Despite what it looks like, I’m not on a quest to find a perfect church.
Or a perfect pastor.
Or a perfect elder.
Or a perfect congregant.
Or Heaven on Earth for that matter.
That would be an impossible task.
So why speak of the church’s imperfections as if it were shocking behavior? As if I should expect something different? No one can be perfect. It’s a fact. Even with the help of the Holy Spirit. So what’s the use? What’s the goal? Why all this bemoaning over an impossible universal truth?
What on earth makes me think that this rule of the world would be any different in the church?
I’m about to reason that there should be something unmistakably different. The Word says that we are to be a source of hope for the hopeless. The salt of the earth. A light in the darkness.
But have you seen Christian news lately? A quick glance at the newsfeed at The Roys Report or MinistryWatch shows that more and more, we’re not known for any of these things. The abuse observed in secular settings is becoming just as much if not more observed within church buildings.
Abuse of power.
Abuse of money.
Abuse of the vulnerable.
When the corruption within the church begins to walk in step with the world around it, we are often unbothered and tend to chalk this up to the unavoidable characteristic of a fallen humanity.
But that should only be half the expectation.
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus says,
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
This passage implies that there should be something positively different about the body of Christ, but that it is also possible to lose that difference. As the corruption in the church is on a crescendo I wonder if we may be living in a time where our cultural religious system is at risk of being thrown out. When the church begins losing the characteristics of Christ, what mark are we leaving on society?
I can tell you the mark that it’s left on my family and the marks that I’ve seen on others that have committed decades of their life to the church.
Loss of faith. Loss of family. Loss of friendship. Loss of community. Loss of spiritual encouragement. Loss of value. Loss of support. Loss of quality of life. Loss of hope. Loss of income. Depression. PTSD. And in multiple experiences, nearly loss of life itself.
It is not good enough to say, “Well, it hasn’t happened in my church, so it’s not my problem.” It hasn’t happened in your church yet. And your own experience does not negate the need if thousands of others have experienced something different within the current model. Our concern needs to grow past our own personal experience of the church.
How can we(the church as a whole) gain or even sustain this “saltiness” Jesus speaks of with the growing multitude of casualties from the church?
.
The body of Christ needs to start having these conversations.
Personally, I believe there are ways we can restore much of the church’s saltiness, but it is a painful road, and a road that requires change to the way we have done things for many years.
That road begins with humility and repentance. It requires us to look at the problems of the church at this point and time and ask, what needs to change and even be sacrificed for the sake of the church?
We must ask ourselves, how does the church become safe again?
Let me try to paint a clearer picture by using the well-known analogy of a shepherd and his sheep. If a good and healthy shepherd comes upon lost or wounded sheep that need a shepherd, how will he care for them? What if some of those sheep had nearly been killed by their previous shepherd? What if they had been mistreated by multiple shepherds? If the new shepherd is going to adopt these wounded sheep into his flock, he’s going to have to make some changes. Near-death experiences are traumatic, even for animals. They are not easily overcome.
A good shepherd will change the way he shepherds in order to care well for his new sheep.
The shepherd may need to bandage wounds.
He will likely need to slow down.
He may need to find different routes.
And above all, he will need to learn how to build trust with them.
But this won’t only affect the shepherd’s daily living. The entire flock will need to accept changes to accommodate the slowest, the most traumatized, and the most handicapped sheep.
In the same way, I believe big changes are necessary to our current church system to effectively care for the influx of wounded souls in the family of God.
But where to start?
If we truly want to follow Christ’s good shepherd example, then sacrifice will most definitely be a part of repairing what has been broken. We’ve been taught that giving up one’s life for another is the ultimate sign of sacrificial love. Are we prepared to give up far less for the sake of the lost and hurting? What are our pastors and elders willing to give up?
Would we give up our comfortable salaries?
Our titles?
Our positions?
Our bubble of experience and understanding?
Our pride?
Our “churched life” as we know it to be?
The church is in need of a serious brainstorming session to find a way to minister to a growing population that is desperate for a safe faith community. Religious Trauma-Informed Theologian and Spiritual Abuse Survivor Advocate, David Ruybalid says, “Building safe and connected spaces is crucial in churches to support healing from religious trauma, prioritizing listening, honoring stories, and ensuring individuals feel safe to heal.” He explains how it is necessary to learn from the victims of spiritual abuse to find ways to build trust, without compromising biblical principles. If we can come to the table humble and open-handed with the routines and practices we are familiar with, a powerful reformation may take place to put a stop to the growing corruption in the church.
Looking back in history, it’s clear, we haven’t found the generation that has got it all figured out. I doubt it exists. So is it possible to believe that we might not be that generation either? Can we admit that things are not going well and that a change is needed? Or will we sit back and watch power and money corrupt the church like the rest of corporate America?
I’ve spoken with several ministry leaders and pastors in various types of positions over the past year and a half about the decline of trust and integrity in the church. One of them is my friend, Eliot Velasquez, who is currently an elder at CityLights Church in Chicago. He has been no stranger to observing misconduct in church leadership. However, my conversations with him spark the tiniest bits of hope. Hearing about how his leadership team sacrifices for the benefit of the congregation is refreshing. They are constantly observing what changes need to be made to be effective in their ministry and to provide safety to the souls that have been entrusted to them. They have put in place certain practices that are not the status quo for the majority of churches in America.
Some of the safeguards he shared with me are the following:
- There are no full-time employed pastors or elders.
- There is no lead pastor.
- The responsibility and amount of time preaching in the pulpit is equal amongst the pastors/elders.
- If compensation is given for a pastor’s work it’s in the form of a stipend.
- Any regularly paid staff positions are part-time administrative roles.
- The congregation chooses their elders by anonymous vote.
As I read through this list I can quickly see how these protective measures work against the common pitfalls of today’s church. And as a recovering spiritual abuse victim, these practices make me feel safe.
They build trust.
I believe one of CityLight’s strongest protective measures is not having any pastoral positions be full-time employees. This would be a radical and difficult transition to make in most churches, but let me tell you why I think it’s worth considering.
If a pastor or elder needs to repent of sin on any larger scale, they are not biblically fit for their position, which would mean a loss of their job. Depending on the infraction, they might lose their right to ever hold a ministry leadership position again. If you connect the dots, you can see how our current system can lead to a bunch of defensive, unrepentant leaders. Their livelihoods depend on the protection of their own righteousness and when it is done for a sustained period of time, pride and corruption can grow. Thus causing a crisis in church leadership like we have going on now.
We are all sinners in need of forgiveness. When we order our churches in a way that denies this reality, when our jobs are contingent on not admitting our weaknesses, God’s power and strength will not be showcased in the church. We need to create a climate where the confrontation of sin is normalized and even welcomed so that it can be exposed and better eradicated. It is then that over and over again, the church’s need for the gospel is on full display, not crippled by unfit pastors claiming they are above reproach.
I’m not the first person to see these problems, and I won’t be the last. It’s time that we start taking these issues seriously. Possibly, this is the first time you have had real concern over the safety of our churches. Great, because change starts with you!
Here are some next-step ideas to get you started.
- Subscribe to a Christian news channel that keeps you informed with an honest look at the state of the church. I already mentioned The Roys Report or MinistryWatch as reputable sources.
- Get educated on abusive religious systems. Understand the struggles of the church right now. Visit my Resources page, order a book, and follow spiritual abuse advocates on social media.
- Get acquainted with spiritual abuse survivors. Hear their stories. Be curious and find out what they need to build trust within a faith community.
- Share your concerns with your pastor. Start a conversation about what’s happening in our churches and how to install preventative measures for your own church. Send your pastor this blog post and ask him what he thinks!
- Pray. Pray for humility. Pray for repentance. Pray for direction on how the church can regain its saltiness.
I know much of what I’m proposing in this post is an “in your dreams” post. But if other churches can make these changes happen, it gives me hope that others will possibly begin to make them too. As the crisis continues and more people are impacted, it is more likely that changes will be considered.
In the interim, I do believe that there are some ministry opportunities that churches could develop to partially accommodate the spiritually abused, but that post will have to wait for another day!
How about you? Do you think there are enough safeguards for the flock in our current church system? What are some ways you think we should change to accommodate the needs of our time? What is stopping us from making those changes?