Welcome back to my blog. I'm happy that you can visit. The purpose of Teleios is to use the scientific method to show the validity of God's word as wisdom and guidance in daily life.
Teleios recently performed a survey in six evangelical churches evaluating members’ impressions of their church leadership and the church itself (full report here Influence of church leadership on congregant wellbeing - Teleios, Inc. (teleiosresearch.com). We presented choices that were positive in relationship to the member’s own maturity (e.g., prayer, fellowship and biblical preaching) and also those which might indicate immaturity, such as self-focused motivations. Fortunately, the negative rating responses were fewer than the more mature, biblically based scores, but did represent a significant minority of members’ choices.
What are the implications of members using the church for their own agenda? We believe they are extensive and potentially severe. What do these people want? Here are some examples of what we gleaned from our survey.
Who are these people in the church? We do not know for certain but here are my best guesses:
- Earnest, suffering believers needing help from the church - There are afflicted Christians who are honestly seeking God. Although it may take time and emotion from the church leadership and caring church members, scripture tells us to ‘bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians 6:2) and assist suffering believers back to spiritual health (1 Thessalonians 5:11-12).
- Young believers who do not know any better and need to be taught.
- Immature believers seeking emotional attention with no intent to change - These members may cause significant damage, sucking away people's time and good grace to satisfy themselves without any intention to change their lives. They are not truly seeking God and provide little benefit the body of Christ.
- Active anti-church agenda - These members use the church as a personal power base, or to aggrandize themselves in some manner. They may cause harm at a minimum by distracting other members from seeking and serving God and at worst by creating divisions that could divide the church.
- Tares - Christ mentioned (Matthew 13:24-30) that tares would afflict the church. Tares are non-believers who come to church. They learn the jargon and how to fit socially while maintaining an ungodly agenda that may cause factions, waste people's time, and distract the church from biblical pursuits.
The church is God's plan to implement His purposes for this time period before Christ’s return. It should function efficiently with love as consistent with God's word. Attendees who push their own non-Biblical agendas, whether for emotional comfort (with no desire to change) or for power, even covered in a pseudo-spiritual façade, represent a potential danger to the church.
How do we recognize these people and what should we do about them? We will discuss these important questions over the next several weeks. Our prayer is that this information will help you make your own church more biblically effective while attempting to lovingly bring destructive members into proper fellowship.
Thank you for joining me today. I pray for those of you who read my blog and that the blog might be encouragement to you in your daily life.
William C. Stewart, MD
For questions or to view more of our research…
Email - info@teleiosresearch.com
Website - http://teleiosresearch.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh6wIbPgxeP0YvypwAn5-9Q
Disclaimer - This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.
No comments:
Post a Comment