One of my good friends whom I have had the pleasure of really spending some quality time with over these past many months is in conflict with his local faith community which is sending him into a downward spiral of depression and spiritual doubt; and it pisses me off.

Yesterday he called, his voice shaking, saying that he felt totally “backstabbed” by the church that he has been a member of over the past year.  He is still a fairly new Christian, with a new blossoming family (with kids!), and deeply entrenched in the poverty culture here in town.  More than anyone else I know, this kindhearted man is able to traverse the social classes, and become committed friends with just about anyone from any background.

He was recently promised a position of responsibility and importance in one of the ministries at this church.  This ministry reflects one of his deep passions in life.  Unfortunately, this position was appointed to him by another who was deeply engaged in the lower-class social structures, and before long other members of the community were looking over shoulders, worrying about consequences my friend might have on the ministry, and asked him to not to take on this responibility.  This being his first chance at leadership in this church, this request came as a deflating surprise for him.  Disillusioned, he is ready to leave and not come back.
What really irks me is that this has more to do with trust than anything else.  It is the rich’s distrust of the poor, and the poor overly trusting a system which favors the rich. There is a deep fear among many church leaders (not just this example) that the church as we know it is nosediving in our culture.  I pray that it is.  My friend has no outlet for contributing back to his church family, because he doesn’t use the same system of “contributions” and “gifts” that the key players in this church engage in.  When he talked to me yesterday, he felt completely abandoned and hoodwinked by the “powers that be” that he once thought were family.

So I asked him what his next steps were - he said he was ready leave and not come back.  He confessed that the relationships that he thought were mutual were not willing to accept service, but rather were only interested in giving it out.

ISN’T THAT JUST WHAT SO MANY OF US ‘RICH’ CHRISTIANS DO?

Listen to this man’s heart, and hear what it says.  Listen to how it crushes his spirit awakening inside, and how it completely negates the “every member ministry” described in the New Testament.   One thing I pray for is an avenue for a new spiritually sustaining community that he can contribute to.  He and I plan to talk about the possibilities tomorrow.  Whatever happens, I’m just hoping this Christian, instilled with the gift of the Holy Spirit, can share his gift of service and ministry somewhere where he can be acknowledged and blessed, not stifled.

Last 5 posts by Mark

• Chicago Spiritual Map: Rogers Park - August 8th, 2008
• Google is Searching for Jesus - August 7th, 2008

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Christian Leadership, Conversations, Poverty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.