s no longer the “good ole days.” Their pride in the past keeps them from embracing the future. They resist any ideas that are different from the way things have always been done.
3. Rigid
A rigid culture would never kill something—even if it isn’t working. These churches do tradition well. They don’t do change well. Try to change—and it’ll be the death of you.
4. Cliquish
I’ve heard this from so many people who felt they just couldn’t break into the already established groups within the church. In this culture, it takes years for people to feel included, find a place of service, or begin to lose the “new person” label.
5. Bullying
Sometimes this is disguised and called church discipline, but in some of the stories I’ve heard I would tend to call it legalistic. If it’s a “one strike you’re out” culture or people are made to feel they can’t be real about their struggles for fear of retribution—the picture of grace that Christ died on the cross to provide is diminished. People are encouraged to put on masks to hide their struggles.
6. Stingy
In this culture, there is a greater concern that the balance sheet look attractive than meeting the needs that God brings their way. This church rarely walks by faith because that seems too irresponsible.
