It seems that a week cannot go by without hearing about another church that is in crisis. The issues have gotten to the point where the entire community knows about the problems as well as people outside the area.
The amazing thing is that once you evaluate what went wrong in almost every situation it had nothing to do with a moral failure with the leader or some controversy concerning doctrine. At the end of the day, there was a leadership failure within the church that directly related to how people should relate to each other.
People on all sides of the issues, from the pastor to the pew do not apply the principles of Matthew 18 where you should go and talk directly to someone instead of talking about them behind their backs with other people. Often times these conversations are veiled under the acceptable premise of sharing prayer requests when in reality they are nothing more than gossip.
When someone comes to you with negative comments about another person you have an opportunity to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. My first question is always the same, Have you talked with this person directly about this problem?
If the answer is no, I will not listen to what they have to say and I will challenge them to go and speak with the other person. If the answer is yes, and there are still issues then I will be glad to get involved and see if I can help resolve the conflict.
In the strictest sense this really is a theological problem. It is not one though where there is disagreement on what the scriptures say, it is simply a failure on all sides to be obedient to clear teaching that cannot be denied.
Crashing Churches
It seems that a week cannot go by without hearing about another church that is in crisis. The issues have gotten to the point where the entire community knows about the problems as well as people outside the area.
The amazing thing is that once you evaluate what went wrong in almost every situation it had nothing to do with a moral failure with the leader or some controversy concerning doctrine. At the end of the day, there was a leadership failure within the church that directly related to how people should relate to each other.
People on all sides of the issues, from the pastor to the pew do not apply the principles of Matthew 18 where you should go and talk directly to someone instead of talking about them behind their backs with other people. Often times these conversations are veiled under the acceptable premise of sharing prayer requests when in reality they are nothing more than gossip.
When someone comes to you with negative comments about another person you have an opportunity to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. My first question is always the same, Have you talked with this person directly about this problem?
If the answer is no, I will not listen to what they have to say and I will challenge them to go and speak with the other person. If the answer is yes, and there are still issues then I will be glad to get involved and see if I can help resolve the conflict.
In the strictest sense this really is a theological problem. It is not one though where there is disagreement on what the scriptures say, it is simply a failure on all sides to be obedient to clear teaching that cannot be denied.
Crashing Churches
It seems that a week cannot go by without hearing about another church that is in crisis. The issues have gotten to the point where the entire community knows about the problems as well as people outside the area.
The amazing thing is that once you evaluate what went wrong in almost every situation it had nothing to do with a moral failure with the leader or some controversy concerning doctrine. At the end of the day, there was a leadership failure within the church that directly related to how people should relate to each other.
People on all sides of the issues, from the pastor to the pew do not apply the principles of Matthew 18 where you should go and talk directly to someone instead of talking about them behind their backs with other people. Often times these conversations are veiled under the acceptable premise of sharing prayer requests when in reality they are nothing more than gossip.
When someone comes to you with negative comments about another person you have an opportunity to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. My first question is always the same, Have you talked with this person directly about this problem?
If the answer is no, I will not listen to what they have to say and I will challenge them to go and speak with the other person. If the answer is yes, and there are still issues then I will be glad to get involved and see if I can help resolve the conflict.
In the strictest sense this really is a theological problem. It is not one though where there is disagreement on what the scriptures say, it is simply a failure on all sides to be obedient to clear teaching that cannot be denied.
Crashing Churches
It seems that a week cannot go by without hearing about another church that is in crisis. The issues have gotten to the point where the entire community knows about the problems as well as people outside the area.
The amazing thing is that once you evaluate what went wrong in almost every situation it had nothing to do with a moral failure with the leader or some controversy concerning doctrine. At the end of the day, there was a leadership failure within the church that directly related to how people should relate to each other.
People on all sides of the issues, from the pastor to the pew do not apply the principles of Matthew 18 where you should go and talk directly to someone instead of talking about them behind their backs with other people. Often times these conversations are veiled under the acceptable premise of sharing prayer requests when in reality they are nothing more than gossip.
When someone comes to you with negative comments about another person you have an opportunity to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. My first question is always the same, Have you talked with this person directly about this problem?
If the answer is no, I will not listen to what they have to say and I will challenge them to go and speak with the other person. If the answer is yes, and there are still issues then I will be glad to get involved and see if I can help resolve the conflict.
In the strictest sense this really is a theological problem. It is not one though where there is disagreement on what the scriptures say, it is simply a failure on all sides to be obedient to clear teaching that cannot be denied.
