Unhealthy Vrs. Healthy Churches

(Thoughts derived from reflecting on 2 TED talks by Brene’ Brown www.ted.com/talks/brene’_brown) as applied to churches .)

This is the third blog musing about Brown’s ideas drawn from her research on shame and vulnerability. This is my interpretation and my application to the religious area.

IMAGE OF AN UNHEALTHY CHURCH

We live in an anxious age and the church is tempted to reflect that anxiety as drawn from the society around us. Think about Brown’s description of how society responds to vulnerability but apply it to a congregation. In order to numb the fears generated by a sense of vulnerability, unhealthy churches tend to:

1. Demand certainty in the face of uncertainty. We don’t want ambiguous answers to our questions but clear proclamation of definite answers. Give me the three ways to heaven, the 4 habits that will provide a perfect marriage, or the 7 steps to prosperity.
2. Want perfection in the face of our anxious world. Churches should be perfect, clergy should be perfect, community should be perfect. If something goes wrong, it is clearly because someone messed it up. Get rid of them and everything will be all right again.
3. Pretend that what we do as a church is our own business and doesn’t impact others. We don’t determine doctrine according to its impact on those it excludes. We don’t design our buildings according to how it impacts the neighborhood. We don’t consider the impact of our budget decisions as a testimony to the larger world.

IMAGE OF HEALTHY CHURCH

Contrast the above with the characteristics of a healthy church following Brown’s research. Healthy churches believe that they are made worthy not by what they do but by God’s grace. Therefore by God’s grace, they are worthy.

1. They have the courage to be imperfect. They tell an honest story of a people who are willing to “live the question” without having all the answers. Like Abraham and Sarah, they are on a journey without knowing the final destination but trusting in the God who leads them.
2. They are not defensive about their faults but are willing to explore them honestly so that they might grow from them towards a maturity in Christ. They know the biblical story of how God chooses to work through imperfect people — Abraham, David, the Disciples, Saul, and the list continues throughout all of church history.
3. Their practices emphasize a blending of gratitude and joy, They are grateful to having been invited on the journey. Doubt and questions are simply the boundaries on the edge of growth.
4. They trust that being vulnerable to both others and God is the birthplace of creativity, compassion, joy, belonging, and love. Therefore they are not afraid to fail. They dare to let God use their offerings for great things for the world God loves.
5. They believe in and practice connectivity. Faith well lived is lived in community among imperfect people who choose to practice their hope in community. After all the doctrinal debates, they know that it boils down to relationships as Jesus declared in the Great Commandment

HEALTHY CLERGY MAKE HEALTHY CONGREGATIONS

I will explore this thesis more in the next blog, but essentially I believe that the healthier a clergy person is, they more capable s/he is to respond even to unhealthy behavior in a way that enables churches full of imperfect people to be incubators of grace.

Consider what qualities you would add to either the characteristics of a healthy or unhealthy congregation. Then consider a similar description for healthy and unhealthy clergy.