Thursday, July 7, 2022

Troublemakers in the Church, by Mark Atteberry

 I was not encouraged by this book. It really comes across as a toolkit for preachers to keep their congregations in line.

There is a pathology in churches today in which the focus of ministry is to get churches to toe the official church narrative; and when someone thinks outside that box, preachers desire a way to smack that churchman back in line. If the churchman doesn't repent and properly place himself under the eldership like a good little sheep, then there's the door; and I'll leave my boot print on your butt so you have something to remember me by.

There are many troublemakers described in this book. I can summarize them all as church members who get under the skin of the preacher. The preacher cannot just get rid of those members for getting under his skin. Now, with this book, there are new excuses that make the preacher appear to be taking the spiritual high road.

There are several types of troublemakers described in this book that are especially easy to apply in a wide variety of situations.

THE PHARISEE: This one boils down to identifying church wolves. The offered solution is by addressing sin. But when a preacher is looking to get rid of someone, he can drill down on something quite rare in the person—such as that time when the individual lost his temper after a long period of badgering from the narcissistic preacher. Now the churchman is labeled as quick tempered and the preacher plays the innocent victim. If Atteberry's solution is to effectively root out Pharisees, the identified sin had better be chronic. If it is an outlier incident, it's not a church problem.

THE FALSE TEACHER: Atteberry advocates that teachers teach "without any denominational bias or personal agenda" (p. 89). He also says, in what I believe to be in direct self-contradiction, "Every attempt should be made to insure that every person ... holds views compatible with the church's positions on those issues deemed nonnegotiable" (p. 92). In practice, that means the preacher is in charge of identifying those issues and determining the correct church position on them. Elderships can easily be swayed to agree with the preacher. This teaching churchman is just another example of someone getting under the skin of the preacher and the preacher wielding his strong personality to convince the elders that the churchman is a false teacher who must be censored.

In the section titled, "Chose Your Leaders Carefully," Atteberry recommends a review period for recently appointed elders. I agree, by the way; but his suggested details concern me. Firstly, Atteberry suggests the elders police one another internally. What?! The church should be a part of the review process. If elders select new elders and discipline existing elders, the eldership becomes a good-ol boys club where nobody disagrees with anyone else. Everything is unanimous. If not, the minority view holders will be dealt with. Again, preachers are good at swaying elderships to their personal way of thinking. After a few years, the eldership becomes the preacher's elders. He is the mouth of the elders.

Secondly, recently appointed elders are evaluated according to whether they are "supportive of the church's vision" (p. 132). Who dreams up the church's vision? In practice, it is the preacher's job to lay out the vision. This process guarantees that the eldership eventually becomes a powerful squad of yes-men for the preacher.

This book is all about increasing the preacher's power is a congregation. That's a problem.