While going through some old church files recently, I stumbled upon a folder I forgot I had.
The folder contained documentation related to a couple who had once left a church I pastored. I’ll call them Harry and Mary.
Harry came to Christ under my ministry. A while later, I married him to Mary, a long-time Christian. They attended several small groups that I led.
I even invited Harry over to watch the Super Bowl with me one year.
During premarital counseling, I discovered that Mary struggled with a particular issue. While I made suggestions on how to manage things, there didn’t appear to be a long-term solution at hand.
Then one Sunday morning, I made a strong statement from the pulpit that reflected a value I held dear. I could have said it better, but I explained it and moved on.
But I had hit a nerve with Harry and Mary. They were incensed at what I had said.
Harry and Mary were part of a group that met after the first service. When they entered the room, they immediately began criticizing me to a new couple.
That new couple never returned.
I don’t remember receiving flak from anyone else after making my statement, but Harry would not let me forget it.
He made an appointment with me in my office and wanted me to apologize for the statement that I made while preaching.
If he had said, “Jim, I appreciate your ministry. I enjoy your preaching and have learned a lot about the Bible from you. But that statement you made really stung, and here’s why,” I probably would have said, “Harry, I still believe in what I said, but I admit to you I could have said it better.”
But that’s not what Harry did. He demanded an immediate apology.
Some pastors would have apologized on the spot. Others would have stood their ground.
I tend to come from the “stand your ground” group.
And all I could think of was, “If I apologize this time for something I said while preaching, is he going to demand more apologies in the future?”
If I apologized, I was extremely concerned about the precedent I would be sending.
So I tried to explain rather than apologize … but that wasn’t enough for Harry.
He and his wife wrote a letter to the church board. The chairman listened to the recording of my message.
The board’s conclusion: I hadn’t said anything wrong.
The board unanimously stood behind me, and Harry and Mary fired off another letter to the board, letting them know in detail why they were leaving the church.
Pastors would rather gather sheep than drive sheep away, but when sheep begin to threaten the shepherd, the shepherd must enforce boundaries.
Let me make four statements about people who threaten to leave a church:
First, making threats is a power move, not a love move.
Several years ago, I traced the English words “threat,” “threats,” and “threatening” throughout both Testaments and could not find a single instance in which those terms were used in a positive manner in Scripture.
When someone threatens us, they promise, “If you do A, I will do B” or “If you don’t do A, I will do B.”
Using a threat implies that the person making it (a) is superior to the person being threatened, and (b) views himself or herself as being indispensable.
While our world often operates by threats, that’s not the picture we receive in Scripture of how relationships operate in the body of Christ.
If I could do it all over again, I would have told Harry, “When you threaten me, I feel defensive and resistant. If you’ll calm down and rephrase how you feel, I can hear you better.”
Second, making threats damages innocent people.
I once served on a church staff and was approached by someone who told me, “If the pastor doesn’t start doing Such-and-Such, ten percent of the people in this church are going to leave.”
That wasn’t a warning … that was a threat.
Based upon our attendance at the time, ten percent equaled 25 or 30 people.
That’s a lot of attendees … a lot of volunteers … and a lot of givers. If they all left, it might take several years to replace them, and that can cause a pastor … or staffer … to panic.
My experience tells me that only a handful of those 25-30 people really felt strongly about the issue. In fact, the likelihood is that most people agreed to join the cause simply to support their friends.
Knowing what I know now, I would have told the person making the threat, “This isn’t the best way to handle this situation. Can you identify for me the two or three people who are most upset by this issue?”
If given their names, I would have said, “Chances are this is just their concern. If this is a personal matter, I encourage someone to go and speak with the pastor directly. If this is a policy matter, I encourage someone to go and speak with a board member directly. But I encourage you to stop speaking for anyone who is unwilling to go directly to the pastor or the board.”
Suggesting a wiser course of action may not always work, but it’s worth a try.
Third, making threats works all too often.
This is why people do it … at least, at church.
People would never make similar threats at work, or at a government office, but they’ll do it with God’s people. Why?
Peter Steinke writes in his book Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times that when some people use aggression and anger at church:
“Peace mongering is common. With tranquility and stability reigning as premium values, congregational leaders adapt to their most recalcitrant and immature people, allowing them to use threats and tantrums as levers of influence. Malcontents’ complaints never seem to cease. Unwilling to confront the constant critic, leaders set the table for the unhappy souls to have a movable feast of anxiety. By appeasing rather than opposing, leaders give control to reactive forces. Feed them once and leaders can be sure they will be back for more.”
Of course, that’s the problem when threats work: it’s guaranteed those same threats will be used again.
Finally, making threats should never be rewarded.
Once Harry went to power … and refused to shift into love mode … I knew what the outcome was going to be: he and his wife were going to end up leaving the church.
For a few weeks, they sapped the energy out of the congregation, the church board, and their pastor.
More than 95 percent of our congregation liked the church the way it was. People were growing spiritually and excited about our future.
But the more the board and I engaged with Harry and Mary behind closed doors, the less effective we were in ministering to the rest of the church.
Because of the energy sap, and because most people who make threats are never satisfied, I believe that most pastors and boards should handle similar situations swiftly but firmly by saying:
“We have listened to your complaints. We have made a decision, and we cannot support the way you have handled things. You have a choice: either stay at the church and support the ministry, or feel free to leave. The choice is up to you.”
Pastors should never make threats, either, and those that do should be given the opportunity to rephrase their threat. But if a pastor consistently says, “If you don’t do this my way, I will resign,” then a church board may reluctantly have to say, “Pastor, we don’t reward threats, so if that’s your final decision, we’ll accept your resignation.”
As a pastor, I hated it when people left the church, and tended to take it personally.
But sometimes, the best possible outcome is for unhappy people to walk out the door and never return … especially if they unwisely use threats.
And when people who use such tactics leave, throw a party!
I always did.
There are some men that just shouldn’t be Pastors, I was part of a church where the Pastor was very controlling, he had so many issues, but he refused to step down, what he did throughout the years was pick his board members (yes men) and he changed the constitution and the by laws and became independent…so he answers to No one…because he refuses to step down, many people have left the church…so sad because he is driving the church building right into the ground…puts all the money in his pocket and doesn’t take care of the building at all…It’s a beautiful building, 200 yrs old with so much beautiful history…but because this man is on a power trip and wants to only maintain his position, the church is falling apart..So I have to say, there are some men that have been put into the position of Pastor that shouldn’t be…I don’t know what your story is, but from what I have read, you sound wounded, and it sounds like you think no-one should ever come against a pastor…I have to disagree, I don’t think it pleases God when a shepard scatters his sheep or when false teaching or man’s opinions are taught from the pulpit…or when the pastor is worshiped or raised higher than the Lord…or when the pastor cares more about maintaining his position, then he does about the people…then I have to say, it is time for that pastor to sit down!!
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I agree wholeheartedly that some men shouldn’t be pastors. And I agree with you that some men who are pastors should be removed from ministry. My big issue isn’t whether they SHOULD be removed but HOW they should be removed.
Pastors in our day are under attack: good pastors, godly pastors, productive pastors … they are all under attack. There is always someone in a church who thinks they’re more spiritual or smarter or a better leader. These people form a faction, gain a following, and try and intimidate a pastor into doing what they want. It’s a plague on the church of Jesus Christ, and it happens in all places and denominations.
When people want to get rid of a pastor, they usually resort to evil tactics, especially lying. They throw away their Bibles, stop acting Christianly, and go to power tactics. In the process, they destroy pastors’ careers and families as well as churches. Some churches never recover from these attacks.
I have not only had this happen to me … ending a 36-year career in church ministry … but I’ve seen it happen to friends and family members in ministry all my life. So I’m doing everything I can to say to God’s people, “If you need to remove a pastor from office, here’s how to do it to minimize destroying people and your church.” I’m even writing a book on this topic right now. Seems to me that’s a good thing.
Statistics indicate that it’s 6 1/2 times more likely that an innocent pastor will be removed from office than a pastor will be removed for misbehavior. I have written many articles on pastors who mess up … search for my article called “Stupid Pastors,” for example … but that’s not the bigger problem in the church today.
In the case you cite, your pastor may have been dysfunctional, but your church system eventually became dysfunctional as well. People who should have known better let things happen that shouldn’t have happened. While the pastor bears responsibility for the church’s deterioration, so do the board members and those who put them into office. When the church falls apart to the point that people no longer support the pastor financially, he’ll leave, and hopefully, the church can be resurrected.
As far as my credentials, I have a doctoral degree in church conflict management, have written a book about my experiences in this area filled with documentation, and help pastors under attack as well as board members/churchgoers who are having trouble with their pastor, so I advise people on all sides of these issues. If I can ever help you with a specific problem, please let me know.
Jim
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