Church Fight

I don't know if you have seen the item in the news lately where a church is suing a woman for $500,000 for defamation.  The woman created a blog and posted comments on Google reviews that were critical of the church after she was allegedly shunned by the church which she says is led by a very controlling pastor.  I have looked at her blog and read what she has to say.  I have a few thoughts on the matter.

First, it is plain that this is what I would characterize as a very conservative church.  It subscribes to the idea not merely of male led leadership, but male dominated leadership.  According to her, teaching (at a woman's retreat) included guidance on even what colors a woman should wear.  The practice of shunning someone who is on the "outs" for whatever reason is also more common in highly conservative, legalistic circles.  The fact that the church has chosen to deal with this woman by levying such a massive lawsuit does seem to lend credence to the idea that there is a certain harshness at work.

Second, I have some concerns about the response.  While not defending practices that can be hurtful, it is important to remember that there is never a good reason for a bad reaction.   We are not called to love our enemies only when our enemies are nice to us.  We are not called to be careful in how we speak only when speaking about nice things.  I believe it is appropriate to state concern and warning to others about a church that may be hurting people, but this must be done while trying assiduously to avoid attack and blame.  People, even pastors, who are caught up in this sort of thing don't need to be attacked, they need to be called and shown to the loving, forgiving Savior.  There is nothing wrong with being culturally conservative, and such standards should not be held up to ridicule.  You can questions such standards being used as measures of how "good" a Christian someone is without attacking what may be a very legitimate desire to "keep oneself unstained by the world."   My wife and I are more conservative in dress and culture than other Christians.  We have some strong stands on this and have even tried to encourage others in this regard.  We have tried not to use our standards to judge others and would not enjoy being attacked or ridiculed because we are more conservative.  Judging goes both ways and sometimes we find a certain joy and satisfaction in being very judgmental about very judgmental people.   Its ironic, and I think still wrong.

I won't take this blog post today to talk about what I think is the proper way to deal with those who need discipline in the church.  The Bible is very clear on this point and we can talk about that another time.  Suffice to say, love is still a central theme of the Gospel and the Bible does clearly state that it is inappropriate for Christians to take each other to court.  That is not a matter that needs parsing or interpreting, it is clear Scripture.  When this church chose to take a matter of the Kingdom before authorities of this world, they wandered right out of the Bible.  It is rather sad.