I had a lot of things that I disagreed with about MFC (my former church). And while there is no perfect church, I began to think that these problems were common to all churches. Eventually things came to a climax and it was necessary for me to leave. At that time, around April, I decided to jot down questions I had asked about the church. Here are some of those questions:
Where are we helping the community, the region, the nation, the world?
Where is the accountability? Shouldn't ALL Christians have people they are held accountable too, especially if they are in full-time ministry?
Where in the Bible does it demand how I dress?
Former pastor demanded that people call him Pastor Doe (a pseudonym), even people that didn't go to the church. Where did God ever "require" that? What is so offensive about anything else? You know, Brother, Mister, etc.
Pulling an invisible lever made me feel stupid, and I refuse to scramble for a Pay Day candy bar.
Why are things so cliquish?
Why can we not continue a relationship with someone who has left our church to attend another? Are we not ALL the children of God? Are we not all ONE body?
Former pastor has recently been talking down about seeker friendly churches. Why? What is wrong about a church doing everything that they can to present the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone?
Do we really need a “tithe” sermon EVERY time before the tithes and offering are taken up?
Why is it more honorable to be the usher that opens a door for former pastor than to go help minister at a nursing home or prison?
Why are there no Bible studies? Could it be that they might lead to accountability? Could it be that former pastor can't completely control them?
Why does it seem that the stuff around former pastor's son seemed like a cover up? Is former pastor wanting to bring him back?
Why the nepotism? I understand it for a small church, but a church as big as MFC could have had much more qualified people working in these areas.
What on earth do they mean by "the Anointing"? I know Jesus was anointed (See Luke 4:16-21). For the sake of argument I will assume that former pastor is anointed, how does that seem to automatically be transferred to all of former pastor's family? If they are really anointed, why can't they be anointed elsewhere involved in other ministries?
More to come...
Monday, October 20, 2008
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4 comments:
Re-Barr,
Wow! We had many of the same exact questions.
I know that some of my questions are specific to MFC but I hope that others may see these questions and look past the specifics to see the underlying theme of the question. It's those themes that I hope to one day be able to talk about.
Since I have left MFC I have found quite a few blogs that talk about abusive and controlling churches. I have noticed that some seem to be pretty bitter about it all. But then there are blogs that approach it in a different fashion. Not just working through it themselves but reaching out in love to others, wanting to show others that there is a better way than the churches we have known.
At least some people are talking about it and I couldn't help but to think that we need more voices out there, so here I am.
about the nepotism. you don't have to be spiritual to be qualified, just related.
There are no Bible studies because they don't want the Bible taught in context. They want to string random scriptures together to create their own twisted doctrines.
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