In our work with churches, I have come to recognize that churches become unhealthy when they tolerate overly opinionated people, especially in leadership. (Well, that’s my opinion anyway! 😊)
Such folk remind me of 1 Corinthians 12:17, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?” Sometimes the opinions of one overdeveloped body part dominate the rest of the body! It is not uncommon for them to think theirs is the only spiritual gift that matters, that needs to be heard, that has all the answers. When that happens, the body becomes out of balance with how God intended the Body of Christ to function.
Body Parts Start to Shrivel
The influence of highly-opinionated leaders on churches reminds me of the movie “Lady in the Water.” In it, a beautiful mermaid secretly lives at the bottom of an apartment complex swimming pool. She is saved from an evil enemy by an obsessive weightlifter who only works out one arm, the other being emaciated by comparison. Churches often put their hope in “one good arm” when it comes to spiritual gifts. They may take comfort in its strength, but what happens is the other appendages shrivel up.
To make matters worse, highly-opinionated leaders suffer from a “humility-allergy”, and need a good dose of biblical Zyrtec. We see this in the Pharisees. Jesus told them, “You say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets’” (Matthew 23:30). Yet not long after this they demanded Christ’s crucifixion. The Pharisees’ high opinion of themselves blinded them to their capacity to do the very thing they said they would never do! It happened in Peter’s denials too after he said, “If all others desert you, I will never desert you!” Their denials of their potential for being wrong set them up for doing wrong. Such is the danger when strong opinions edge out godly humility.
Godly humility says, “I am as flawed as my forefathers were.” It laments, “I am susceptible to the worst sins others have committed.” It acknowledges, “I cannot judge another too harshly because I am capable of the same kind of mistakes, prejudices, and shortcomings.” A humble disposition confesses, “I am a Christian, but am still subject to all human weaknesses.” Such thoughts seldom cross the minds of highly opinionated people.
Don’t Ignore Jezebel
Nevertheless, unhealthy churches are not unhealthy only because of such people. Their over-functioning “body parts” only spout off when the rest of the body fails to operate as it should. Like the elders in Thyatira who failed to confront Jezebel (Rev. 2:18-28), multitudes of churches tolerate such people and become comfortable with their dysfunction, not exercising the other gifts to counterbalance them. They start to “tolerate” them just as the Thyatiran elders did Jezebel!
Let’s face it: Highly-opinionated, over-functioning church members can be intimidating. It takes courage to work to balance them and hold them in check. Courage like that is in short supply in dysfunctional churches. Sometimes an over-functioning individual gets used to calling the shots in their context because they have money, are part of a historically influential church family, or have a dominating personality.
If you have such a person(s) in your congregation, it is likely that they have gone uncorrected for some time. In fact, if you investigate their history, you may be surprised to find they came to your church because they failed to respond to corrections in their previous one.
The Only Opinion that Matters
Where does the courage come from to counteract such people, particularly if they are in leadership? It is especially tough if your church has been unhealthy or has been out of balance with its spiritual gifts. If that is the case, this individual is a symptom of your church’s illness. Health comes from prayer and tactful application of 1 Corinthians 12 and Matthew 18:15-17. It is not easy, as the passages suggest. But such hard leadership work is good work. Scriptures like these call for more sensitivity and wisdom relative to the unresponsiveness of the offender. But the passages also assume leaders will do what is necessary for their ministry to be and stay healthy.
One of the keys to holding healthy opinions is to remember that the only opinion that ultimately matters is the Lord’s, and always seeking His input through prayer and Scripture. In doing so, Jesus will supply church leaders with the courage needed to tame that overly opinionated soul who threatens to disrupt the healthy functioning of your congregation.
Mark Barnard serves with Blessing Point Ministries. Since 2006 Blessing Point Ministries has worked to heal ministries with painful histories. To learn about how God designed spiritual gifts to work in a healthy way, read The Dance of the Gifts by Dr. Kenneth Quick and Mark Barnard.