Most of us have faced “church-abuse” in one way or another. Perhaps we’ve experienced the abuse of “being judged,” the abuse of being manipulated to do something by someone telling us it is Biblical, the abuse of being manipulated to do something by a leader for his/her cause under the auspices that this is God’s Mission, the abuse of being manipulated to support more programs at your local church under the guise that this also is God’s Mission, or maybe the abuse of being manipulated to “make a decision” for Christ and/or get someone else to make this decision under the fear that we’re all going to hell if we don’t. Have you experienced any of these abuses?
I think you could interpret alot of post-evangelicalism as a reaction to these abuses. In their wake, we get overreactions. So we often hear people gathering for church saying: all judgment is bad, the Bible’s authority is purely personal, all authority in the church cannot be trusted, we don’t need organized church, and conversion is abusive. We overeact to these things by rejecting these things. I contend such an overreaction to the point of rejection is catastrophic for the formation of church life together, family life and personal transformation into Christ. These days, every pastor has got to be able to lead through these overreactions and keep them from becoming rejections. Here’s the five rejections with some of my observations on how to think about them in shaping a community of Christ for His mission.
1.) Rejection of organization:
Many of us have been turned off by the excessive programming of modern evangelical church. They are tired of being over busy. They find church controlling as it centers everyone’s life in the church organization away from mission. Soon, life becomes about keeping the organization going as opposed to living in Christ for God’s Mission in the world. Many (especially us missional’s) as a result reject organization. I think we who are pastoring need to nurture this reaction into a healthy appreciation for organization that facilitates mission. WE need to nurture a healthy resistance to organization whenever it deviates from mission. We need to cultivate organic organization that organizes around life in the neighborhoods. Yet we must pay attention to the organizing that is necessary to bring people together into networks for life together (1 Cor 12, Eph 4 etc.). Let our organization stay organic, de-centered, de-programmed always directing people into becoming the social presence of Christ in the neighborhood. Without such organization, the community will be a frustrated morass.
2.) Rejection of Authority in Leadership:
Many of us have been abused by the pastor who acts like an autocrat ordering the whole congregation (and staff) under his/her rule for the purpose of achieving “his” vision. The reaction by many has been to disavow leadership in toto (I get accused of that a lot). We who are pastoring need to nurture this over-reaction into a culture that recognizes the decidedly servant-charactered leadership of the Christian community. Always acting in submission to one another, the pastors model the shared nature of life together under His Lordship. This is a flat leadership led by multiple pastors who are empowered to act in the authority of their gifts. This in turn empowers the congregation to recognize authority in their own gifts. Without such leadership the community will die. I have written much on this elsewhere
