Reluctance to Speak up
I think there are several reasons why the majority of people in a congregation don’t stand up against the negative few.
First, most people don’t feel confident in resisting strong voices who are confident in their opinions. Usually a negative voice has researched their opinion and marshaled a series of facts to back up what they say. The majority feel inadequate to respond and are not inclined to expose themselves when they are not prepared.
Second, because most people would prefer to live their lives peacefully, they hope that by keeping their heads down, the problem will just go away. Alternatively, they assume that the leadership—if not the pastor then at least the ruling body—will know how to handle the issue. That’s why they are in positions of leadership.
Third, because we live in a culture that is titillated by scandal, we’ve bought into the belief that “where there is smoke there is fire.” Another example of the power of the negative and the strong desire not to be seen as naive.
Fourth, the exposure of many scandals among the clergy in recent decades make people suspicious of the clergy. While this has been emphasized by the sex scandals in the Catholic, and less widely publicized examples in the Protestant churches, there have also been plenty of financial and power scandals as well. Every story of a church fight, or splits in a denomination, reinforce the public’s skepticism about the community that is based on the theology of grace, love, and forgiveness. Church members feel less confident about their church as seen in the increasing number who suggest that they are “spiritual and not religious” in our society.
The Importance of Vision
To combat the power of the negative, both clergy and church members need to rediscover the power of vision. As Viktor Frankl said in Man’s Search for Meaning, if you have a “why” you can endure almost any “how,” but remove the “why” or hope and almost any “how” or obstacle is too much. Congregations need to see beyond their organizational issues to the transcendent meaning of being church. This is a realistic understanding of “The Power of Positive Thinking,” that understands the power of evil and the divisive power of the negative but believes that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness and we are part of something healing for the whole world.
We will consider some practical steps in the next blogs.
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