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****************************************************** webminister@webminister.com October 2000 - #1
IN THIS ISSUE:
****************************************************** This issue of the Newsletter will give a different slant in the promotion of church growth, Christian leadership, and the use of the Internet as a ministry of the Church. The Webminister's interest in this issue is Pearlygate – negative and/or improper attacks between churches and/or Christian individuals and its impact. This integrity crisis impacts the whole Church. Recently, I was attacked in a quarterly publication for stating and believing in something that I do not believe in. I was very puzzled as to how he came to his conclusion as I have never written in support of what he said. The article's writer has not at anytime communicated to me in anyway, i.e., e-mail, phone, mail, etc. In fact, I have e-mailed him and the elders of his church. I have yet to receive a reply from him or the elders. Whatever happened to the principle of "going to thy brother" if he has trespass against thee (Matt. 18:15 - 17). Christ while talking to His disciples said "if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you, you have won your brother over." Second, "But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." Third, "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." This is the biblical method of conflict resolution. One cannot have conflict resolution unless one or both parties give in or are willing to resolve the conflict. However, after reviewing a number of articles indexed in the Restoration Serials Index, I found articles on conflict resolution, but none emphasized Matthew 18:15-17. These verses are usually associated with church discipline. One can only conclude that the church does not teach nor use this method for conflict resolution, but those being attacked left the church rather than exercise this biblical method in conflict resolution. In the body of church, we belong to one another, we affect one another, and we cannot escape one another. The world did not create the integrity crisis, the church did; and the church will have to solve it. "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it," wrote Paul, "or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (I Cor. 12:26). Whether we like it or not, we are all in this thing together. Pearlygate attacks the integrity of the church.
****************************************************** About six months ago while having coffee with some friends, we got into the discussion of negativism in the church, character assassination, and how negativism affected the church. As a result of this conversation, I investigated more than 50 authors that attack other individuals (their character, and then their point of view on a particular issue). I was able to identify 48 authors and the churches where they preached. Of these 48 authors only three churches had grown in attenders from 1991 to 2000 according to the figures from Mac Lynn's "Churches of Christ in the United States" (ed. 1991 and ed. 2000). A number of churches showed no growth or decline. The vast majority showed a decline. Collectively, i.e., adding all the attenders of all the churches for 1991 and for 2000, these 48 churches showed a decline of 15% over these nine years. For all the writers in the publication attacking me, the collective decline of those writers' churches was about 20%. The author attacking me has ministered to two churches in the 1990s, which have collectively declined 37% from 750 attenders to 470 from 1991 to 2000. The cancer of negative Christianity destroys the emphasis on Christ, the two great commandments, the great commission, and how the world views the church. Pearlygate is the result of negative Christianity and thrives on the apparent faults of others and thrives on the fault of writers who do not have the virtue of patience and diligence (not to mention love) that demands accuracy in reporting. Because the size of the sample and the criteria for defining attacking authors was vague, some may attack these results. However, the magnitude of the conclusion is overwhelmingly apparent.
****************************************************** To prevent a leader from dominating the church, some churches have term limits for their leaders. This was to limit control of the church and its meetings by a dominating leader. Other churches rotate the chairmanship of the board or have a leader of the month to handle basic situations. One dominating minister said the reason his church did not have elders, even though he has ministered in the same church more than 20 years, was because no one was qualified. One would think that his ministering and teaching would have developed leadership within the church. In the last 15 years his church has declined from 260 attenders to about 65. Only one or two families were younger than 55 years of age. I saw only two children the Sunday that I visited. For this minister, it was his way or the highway, and most took the highway so no church conflict was evident. No leadership existed for conflict resolution. Church leadership should visit every adult individual or family that has been absent for three Sundays. Many times a person was offended by something someone said or did. More than likely it was what the minister said. Conflict resolution becomes more difficult with time. A church needs to track the results of absentee attenders for the problem of their absence from the body of Christ. Conflict resolution or conflict management advocates solving problems at the lowest level, i.e., two or three people. The more people involved the harder it is to complete the resolution and the more people will talk about the problem and the attempted resolution. Many people will drop out of church, while others will go to another or different church. This is an integrity crisis and this weakness within the church helps to cause scandals. The world is already attacking the church.
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****************************************************** In His Service,
The Webminister |