April/May 2017 Volume 2 Issue 4
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The Danger of Abusive Laity in the Church! By Tom Cheyney
Executive Director of Missions Narrowing the Focus: Targeting Specific Groups in Church Planting By Mark Weible & Tom Cheyney Church Planting Director Executive Director of Missions
www.MissionsRising.com www.GOBA.org
As an association of autonomous Southern Baptist churches, GOBA exists to more effectively fulfill the Great Commission as described in Matthew 28:18-20. MISSION: GOBA is Southern Baptist member churches working together to impact Central Florida and the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. VISION: GOBA is a family of healthy growing churches loving, serving and reaching Central Florida and the world by developing and multiplying disciples, leaders, and churches.
The Renovate Conference is developing a group of leaders committed to the work of church growth by revitalizing and renewing churches and church leaders. Key conversations regarding the need for church revitalization and how to incorporate church revitalization into the local church takes place during these crucial days of collaboration. RENOVATE seeks to influence, train, and equip, a group of church revitalizers that multiplies rapidly across the west with effective principles, ideas and solutions for the enhanced reproduction of church renewal in America. RENOVATE provides a national platform and delivery network for advocating the need of church revitalization. We seek to spotlight significant practioners and leaders in church renewal. This multi-denominational conference is designed to connect, inspire, equip and challenge church revitalizers.
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FEATURES
April/May 2017 | Vol 2, Issue 4.
The Danger of Abusive Laity in the Church!
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Narrowing the Focus: Targeting Specific Groups in Church Planting
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By Tom Cheyney
By Mark Weible and Tom Cheyney
MAGAZINE RESOURCES BOOKS, STUDY COURSES, RESOURCES, & E-BOOKS!
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GOBA CONTENT CHANNELS for Pastors, Church Revitalizers, Church Planters, and Ministry Leaders
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6 REMARKABLE TOOLS TO FORTIFY
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Mission New York
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THE PASTOR WITHIN YOU
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Welcome to the Missions Rising Magazine:
The Bi-monthly Resource Magazine from Central Florida for Pastors, Staff, and Church Leaders!
Volume 2, Issue 4
Missions Rising is published bi-monthly by the Greater Orlando Baptist Association 1906 Lee Road Orlando, FL 32810 Email: goba@goba.org
PUBLISHER Dr. Tom Cheyney Associate Publisher Mark Weible Associate Publisher Circulation & Marketing Robert Caraballo Executive Editor & Brand Manager Tom Cheyney General Editor Tom King Magazine Designer & Format Editor Gerald Brown Director of Advertizing Ashleigh Cheyney Stock images from ISTOCK Photo or where otherwise noted. Š Copyright 2017 Greater Orlando Baptist Association
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It has taken a little while to replace Mrs. Linda Goans upon her retirement at the end of the year. I would like to introduce you to our two part-time employees that have begun working for your association. Mr. Robert Caraballo now serves as our Digital Media Assistant and is here in the office Tuedsay through Friday each week. Robert helps us with all of our websites, digital marketing, and works on both issues of the GOBA magazines; These magazines are Missions Rising and The Church Revitalizer. He also is responsible for the printing of all of your banner requests. In addition he helps us with our weekly audio podcast and our blog posts. Mr. Tom King has just joined us and I could not be more excited to have him aboard. Since December, I have been handling not only my responsibilities but also that of my ministry assistant; and I have, needless to say, been overwhelmed these past three months. Tom is serving as my Administrative Assistant and he is also part-time. His hours are Monday through Wednesday. Tom handles scheduling of the GOBA resources reservations, daily administrative tasks, assists me with the twenty-some conferences and trainings we conduct throughout the year, and is the general scheduler of all of my appointments with pastors and church leaders. Please welcome these two additions to our team. I beleive we are poised for even greater things in the future with the talents of these two individuals. Mrs. Linda Goans, by the way, still works for us part-time handling our financial matters as before. As your mission partner and GOBA family it is a great blessing to be able to provide you such a cutting edge resource on a regular basis.
Stay connected, more is coming... This issue is focused around: The Danger of Abusive Laity
in the Church!
Dr. Tom Cheyney is the Executive Director of Missions for the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and serves as the Executive Editor for the Missions Rising Magazine.
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Church Revitalization 101: Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization and Renewal: $49.95 Value (FREE)
GOBA offers you study courses that can help you learn how to strengthen and grow your church!
The Church Revitalizer As Change Agent
Preaching Towards Church Revitalization
The Nuts & Bolts of Church Revitalization
Tom Cheyney
Tom Cheyney Larry Wynn
Tom Cheyney Terry Rials
Visit: GOBA.org/resources for the most up to date set of resources designed to help the local church. 38 Church Revitalization Models For The 21st Century Tom Cheyney
The Healthy Church: Practical Ways to Strengthen a Church’s Heart Bob Whitesel
Building A Healthy Multi-ethnic Church Mark DeYmaz
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The Danger of Abusive Laity in the Church! “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves…Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me” (Matthew 10:16 & 40). We are living in a day where satanic forces are everywhere. Even the local church can become a place where evil individuals are allowed to run rampant. This article deals with the hardest issue pastors face when trying to begin the work of revitalization. It is when abusive lay people seek to hurt their under-shepherd. There is within some churches a toxic DNA that surfaces when those who have been part of killing the church are not happy with the pastor whom the Lord is using to revitalize the church. Pastor abusers seldom repent of their sins and seek to remain in power until someone with a stronger backbone removes them. As shepherds continue to be battered, they ask themselves, “When will the silent majority of godly church members join together and excommunicate these bullies?” Satan loves that the membership within the local church have not risen to expose and remove such individuals from destroying the church. God’s shepherds are being destroyed by these abuses while the rest of the membership avoids dealing with these unhealthy situations in the church. I must admit to you that it is not always the laity that are destroying the church. There are pastors who have an entitlement issue that believe the church exists for pampering them. But in the field of revitalization, mean spirited church members are destroying many churches which actually could be renewed if a few individuals would learn how to follow the under-shepherd that God has called to lead the church. In most churches the slaughter of their church’s pastor goes unacknowledged. Notice I did not say un-noticed for there are many in the church who know what is going on but refuse to acknowledge it and deal with the slaughter of a man of God. Then they wonder why God has not chosen to bless them and grow their church. There is a secret church scandal going on. Kent Crocket in his book Pastor Abusers: When Sheep Attack Their Shepherd writes: “The secret church scandal we’re talking about is the persecution of the pastor by mean-spir-
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ited people within the church, who are the ‘pastor abusers.’ They’re planted in nearly every congregation. Many are even running the church. They may be deacons, disloyal staff members, or members of the congregation who are determined to destroy the pastor through personal attacks, slander, and criticism. Outwardly they may look respectable, but inwardly their hearts are wicked, and their mission is to bring down their spiritual leader.”1 It has always amazed me just why those who profess they are believers and followers of Christ would purposely seek to hurt the very one the Lord can use to revive their church. Paul writes, “Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”2 It would heed all of us to follow Paul’s admonishment within the local church. Yet, you have seen these types of abusers all around dying churches. They are individuals who want to be in control of everything and that includes the pastor. Some have a bone to pick with the shepherd because they hurt their unrepentant feelings during the sermon. There are some who do not like his emphasis on trying to renew the church by catering to the young. Some just want the pastor and the church, for that matter, to be around long enough to bury them and they really do not care what comes later. Other pastor abusers do not like the style in which the shepherd preaches showing disdain for the stories and applications throughout the sermon. There are even those bold abusers who will meet with the pastor and draw a line in the sand; if the pastor follows this individual’s advice he will be around for a long time, but if he bucks the wishes of this influential lay person 1 Kent Crockett, Pastor Abusers: When Sheep Attack their Shepherd (Prattville, AL: Kent Crockett Ministries, 2012), Pgs. 8-9. 2 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Col 3:14–17.
Many a pastor shepherd has entered their present place of service with a mental picture of peaceful mountains with gentle slopes and a luxurious lawn inviting you to lay down in green pastures. Images of gentle sheep waiting to hear the shepherds voice abound. Tranquility in the fertile fields with sheep longing for the shepherd to provide them nourishment come to mind. Many a pastor has been blessed with such images coming to fruition. Yet there are some places where the submissive sheep can turn into hateful spiteful monsters, viciously snapping with fanged teeth at the heels of a escaping shepherd. We are living in a day where the make-up of the local church has allowed such behavior to go one for too long without any reprisal. Ministers today are in the midst of a war they did not choose and every Sunday the majority of the participants fail to realize what is going on because the minister rises above the war and the abusers put on a pretense that
3 Dennis R. Maynard, Healing for Pastor and People Following a Sheep Attack. (Rancho Mirage, CA: Dionysus Publications, 2013) pg. 19. 4 Crockett, 9.
they are innocent of their sins. These abusers get mad and attack the pastor at every chance they get. We should not be surprised though because even the apostle Paul was maligned by those who lived in both Galatia and Corinth as the books of Corinthians and Galatians share. Paul was regarded as the enemy for many in those communities. I see pastors all the time changing careers because of mean spirited people who abuse them and their families. One pastor said it was more peaceful to be yelled at three or four times a year selling a specific product than to be crucified each and every Sunday by someone who wants to pick a fight.
On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney
they will see to it that the pastor is run out of town quickly. Dennis Maynard says, “The pain that the victim of sheep attacks experiences is complex. A pastor that has been driven to resign will be devastated. One of the most devastating of those emotions is the feeling that their identity and integrity have been maligned. The very backbone of their authority to be a pastor has been splintered.” 3 It is hard to believe there are those types of people in the church yet they are everywhere. How can such individuals seek to hurt the pastor? It is as if the Holy Spirit no longer active in their lives. There is a “holy hush” going on in our churches regarding this secret. There is an epidemic going on in the churches of the western hemisphere. Did you know that over 19,000 pastors leave the ministry every year and when this Sunday’s sermon is finished, over 350 pastors will be gone before the next Sunday service begins?4 It is time for the church to call these individuals to repentance, and if they refuse, church discipline should be exercised.
How Do You Recognize Such Abusers of the Clergy? I recently had a conversation out in my parking lot with one of our pastors in the area and he told me of an individual who was so negative towards everything even though the church was growing and better than it had ever been. I asked him if when that guy was out of church was there a spirit in the fellowship almost of relief and joy because he was not there; The pastor agreed that was the case. I stated that this individual was so toxic that the only DNA he could spew was extreme negativity towards everything and that he and his church needed to deal with it. As a pastor, I recognize that there will be those who cause trouble in any church. Sometimes they are just overbearing people who are not well and complain about just about everything. There are those who enjoy stirring the pot, so to speak, and are not happy unless there is a war brewing with the pastor or leader of the church. They hide in groups who openly seek to destroy the work of the Lord in the church all the while disguising their actions among the feelings of other. It is time to shut these complainers down and spiritually discipline them. Novice pastors will try to appease them which is why your church has such a long list of pastors who only stayed for a short time. These mean-spirited individuals are not seeking reformation they are seeking destruction of the local shepherd. You are better off if you as the shepherd would separate them
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The Danger of Abusive Laity in the Church! -Continued from the various groups before they become the undertow which drags you and the church under. Many of these types are more interested in sowing discontent, being disgruntled, showing annoyance, and stirring up the anxiety level within the entire church. Remember that being nice is never more honored by God than being honest. Sharing the truth is never the problem, the problem is always the problem. It is better to deal with one mean person than to allow them to fester more anxiety and foster a negative spirit in the church. Draw the circle tighter rather than letting it go on and one. Do not attack because that is what they desire. Rise above their abuse and lead the church to deal with them scripturally even if they are asked to leave. Dismissing a member, while not popular, is better than allowing that individual to destroy the church. Now I realize that we all have enough planks in our own eyes to manufacture furniture at IKEA. But we must deal with such pastor abusers for the sake of the church. What Do You Do When Constantly Facing Attack? The most practical advice I can give you when you are dealing with the dragon of abusive laity is that you need to run, not walk, into the loving arms of our Lord for refuge. The Psalmist understood that when in the fifth Psalm he experienced attacks: 1 Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing. 2 Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to You. 3 At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly. 4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot dwell with You. 5 The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and treachery.7 But I enter Your house by the abundance of Your faithful love; I bow down toward Your holy temple in reverential awe of You. 8 Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my adversaries; make Your way straight before me. 9 For there is nothing reliable in what they say; destruction is within them; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongues. 10 Punish them, God; let them fall by their own schemes. Drive them out because of
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their many crimes, for they rebel against You. 11 But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them shout for joy forever. May You shelter them, and may those who love Your name boast about You. 12 For You, Lord, bless the righteous one; You surround him with favor like a shield.5 Church Revitalizers are often easy targets for dying churches. They have come to the church to be an instrument the Lord uses to bring life back to something that no longer has life and there will be those who begin making venomous attacks almost immediately. Jeanne shares, that we as laymen in the church should be aware that pastors are vulnerable to being devalued, scorned, or even hated if identified too closely with a former pastor who is the blame for past tragedies, losses, or church catastrophes.6 You are an easy target for those who seek status quo. One word to all of us in the field of revitalization and renewal. It is important that you realize that there are pastor abusers in your church that have as their chief goal that of abusing or hurting pastors to the degree that they will leave the ministry. If you are not tough skinned and easily melt at the onslaught of even a tiny skirmish, you are not cut out to be a church revitalizer. If you easily get discouraged when someone does not like you this is not the work for you. None of us are immune from reproach from obnoxious laity. Think in the scriptures of those who were attacked. King David was relentlessly under fire. He was God’s anointed and yet you see it throughout the Psalms. You can rest assuredly that if you are serving the Lord you will have seasons of criticism and blatant attacks. So, what do you do when you are constantly under attack? The Psalmist helps us. In Psalm 5, David might have been thinking about Absalom’s rebellion in Psalm 3 - 4. We are not absolutely sure when it was written; I understand
5 The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Ps 5:1–12. 6 Stvenson-Moessner and Mary Lynn Dell, The Elephant in the Church: What You Don’t see can Kill Your Church (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013) pg. 83.
In verses one through seven, we see that when we are under attack we should take refuge in the Lord. We are to do so by praying as transparently as we are able. It must be our most personal prayers we can offer the Lord. They need to be continual expecting the Lord to hear us and help us. In these times of pain, we should call out to the Lord simply and transparently. Why not do this? God knows all about us, so it’s unreasonable to try to conceal our feelings from Him. Because he walked close with the Lord he knew how to remain in his presence. If you look at verse three in this passage he shares that these attacks were so prevalent that his first thought on waking was about the threats of these evil enemies. So, he immediately turned those thoughts into prayer. Whatever trials God sends into our lives are meant to cause us to turn to Him in honest, personal, and persistent prayer. When you are under attack, take refuge in the Lord through prayer. God does not take pleasure in wickedness, as verse four shares. It is a figure of speech that means, He hates it. Far from winking at sin or chuckling about it, God stands apart from it and His Word warns us continually that He will condemn all unrepentant sinners to the Lake of Fire forever. You often hear the cliché that God loves the sinner, but hates the sin. But here David says that God not only hates the sin, He also hates “all who do iniquity” (5:5). “The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit” (5:6). In churches where there are abundant pastor abusers, they need to hear that according to the scriptures they have allowed themselves to become objects of His terrible wrath in hope that this will break them and they will immediately ask for repentance and seek
7 C.f. Psalm 5:6-10.
forgiveness. If they do this then God who is rich in mercy will forgive them. Yet if they refuse, they need to hear of the terrors of coming judgement on their lives. It behooves all of us to be sure that we are following Christ Jesus and walking in complete obedience. When attacked by pastor abusers draw close to the Lord. God is our defender so allow Him to do the work of protecting us. David is painfully aware of the tendency that we all have, when under attack, to respond to our attackers in a sinful manner. In first Peter chapter three and verse nine we read, “not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead.” David in Psalm 5 describes the evil of his attackers and asks God to judge them. Obviously, David’s attackers were still lurking around like a pack of wolves, trying to destroy him. But David has taken refuge in God and so he is so bursting with joy in the Lord that he sings to the Lord. When you are under attack pastor, take refuge in the Lord through prayer. Appeal to Him as your righteous Judge. And, draw near to Him by His grace, rejoicing in Him as your defender.
On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney
there are some who believe it was written in David’s later years as he reflected on his running from King Saul. Yet it is clear that his enemies where not the type of people you want to hang out with. They were liars, and dishonest in their actions and speech. They flattered him on the outside while trying to destroy him behind the scenes.7 This passage tells us to take refuge when the piranha’s come. Allow the Lord to be our defender.
Is Your Church Unhealthy and Abusive? Do you as the shepherd spend a lot of time dealing with specific individuals or a small group that constantly eat up your ministerial time dealing with things they do not like about you or the church? Think about the hours you spend in any given month dealing with these abusive personalities. If you are like most of us in the ministry we do not relish the thought of taking the time on an ongoing basis to deal with their vicious natures. Yet we deal with it because we must. It is surprising just how many churches believe they can tell the pastor what to do and they are required to do it. They believe their command is sufficient to get you to do whatever they want. Some pastors admittedly put up with such treatment while even some hope that by doing the request they will have a season of peace though it is seldom realized. Some church staff are afraid they will get in trouble with the rest of the church body so they acquiesce and do the deal. Then they are left with a deep-seated sense of shame and become Continued on Page 14
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The Danger of Abusive Laity in the Church! withdrawn because they have forfeited their calling as the shepherd over and over. The sense of being completely manipulated begins to eat away at their soul. G. Lloyd Rediger has done ample research on the subject of pastors being abused by laity and he says such a phenomenon is increasing in epidemic proportions. He identifies clergy killers as “people who intentionally target pastors for serious injury or destruction.”8 What does the scripture say regarding the place you find yourself? Is it more important to maintain the status quo or should you as the leader do something about it? “Because few churches exercise church discipline, pastor abusers are rarely held accountable for their actions. This emboldens them to keep attacking God’s shepherds, knowing that no one will challenge their despicable behavior. Eventually someone must take a stand against the abusers and hold them accountable, or their attacks will never end. Church discipline is essential if we’re ever going to solve the pastor abuser problem.”9 Consider the following revealing statistics regarding the treatment of pastors: 1,600 pastors leave the ministry each month.10 Twenty-five percent of current pastors have been terminated at some point in their career.11 Thirty-three percent of churches either fired their last pastor or forced him to leave.12 Ninety percent of pastors said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.13 Seventy percent of pastors feel grossly underpaid.14 Many people have this outlook: The pastor should not be paid more than I am. After all, if I can live on this income, so can he. When the governing body proposes the annual budget, and suggests raising the
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8 G Lloyd Rediger, Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations Under Attack (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1997) pg. 8. 9 Crockett, 35. 10 Jim, Brown. “Groups Seeking Causes of Alarming Clergy Dropout Rate.” Agape Press, March 2, 2001. 11 John, C. LaRue.” Forced Exits: A Too-Common Ministry Hazard.” Your Church, March/April 1996, 72. 12 ibid. 13 http://maranathalife.com/lifeline/bad-news.htm 14 ibid.
-Continued
pastor’s salary, people who earn less object. This is especially true in the declining church because people have a strong sense of ownership. Consequently, they feel free to express their opinions regarding the pastor’s salary. Eighty percent of pastors say their ministry has had a negative impact on their children.15 Sixty-five percent of pastors have thought recently about giving up on ministry.16 Eighty percent of pastors’ wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members.17 Over fifty percent report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.18 These who are abusing you at your church often have either abused others in a former church or have abused former pastors of your church. Pastor abusers usually have told themselves that they are in the right and that their mission is that of removing you from pastoring that church. Some arrogantly believe that you are done as a minister. It is not a reflection on the Lord’s will but because this individual leader says it is so and they are the self-proclaimed vigilantes who deem it so. Patriarchal and matriarchal powerbrokers often wield enormous control and influence over a dying church. They can become controlling and manipulative. These patriarchs and matriarchs often choose to separate themselves from moving the church forward, and instead of supporting and encouraging the church revitalizer, often see him as a threat to their long-time control. They begin building a behind the scene oligarchy, which is a rule of a few, who often are no longer leaders. Striking when you are the least aware seems to be their “M.O.” Young or naïve ministers often do not know that anything is even going on. Young deacons are sabotaged by the longtime oligarchy working behind their backs. Young ministers are ambushed and new elected lay leaders are astonished that this type of thing even happened. Oligarchies are always made up of the longtime membership seeking the lock the church into the stagnancy of denial and decline. The only time I have seen
15 David, Cannistraci. “Your Pastor is Under Attack.” Charisma, October 23, 2003. 16 ibid. 17 Crockett, 12. 18 Richard, Murphy. “Bad News About Your Pastor.” Maranatha Life. http://maranathalife.com/lifeline/ bad-news.htm.
Pastoral Abuse Is Real Even Though Some Church Members Won’t See It There will be church members who choose to hide their heads in the proverbial sand and say it just can’t be true. They may have had a long-standing friendship with the individual so their judgement is fogged by their group dynamic. Some will even choose to hide for fear of a potential church split. The sad thing is that it will anyway unless pastor abusers are dealt with sooner than later. The reason for this is that the membership knows what is going on and they are waiting for something to be done and if it is not handled, they will take flight from the church and the things they feared will happen anyway. Eventually, those closest to the abusers will have to either turn against this unrepentant individual or they will become part of destroying the church as well. Most church members
do not want to be found in that group so they either must fix it or take flight. Often both happens. When an abusive lay person practices controlling tactics to keep the minister in check it has a ripple effect throughout the entire congregation. Trust levels are destroyed and the casual decline becomes rapid decline as the church falls meteorically towards destruction. Often, newer members just will not be able to see the problems. Here are some tell-tale signs of those who operate as pastor abusers:
On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney
oligarchies be made up of the younger new leaders and new to the church elected members is when there is steeple jacking. It is a hostle takeover that comes into fruition when the older votes do not matter because the younger groups have said enough is enough and voted them out. Remember this, most of the challenges the church is facing has more to do with those laity controlling and strangling the church than it does with the pastor. They criticize and impede any and every decision they do not support. As a result, they cause increasing division within the church as they undercut the ministry of the pastor and others. When they do, they undermine his influence in the church and in the community. Not only do they attack the pastor when he tries to circumvent their control, but they also drive away others in the church who threaten their dominance. They are more interested in destroying a pastor’s reputation, getting them out of the church, and seeking to destroy your ministerial profession completely. Then they wonder why the Lord has not seen clear to grow their church. All this while the rank and file of the church allow this to happen. It is easy for a pastor to recognize maltreatment, but it is far more challenging to protect himself from it. It is one thing to feel abuse, but it is difficult to continue to minister in spite of it.
•On Sundays, they appear quite charming and hospitable •Other strong leaders are a threat to him or her •They are magnificent manipulators to disguise their individual vulnerabilities •They are controllers and practice it on weaker church members as well •Unwilling to take responsibility for things they do wrong •They marvel when pastors and staff walk on eggshells fearing the worst •They have huge mood swings, happy one minutes and mad the next •Verbally assaulting towards the pastor shepherd •Are isolated from the majority of church members and most of his family •Very sensitive and take offense easily •Delight in cruelty toward the minister •Repentant often but seldom mean it The apostle Paul warned in Ephesians, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”19 Rediger has identified seven characteristics of these vicious people. They are destructive, determined, deceitful, demonic, in denial, violate rules of decency, and experts of disguise.20 Dealing with Such Abuse There will always be people in the church who seek to create pain for the minister. But there 19 Ephesians 4:29. 20 Rediger, 9. Continued on Page 18
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The Danger of Abusive Laity in the Church! are a few things you can do to deal with these individuals. Practice Matthew 18:15-20 when dealing with pastor abuser offenses. This is the beginning place, I might add. Do not sweep this abnormal behavior under the rug. It is not likely to go away on its own, especially if it has happened more than once already. Remember that past performance of an individual is a strong indicator of future performance. Abusive church members have more than one issue that has never been resolved. That is why they openly attack at church. Give prayerful consideration to the possibility that the abusive member may be dealing with an emotional disorder. Not all bad behavior is of a spiritual nature only. Christians may certainly be afflicted with mental illnesses too. Be careful if you are encountering such an individual and seek professional clinical advice. Many pastor abusers display these behaviors when not at church as well. They emotionally and verbally batter their spouse and children at home. This needs to be looked into carefully. The abusive person may need to be removed from any church office due to their unrepentant persistence in wrong-doing. Educate the church concerning the biblical causes and consequences of abusive behavior among Christians. Don’t be afraid to address these issues in the church. Heed the biblical injunction to remove an unrepentant person from the church membership. Maintain a grace-filled ministry at all times, but be firm when necessary, and consistent in dealing with damaging conduct in the church. Advice for the Non-Abusive Laity Your pastor needs to know you are standing with him and right beside him. Do not think others are doing this; so you be the first to come along side of him and support him in the work of revitalization of your church. Do not think that because your pastor has not shared this that he is not under some sort of abusive attack. There are disgruntled people in the church no matter how great it is doing. Notice Paul’s warning to those who would seek to divide the church. He says: “Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause dissensions and obstacles contrary to the doctrine you have learned. Avoid them, for such people do
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not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words. The report of your obedience has reached everyone. Therefore, I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, yet innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Romans 16:17– 20). Paul gives a word of caution to his readers, a forewarning that we too would do well to heed. He warned that they should watch out for spiritual enemies in the church. There were those who were divisive and sought to hinder the Lord’s local work. Not everyone was working for the spreading of the Gospel. There were some, for selfish reasons and individual ambitions, who were dividing the churches. In Romans 16 we see that when there are those in the church intentionally causing dissensions and obstacles in the work of the church we are to watch out for them. Paul used two words to sum up what we are to do; These two words are: “to shun” and “to put off.” What a statement relating to pushing off such abusive people hurting the work of the church! He says “shove them away.” Division has ripped many churches apart and destroyed so many relationships and it is so unnecessary. Many times, someone becomes abusive, because they do not get their way; their pride is hurt, so they attack. It happens when people stop focusing on their relationship with the Lord and start focusing on all the imperfect humans in the church. That is why people who blow apart churches do not become people who edify and build up people. These types just go on to other churches to blow up even more churches. We need to watch out for the snipers in any church. Be on guard, for yourself, and for others. This may seem a bit harsh, but there are some people the church simply does not need. You may say, “We need every member we have. We need the help of everyone.” That is very true. But we need the help of everyone whose heart is right with the Lord and wants to help the church, not hurt it. There are individuals that the local church would be better off without. In Romans 16 Paul could not resist giving a closing word of admonition that they watch out for spiri-
What Do You Do when You Don’t Know What to Do Let’s face it there will be times when you as the church revitalizer will be under such attack that
21 C.f. Romans 15:33; Hebrews 13:20; & Genesis 3:15.
you fear for your very existence. You sense the best thing you can do is to begin checking for sales at the U-Haul company down the street. But before you throw it in, might I make a few suggestions first? When you come under attack by pastor eaters remember your training and trust your instincts as a church revitalizer. You know more about church revitalization than your laity do. Another thing to remember is that even your biggest critic has more invested in your are successful than you realize. You just might be the single ingredient for success instead of death in your church. Gripe they may, but in the end, they need you to keep their doors open so the death blow does not come knocking. The longer you have been around the church the better your intuition becomes. Dive into the loving Word of God for your strength and comfort. Memorize encouraging scripture each week and use it to keep you afloat in a sea of turmoil. Here, the heart of the Psalmist, was where I found comfort and solitude.
On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney
tual enemies. We are to watch out for those who are divisive, disruptive, and distracting to the work of the Lord. There will be those who seek to hinder the Lord’s work and place obstacles, snares, and traps in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned from scripture. Paul pounds it home when he says believers are to keep away from abusive false teachers. The Greek is in the present imperfect tense so it means we are to keep turning away from such abusive false teachers. Paul rushed to assure the Romans that he did not consider them naive. Their obedience to Christ was well known and Paul was glad for them. But he was concerned that they be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. To conclude this warning Paul added the promise, The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.21 Proverbs 26:20, “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.” We must never put more wood on fires in the church. Instead, we must try to put them out and often; the best way is not talking about them. Stay away from mischief-makers and keep from causing more trouble. Be a problem-solver, not a rabble-rouser. Focus on those who are actively walking with the Lord through the local church. I believe that most pastoral exodus could be lessened if the rank and file openly displayed their appreciation for their pastor. Stand by him and pray for him daily. Ask the Lord to give him wisdom to deal with abusive individuals. Cover his family in prayer. Ask the Lord to anoint his preaching. Encourage him rather than finding fault. Write a note to him and bless him by your kind words. Submit yourself to his leadership as pastor. Be willing to submit to the authority in the church you have chosen to be a part of. Be a regular attender. Schedule a time to have a meal with your pastor. Serve the church you are a member of, and be a contributor and not a complainer. Speak positively about your pastor or don’t speak at all.
Wrapping It Up! Ray Stedman said, “Some people for the sake of their point of view would destroy the unity of your church. How do you deal with them? Avoid them. We must keep our eye on them and turn away from them. In other words, we don’t listen to them. We’re never obligated to hear a person out when what they’re saying is not consistent with Christian speech. The next time you are up against it remember that even the great and historic preachers all around the world have had to put up with such pastor abusers in their churches. It makes one almost humbly proud to stand shoulder with these types and deal with the dragon of abusive lay leaders.
Dr. Tom Cheyney is the Exec-
utive Director of Missions for the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and serves as the Executive Editor for the Missions Rising Magazine. He is the Founder & Directional Leader of the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference and provides various training events designed for the local church.
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MISSIONS RISING 6 REMARKABLE TOOLS TO FORTIFY THE PASTOR WITHIN YOU.
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PASTOR JOB APP Find or post a possible pastoral or staff ministry position you are either searching for or are seeking a
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CHURCH PLANTER APP Apply to plant a church with ReproducingChurches.com Network who are one of the top planting groups in
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RENOVATE Viritual Coaching Network This monthly coaching network is designed to assist the local church needing individual coaching. You
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RENOVATE ONE DAY TRAINING EVENTS
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candidate.
GOBA.org/resumes
the nation.
http:ReproducingChurches/Apply
may inquire to the costs involved and the commitments, which need to made as to the duration of the coaching cohort. There is an 18-month initial commitment required to join the network and an additional 18 months might be granted for further coaching towards church revitalization and renewal.
RENOVATEconference.org/coaching
These one-day training events are offered locally each month on the third Thursday and as arranged annually across North America. These events train pastors, staff, and laity in the necessary skill sets for the revitalization and renewal of the local church. Anyone is welcome at these monthly events and we promote them a month in advance allowing those who want to fly in to do so.
RENOVATEconference.org/OneDayTraining
GOAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING The Greater Orlando Adventures in Leadership is a 10-month per-year leadership training designed for
both laity and ministers alike. These monthly events are one day events laser focused towards a specific leadership issue.
OrlandoLeaders.com
REPRODUCING CHURCHES CHURCH PLANTING CENTERS These one-day training events are offered locally on the first Thursday of each month and as arranged
annually across North America. These events train church planters, church planting teams, and laity of the church plant in the necessary skill sets for the planting, reproducing, and multiplying of the local church. The local Central Florida events are offered for free while some of the national one-day events have a cost associated with the event.
ReproducingChurches.com/OneDay
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Narrowing the Focus: Targeting Specific Groups in Church Planting By Mark Weible and Tom Cheyney These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 10:57). When Jesus sent out his disciples on their first mission trip, he gave them very specific instructions on where to go and who to reach. It was not his intent to exclude anyone from the gospel, in fact, he later commanded them to reach every ethnic group. However, it was important for the disciples to be strategically focused. Jesus made it clear to them that they were to target the “lost sheep” of Israel. Zig Ziglar is credited with the saying, “If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time.” In our segmented society, it is unlikely that any one church will reach every generational, racial, ethnic, linguistic and cultural group using the same methods. While we should always strive for diversity, we should not allow our differences to become a hindrance to the gospel. Setting a target and aiming for the center is the best approach to focusing our efforts to be more productive in church planting. Effective church planters will focus on a specific group or segment of people; and, thereby, take advantage of God’s design to grow His kingdom through engaging every significant grouping of people in every society. This process of focusing on a specific group of people helps the church planter and his team to focus their efforts for more effective ministry. Defining a church planting focus group is an essential task for church planters. America is a complex mission field consisting of many cultures, languages, and worldviews. All of these are constantly changing and interacting with one another to create a variety of church planting contexts. Three primary types of church planting focus groups exist within this mosaic of contexts. People Groups
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One type of church planting focus group emphasizes ethnolinguistic groupings of people found throughout America. These groups of people are distinguished primarily by their language. A people group is a significantly large grouping of people who recognize a common affinity because of their shared language, ethnicity, occupation, residence, class, situation, or a combination of these things. Many of the ethnolinguistic people groups in America are first-generation immigrants and retain many of the beliefs and customs they followed while in their home countries. Some second- and third-generation immigrants maintain their ethnic distinctives to such an extent that they too can best be engaged for church planting by distinguishing them as a separate people group. Population Segments A second type of church planting focus group is referred to as a population segment. A population segment is a smaller grouping of people than an ethnolinguistic people group. Population segments are grouped according to a variety of factors. Larger categories such as language, worldview, and ethnicity, which are critical for identifying ethnolinguistic people groups, are also important elements in grouping population segments. However, population segments are further segmented from people groups with criteria relating to things such as lifestyle preferences, generational identities, values, and socioeconomic factors. Peer and association groupings based on shared interests and activities can be significant enough to warrant separate church planting strategies. College students, lawyers, entertainers, millennials, cowboys, migrant workers, artists, and resort workers exemplify the wide range of categories possible for population segments. Cowboy churches, migrant churches, coffeehouse churches, skydiver churches, and biker churches are designed to reach specific population segments. Population segments usually overlap due to the variety of categories possible for grouping. Members of a biker church will also be part of other population segments that are defined by vocation, residence,
Environments The third type of church planting focus group highlights special types of locales or environments where people groups and population segments live and interact. Environments such as multihousing units, colleges and universities, entertainment venues, and various workplaces present church planters with unique locations for starting new churches. These environments identify more than location. In some cases, the environ-ment may be a critical influencing factor for determining a population segment. People living in places like prisons and nursing homes have so many commonalities that they form a population segment as a result of the place in which they live. Sometimes these environments function like an airport terminal, temporarily housing various people groups or population segments. Colleges and multihousing environments in particular can house a variety of peoples. In both cases, these distinct locations require church planters to use methodologies appropriate to the specific environment. Obviously, all three types of church planting focus groups are to some extent interdependent in the American mosaic. Such interdependence illustrates the importance of defining your focus group clearly in order to develop people-focused church planting strategies. Lack of a clearly defined church planting focus group inevitably leads to shotgun evangelism and church planting approaches that are rarely effective.
Contextual Church Planters North American church planters in the twenty-first century must be contextual to be effective. The number of non-Christians representing world-views and lifestyles that are far removed from the Christian worldview continue to increase. It is therefore increasingly important for church planters to think in terms of planting churches across cultural barriers. Two kinds of contextual church planters are apostolic and founding-pastor. Apostolic church planters follow the apostle Paul’s example of starting many new churches and raising up local leaders for those churches. Founding-pastor church planters go to an area to start one church and become the pastor of that church. Both should be contextual church planters. What does it mean to be a contextual church planter? Contextual church planters recognize missional contexts and adapt their church planting approaches to fit the language, culture, and worldview of their church planting focus group. They are not content to transfer their own church forms to the church planting focus group. Instead, they seek to do whatever it takes to clearly communicate the gospel in a manner that addresses the context and worldviews of the focus group.
Multiplying Churches with Mark Weible
or other categories. It is important not to allow all the possible ways of grouping people to cloud the primary reason for people segmentation in church planting. The purpose for identifying population segments is to discover how people best relate to one another in order to introduce the gospel to that group. This allows the gospel to move to others in the group with the least possible amount of resistance. Population segments then become strategic bridges for starting more churches among the larger people group within which the population segment is found.
The goal of contextual church planters is to further the kingdom of God by making disciples who transform their communities as they make other disciples. Church forms are not the issue. Making disciples is the focus. Therefore, whether the church planter intends to start one church and pastor it or start many churches and pastor none of them, the goal is the same—reproducing followers of Christ who transform their communities in the power of the Holy Spirit. When this happens, church multiplication will surely follow. Indigenous Churches Typically, indigenous churches are defined as self-governing, self-expressing, self-supporting, Continued on Page 28
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Receiving and Casting A Vision for Church Planting By Mark Weible and Tom Cheyney self-teaching, and self-propagating. Many American churches fit all five of these criteria and are indigenous to a culture, a language, and a worldview. Unfortunately, many of these churches are not reproducing themselves in terms of church planting. Nor are they reproducing themselves evangelistically among peoples different from the membership of their congregations. Many churches today can be classified as indigenous but not reproducing themselves. Eighty percent of evangelical churches in the U.S. either are plateaued or declining, and it is commonly agreed among researchers that U.S. churches have failed to gain an additional 2 percent of the American population in the past 60 years. The level of a church’s indigenousness does not ensure its reproductive health. Churches can become so indigenous that they also resemble their culture and lose the ability to function as salt and light in their communities. However, some indigenous churches have the same five criteria and are reproducing themselves outside of their churches through evangelism and church planting. What accounts for this difference? Living indigenous churches maintain their focus on a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. They refuse to allow their human culture or an institutional church culture to take the place of engaging the lostness of their communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have a kingdom perspective and a transformational purpose rather than an institutional perspective and a maintenance purpose. Churches and church planters today must think and act contextually with the lost people groups, population segments, and environments that surround them in order to impact them with the gospel. Contextual thinking and contextual church planting strategies, if submitted to and founded upon the leadership of the Holy Spirit, will lead to healthy, reproducing, indigenous churches. Identifying Your Church Planting Focus Group Has God already revealed to you a specific group? Sometimes when God calls a church planter to start
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a new church He simultaneously reveals the group of people for whom to start the church. The call may focus you upon a general category of people like the most unreached ethnolinguistic people group, or a population segment that closely resembles your cultural background and lifestyle. At other times, your call can focus you upon a place without a specific group of people in mind. For example, it might be a city, a college campus, or a cluster of multihousing units to which you believe God is leading. The issue here is to examine your calling and vision and determine whether or not God has already shown you a church planting focus group. If He hasn’t, then the following questions will give further assistance in determining your church planting focus group. What if God has not yet shown me a specific group? Many times the call to plant a church comes before knowing exactly among whom you will plant. If this is the case, you need to first determine whether or not God wants you to plant a church where you live or in another area. After deciding the general area, you will need to gather basic demographic information to discover the unreached people in the area. This information will enable you to see the big picture of lostness in the area where God is leading you to plant a church. At this point, you are ready to begin narrowing your search to a few potential groups. Where is God working? Often, God is working in areas that churches have not discovered. Spend time with non-Christians in your target area to see whether or not they demonstrate interest and openness to the things of God. Your goal is to determine who exactly the lost people are and their level of gospel receptivity. Also, find out which Christian groups are represented in the target area and what they are doing to evangelize and plant churches among unreached people. Maintain a kingdom mind-set and work together with other kingdom-minded churches to reach the unreached with the gospel. Is God leading me to an ethnolinguistic people group, population segment, or environment? As discussed earlier, many different church planting contexts exist throughout America. Clarifying your
What barriers stand between the focus group and the gospel? Common barriers between unreached focus groups and you, the church planter, include language, culture, and worldview. All non-Christians are not equally distant from the gospel. For example, a non-Christian adult raised in a devout, evangelical Christian home is much closer to understanding the gospel than an immigrant Somali Muslim who was raised in a devout Islamic home. The culture, worldview, and languages of the Somali are greater barriers to communicating the gospel than those of the person from a Christian background. The purpose for identifying the existing barriers is to help the church planter understand which issues of the focus group must be dealt with in order to present the gospel and start the church in a contextual manner. What bridges lie between the focus group and the gospel? No matter how distant the focus group is culturally and linguistically from the church planter, and no matter how distant the focus group’s worldview is from Christianity, significant bridges for gospel communication exist for the church planter. The key is for the church planter to study his focus group and discover the points of contact for communicating the gospel that lie in the focus group’s worldview. The felt needs of a focus group can also provide the church planter significant bridges for gospel communication and church planting. What are your spiritual gifts and talents? Every effective church planter has a call from God to church planting. But not every church planter has the same spiritual gifts, talents, and cultural back-
ground. When selecting your church planting focus group, it is important to understand your unique, God-given design, and how you fit or do not fit with the variety of groups needing a church planter. Determining which groups fit best with your gifts, cultural identity, and interests will help you reduce the number of possible church planting focus groups from which to choose. A practical way to pull this information together is to write a church planting focus group profile. This profile is a summary of your answers to the questions above. Be sure to include in your profile the following information:
Multiplying Churches with Mark Weible
church planting focus group in terms of a people group, population segment, or environment enables you to zoom in on the details of your focus group. A clear under-standing of your focus group lays the foundation for developing contextual church planting strategies later. Where does the focus group live? By now you probably have a good general idea where the focus group lives. But you need to specifically identify where the people live in terms of census tracts, city blocks, neighborhood ZIP codes, landmarkers, housing types, and their gathering places.
•What God has revealed to you about a church planting focus group. •A description of the geographic area to which God is leading you and the basic demographics of that area. •Where and with whom you see God working. •Your specific ethnolinguistic people group, population segment, or environment. •The specific location of the church planting focus group. •The spiritual condition of the church planting focus group. •The barriers to the gospel among the church planting focus group. •The bridges for the gospel to spread among the church planting focus group. •Your spiritual gifts and talents. Rev. Mark Weible serves
the Greater Orlando Baptist Association as the Church Planting Director. He joined the GOBA team in 2002. Mark co-leads the GOAL Leadership training besides serving as our Web architect. Mark serves as the Directional Leader of ReproducingChurches.com.
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ENOVATE R National Church Revitalization Conference
November 7-9, 2017
Speakers Include:
Orlando, FL
Karl Vaters Micah Fries Gary McIntosh Jennifer Bennett David Murrow Tom Cheyney Paul Smith Terry Rials Ron Smith Steve Smith Jason Cooper
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