Church Hurt And Leadership

These are interesting days as the rot within those that identify as the church is being exposed layer by layer. On one hand I am mildly amused by how it seems that church leaders seem to be reading from the same script warning their followers of elements within the church out to destroy their names and reputations and warning their followers to pay no heed to these things. On the other hand, I know deep inside my heart that this exposure is Gods hand, however messy it may all look.

Its within this context that I begin think in this day and time, when a church leader, talks lightly of the reality of church hurt or insinuates church hurt as a driver of something they may not be comfortable with… It’s starting to look more and more like cheap cop out and a refusal to reflect on one’s own state of heart and mind as well as their leadership and the effects of the times when they have legitimately struggled with the weight of the work of ministry.

If ever there was a time to reflect on what to look out for in a leader within the body of Christ, it is now. If for nothing else but to give us a plumb line by which to measure our response to the noise going on around us. These attributes are directly from 1 Timothy 3, you will find more attributes in Exodus when Moses appointed overseers to help him govern and even more when you study the lives of Saul, Jonathan and David. So Paul was writing to Timothy to instruct him on how to go about leading the church of Ephesus, I honestly do not think it gets more succinct so here goes, a person considered for the responsibility of overseer-ship or deaconry must be:

• Above reproach
• Married to one spouse
• Temperate
• Self-controlled
• Respectable
• Hospitable
• Able to teach
• Not given to drunkenness
• Not violent but gentle
• Not quarrelsome
• Not a lover of money
• Must manage own family well
• Must not be a recent convert, or he might become conceited(and share same punishment with the devil)
• Must have a good reputation with outsiders
  • Worthy of respect
  • Sincere
  • Not indulging in too much wine
  • Not after dishonest gain
• Must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience
• Must be tested

In today’s context I feel that I must emphasize that I do not see licences, degrees, certificates or the things we look for today, because these are barriers set by man and therefore infused with the fallibilities of man… neither do I see, miracles, encounters and supernatural experience because these are the kind of fantastical things that arrest the mind and the imagination into places above the weight of reason and therefore without proper anchoring in the knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ, it’s all too easy to lose oneself in this space…

Now, onto the heart of an issue worth considering with some depth, today there is a critical mass of people either loudly or quietly coming out and away from church and anything to do with church because they have been hurt, traumatized and abused by people in overseer positions in the church.

To give one of my own many examples. I remember a time when I was asking for help after a rather horrible experience from a church leader whom I considered trustworthy and I actually expected him to protect me in that moment, I was tutt – tutted away with the ever so slight implication that I was at fault (for being abused). This isn’t a single occurrence but one that replicates itself too often.  Now, I must admit my complicity in the situation because perhaps I have come on too hard, expecting too much… and yet my expectation was to find refuge and a place to heal my bleeding wounds… and still. The thing is that this is largely my whole church experience, salvaged by the few people in church who actually went over and above themselves to hide me and try their best to get me back up on my feet, were it not for these few people, I too would have dumped this whole church thing along with this God who seemed fine with the madness.

We know one or two or more people who were misused and then forced to apologize to the very people who misused them because these people were ‘leaders’. Let’s not even touch the dishonest gain, drunkenness, stable family life…. It only gets worse. For instance, overseers who are known to party hard and cavort with prostitutes while abroad under the guise of ministry work.

Who or what do we have as overseers today?

So when church leaders minimise the issue of church hurt and choose to be blind in their own leadership shortcomings and thus refuse to take responsibility, I can’t help but ask myself… in which area has this church leader seen a threat to his place of power and authority and must therefore start to control the damage? What is it that they fear so much that they will begin to groom their followers to blindly cover them and therefore share complicity in their misdeeds?

Were it not for the Lord Jesus Christ himself showing up for me as dramatically as he has, I wouldn’t be posting such content today. Because it is to him that I look to and no one else. I myself have many failings that I will take responsibility for and so this cannot be used to neutralize my voice.

Today my people, audit those you look up to as church leaders using this guide and the conviction of the Holy Spirit and consider the voices you have allowed to speak into your life as the noise of exposure gets louder and louder.

Again, should you start to see just how far you have drifted away from The Way, The Truth and The Life, please hurry and repent for your hubris and lack of will. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a ready heart and swift feet to move from this dark place to where life abounds and it will be well for you.