Paranoid Church

"Our church can't be paranoid. We are out there in the community, caring for the homeless, the vulnerable! We are outgoing, unafraid and a blessing to all around us!"

A hallmark of an unhealthy community is that both it and its leadership demonstrate a degree of paranoia. So can a church, which is so focused on the community around it, really suffer from it?

From the inside, it may not be particularly apparent, especially when the church appears to have such a thriving ministry to the poor, the outcast, the homeless. But it is not in its community activities that paranoia will generally be found. Indeed, in that aspect of it, one is more likely to witness a certain elitism.

Paranoia entails a sense of being threatened. And from those who have little experience in christianity, or knowledge of the Bible, or little standing in society, there is little to fear. The church is not afraid of the vulnerable.

It is possible, however,  that a church's 'ministry to the poor' is carried out with rather mixed motives. Welcoming the vulnerable can make us feel 'bigger'. The church becomes the great benefactor. If the Pastor is narcissistic in anyway, which is likely in a dysfunctional church, the vulnerable become his - and the church's - source of narcissistic supply. They become the dependent sheep who are to be nurtured and trained, as they listen with wholehearted, uncritical receptivity to the awe-inspiring 'revelation' of the Pastor. Their ideas pose no threat, as they are uninformed. They allow the church to feel good about itself, providing it with a righteous, biblically endorsed cause and a community which, in all likelihood, reflects the Pastor's view of himself back at him.

If one is seeking for evidence of paranoia in an unhealthy church, that is the wrong place to look.

But what of the educated, experienced Christian visitor to the church? Is he welcomed with open arms? Perhaps, but is there also a sense of wariness that he brings an independent - and thus unwelcome - perspective from his different (less spiritual) background? Is there a sense that the church is on guard against him, lest his contribution does not sit completely under the revelation of the Pastor? Does the church use his submission to the Pastor as a test to gauge whether or not he is 'Spirit-filled'? Or is there a feeling that he has brought a wrong, independent spirit into the church with him?

And what about contact with those who have left the church? Is there a fear that to engage with them 'opens the door to the Devil'? That to do so makes one a partaker in their sin, whatever it is? Paranoia is often the real reason why a Pastor and his church agrees to shun an ex-member, although it is usually disguised as 'godly discipline'.  If a church refuses to investigate the reasons why a member left and agrees only to permit a narrow, one-sided information source, one can be sure that paranoia is the overriding explanation. The excuse of 'protecting the flock' simply does not cut it when it is those who have the most christian experience in the church who are warned. And 'disciplining the offender' does not wash either, when no specific misdemeanours have been mentioned and no route to reconciliation is offered.

The church absorbs the paranoia of the Pastor, who may openly or covertly warn his flock about certain members who are 'operating on their own agenda' and not his.

A paranoid Pastor is likely to preach that he suffers persecution, when in fact he is simply being called to account. Any negative press against the church will be interpreted by the church in the same light.

At the worst, he will believe that a 'subordinate' is after his position. He will proclaim that his 'right hand men' want to 'topple' him. He exhibits the same madness that tortured King Saul, leading him to believe that David was his enemy, a pattern of behaviour which is immediately apparent in all totalitarian leaders.

If reading this, you are aware of paranoid tendencies in your church community, watch out!

Paranoia, like jealousy, nurtures highly destructive and abusive behaviours in those who suffer from it, towards those who unintentionally - and often rightly - trigger it.