Monday, April 17, 2017

Church Bullies

Do you have a church bully? (Or more than one?)
Is there such a thing?

You know, a person with good intention, at least we assume so, who always gets their way? Have you looked into the minutes to see if this special "position" rotates among a couple people? Or perhaps just one has seniority..

Or is it that we church people are so sensitive, for our jobs? for people's feelings? to eliminate all confrontation - that we ALLOW the bully to be created?
Bow to their every request.! (It avoids future confrontation)
Anticipate their needs above everyone else's. (Eliminates the late night phone calls, messages on the church machine, or sometimes emails.)
    (I remember a story of one who not only sent Monday morning emails, they sent it to the whole church email list!)

I'm assuming we all have some version of them. I just wonder how much we contribute to their development by our responses. Where and when do you drawn the line? Do you see a bully in development and stop the process? How do you do it?

It seems to be that as much as we promote healthy relationships, this is one that slips by - to our detriment and the congregation's.

What do you think?

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