"there could be so many reasons, but there is one massive consequence: no one is protecting the sheep when an elder board and church leaders are rubber stamping. No one. The entire program becomes about protecting a pastor or organization. The evidence is in the countless bloodied sheep that file out your doors. Sheep that are now abandoned. Left for dead. Sheep you never go after to exit-interview as you should, or if you do, it’s in secret, and you walk away and do nothing. "
"Church Overseers, I am begging you on behalf of all the sheep in every congregation: PLEASE DO YOUR JOB. Protect us from abuses of power and protect us from false doctrine. And if you don’t feel you can…for any reason…please step down. The cost of your rubber stamp is too high."
Here is the job description for any church leader:
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
Let's add to that list the utter apathy to even have elders in the first place, the criteria so restrictive and legalistic few ever qualify, feet are deliberately dragged and I think elders are intentionally disempowered, chosen for their loyalty to leaders rather than God.
It seems to me elders were recognised for who they already were in the early church and not a position.
Pastors (shepherds) are not supposed to be charismatic preachers. They have been elevated far beyond their role for their gifts and not their character and given a pass because our Churchianity model puts them on a podium.
Is this connected to the church gossip phenomenon, I wonder? Whereby people feel unsafe and ask around and then spread the worst kinds of talk? Those efforts seem valiant but also miss important information.
"there could be so many reasons, but there is one massive consequence: no one is protecting the sheep when an elder board and church leaders are rubber stamping. No one. The entire program becomes about protecting a pastor or organization. The evidence is in the countless bloodied sheep that file out your doors. Sheep that are now abandoned. Left for dead. Sheep you never go after to exit-interview as you should, or if you do, it’s in secret, and you walk away and do nothing. "
"Church Overseers, I am begging you on behalf of all the sheep in every congregation: PLEASE DO YOUR JOB. Protect us from abuses of power and protect us from false doctrine. And if you don’t feel you can…for any reason…please step down. The cost of your rubber stamp is too high."
Here is the job description for any church leader:
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
(Ezekiel 34:15, ESV, https://ref.ly/Eze34.15;esv)
Let's add to that list the utter apathy to even have elders in the first place, the criteria so restrictive and legalistic few ever qualify, feet are deliberately dragged and I think elders are intentionally disempowered, chosen for their loyalty to leaders rather than God.
It seems to me elders were recognised for who they already were in the early church and not a position.
Pastors (shepherds) are not supposed to be charismatic preachers. They have been elevated far beyond their role for their gifts and not their character and given a pass because our Churchianity model puts them on a podium.
Should be a no-brain decision.
Is this connected to the church gossip phenomenon, I wonder? Whereby people feel unsafe and ask around and then spread the worst kinds of talk? Those efforts seem valiant but also miss important information.
I have no idea. To me, it is a lack of courage by the overseers.