This article is the second half of the answer to the question, “What happens to clergy killers?” In other words, when a group attacks and consequently “takes out” a pastor, how do the people of the average church respond to such an attack on their minister?
The answer might surprise you. Here’s part two from my upcoming book:
In some situations, mature Christians hang around to see if church leaders will correct the instigators. But if nothing happens after a while, these believers may leave the church permanently, especially if they see the perpetrators serving in visible positions. During such conflicts, a church is going to lose somebody. Isn’t it better to lose divisive people than mature believers? Anderson comments, “The result is that the church keeps the dissenters and loses the happy, healthy people to other churches. Most healthy Christians have a time limit and a tolerance level for unchristian and unhealthy attitudes and behaviors.”[i]
I had a conversation recently with a Christian man. We were discussing what should be done (if anything) to churchgoers who join forces to push out their pastor. This man believes that a church should remain passive toward perpetrators because God will eventually punish them. He told me about an associate pastor who engineered the ouster of his senior pastor. The associate later contracted cancer and his wife died a horrible death. Christians don’t need to address the perpetrators, he said, because “God’ll get ‘em.”
It is true that God may get them. The law of sowing and reaping still applies in this life (Galatians 6:7) and God promises to repay us all according to our deeds in the next life (2 Corinthians 5:10). There are cases in the New Testament where God executed swift punishment against professing believers like Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) and staunch unbelievers like King Herod (Acts 12:19-23). Most pastors can tell stories about the eventual demise of attendees turned into attackers. For example, a man who led an attack on one of my pastors died of a heart attack the day he was moving out-of-state. While God may not “take out” every perpetrator, how are twenty-first century believers to interpret all the biblical admonitions to confront divisive individuals in a local church? Have God’s words now become irrelevant?
When I was a rookie church staff member, I witnessed an event that I have never forgotten. A few hours before a Sunday evening service, the elders met to discuss what to do about three church leaders who were involved in sexual immorality. I watched as the door to the pastor’s study swung open and various elders piled into cars to drive to the homes of those leaders and confront them. The serious looks on the leaders’ faces told a story – they didn’t sign up for this – but to their credit, they did it. Eventually, one offending leader made a public apology (without naming his sin) but all three families affected chose to leave the church.
Where is the courage today that those elders displayed?
[i] Leith Anderson, Leadership That Works: Hope and Direction for Church and Parachurch Leaders in Today’s Complex World (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1999), 31.
Thank you Jim,
Your observation is right on and again I keep thinking about how overseers handle cases like this. Perhaps you could do a post on how you would choose an overseer with all the insight you have gained over the years.
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Peter, in the words of that ancient knight in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” sometimes I chose poorly, and sometimes I chose wisely. And sometimes, my best choice was to block someone from becoming an overseer. Here’s another thought: sometimes the individuals who become overseers are biblically qualified, but when you put them all together on a “board,” the group either hijacks the pastor’s agenda or decides to pursue its own direction without the pastor’s input. I will try and write on this issue, though … good idea, Peter! Hope you’re doing well, my friend.
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Sometimes overseers have personsl issues that do not reveal themselves until they are faced with difficult decisions regarding the church, or they project their problems unfairly on to the pastor. No one is exempt from problems in life but an elder or board member needs to be able to put personal considerations aside when dealing with church issues. This is one mark of a mature leader.
One of the difficulties in dealing with antagonists is that their plans are often hatched in relative secret, and when things come to light leaders and others are caught off guard. While the antagonists have had time and secrecy on their side everyone else is taken by surprise. Training is key. Example-part of my job is to handle customer complaints. There are actual manuals that help train people to effectively handle customer calls. If I went into each phone call unprepared I would fail to resolve the issue. For the rare times when there is no resolution I still have to deal with the customer as best I can with as much empathy, but also resolve, as I can muster. And I’m just talking about hamburgers!
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