Mark Atteberry - Troublemakers in the Church: Dealing with the Difficult, the Dangerous, and the Deadly

Contents

A Parting Note

Troublemakersin the Church: Dealing with the Difficult, the Dangerous, andthe Deadly (ebook edition)

2022 Mark Atteberry

Published by Hendrickson Publishers
an imprint of Hendrickson Publishing Group
Hendrickson Publishers, LLC
P. O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473
www.hendricksonpublishinggroup.com

ebook ISBN 978-1-4964-7157-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Due to technical issues, this eBook may not contain all of the images or diagrams in the original print edition of the work. In addition, adapting the print edition to the eBook format may require some other layout and feature changes to be made.

First ebook edition May 2022

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021953223

For Marilyn

Acknowledgments

This book had been inside me, clawing and trying to get out for a few years. In a sense, it was COVID that finally set it free. When our church shut down and I suddenly had more time on my hands, I decided it was time to start writing. No, I am not thanking the virus, just giving you some perspective. Good things can come out of bad situations.

I want to thank the five churches I served during my forty-six years in ministry. In all of them, there were people who loved me, helped me, taught me, encouraged me, endured my weak moments, and forgave my mistakes. They know who they are. I want them all to know I am deeply grateful and feel honored to have served them.

In those churches, there were also people whose stories are told in this book. I am thankful for them as well. In some ways, they taught me more than anybody. Although it wasnt as much fun, the truths I learned benefitted me, and, through this book, I hope they benefit others.

I also want to thank my wife, Marilyn. She walked with me through all forty-six years of my ministry. She knows all the stories in this book because she lived them too. I may have been the one in the trenches, but she was at home, always ready with a listening ear, encouragement, wise counsel, and love. I cant imagine surviving so long in ministry without her.

My agent, Greg Johnson of WordServe Literary, is an awesome guy, a good friend, and a faithful advocate of my work. I am grateful and blessed to be in his stable of authors.

I also want to thank Hendrickson Publishers and especially my editor, Patricia Anders, as well as Sarah Welch. Its wonderful when you write a book and your editor gets it. That doesnt always happen, but it did in this case. You can be sure that the version of this book youre reading is far better than the one I first submitted. Im not sure, but I think Patricia might have superpowers.

Finally, I know that without you, the reader, there would be no point to anything I write. Thank you for supporting my work.

The first mention of Satans work in the book of Acts occurs not in the Sanhedrin. Nor in the Temple. Nor in Rome. But in the church. It was in church that Peter rebuked Ananias: Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land?

Steven J. Lawson, Faith under Fire

NOTE

Steven J. Lawson, Faith under Fire: Standing Strong When Satan Attacks (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1995), 201.

Introduction

The Church: More Dangerous Than You Think

I am a recent trooper from the battlefield of bloody confrontation who tried to be pastoral, loving, understanding, reconciling, and redemptive yet ended up being shot down and left to die on the battlefield of the church, and there are thousands just like me.

Guy Greenfield, The Wounded Minister

When I landed my first book deal, my publisher flew me to Nashville and put me through a two-day media training course along with seven other first-time authors. They wanted to make sure that when we started doing interviews, we would have at least some vague idea of how not to embarrass ourselves. Or them.

When I arrived at the seminar, I sat down beside a young man who would go on to become a mega-bestselling author. If I told you his name, I have no doubt you would recognize it. But at that time, he was like me: as green as the turf at Augusta National. We hit it off immediately and ended up hanging out together between sessions. We had long talks about life and faith that were rich and meaningful. To this day, I have mountains of respect for him.

But there was one thing we didnt see eye-to-eye on. When I asked him what church he attended, he said he didnt attend any church. No offense, he said. I know youre a pastor, but Im not a church guy. I was surprised and curious (considering he had just written a Christian book), so I asked him why he wasnt a fan of the church. He answered, Because the church has let me down too many times. He then shared a few stories that, I have to admit, did not reflect well on the body of Christ. He concluded by saying, Jesus has never let me down, so I just stick with him and stay away from the church.

I suspect there are millions of peopleyes, millionswho feel the same way. There was a time in their lives when the church meant a great deal to them; but after repeated hurts and disappointments, they just decided to chuck it and walk away. During my forty-six years as a pastor, Ive met a lot of these people. Many of them sincerely love God and were respectful toward me as a pastor, but they wanted nothing to do with the church. I recall one man saying, I was treated worse by my church than I ever have been treated by the secular company I work for. The church is a lot more dangerous place than people think.

I believe most people would agree that the church is an amazing conceptthe idea that people who share faith in Christ can worship and serve together and enjoy sweet fellowship that has love, forgiveness, and mutual support as its hallmarks. But the reality is often far different. When people who are a part of the church behave in ways that are thoughtless, selfish, and even vicious, that shining ideal drastically dims and people are wounded. Sometimes they never recover. The one place in the community that should symbolize hope and light can become a house of horrors with blood on the pews.

Why does this happen?

The quick and easy response is to point an accusing finger at Satan and quote Ephesians 6:12: For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. While its true that we are in a spiritual war that has deep implications for every area of our lives, I fear that a verse like this can become a convenient diversion for usa way to direct attention away from our own culpability. Were like the guy who runs up credit card debt buying worthless trinkets and then complains about how he cant get ahead financially because the government keeps raising taxes. Sometimes what we need most is a mirror.

I intend for this book to be that mirror.

No, Im not denying the role Satan plays in church problems. But there have been plenty of books written about that. The problem I see that hasnt been given enough attention is the behavior of people who are supposed to know better: people who walk into the church building every Sunday morning toting the word of God under their arms, smiling, shaking hands, and hugging like politicians running for office, only to then turn around and cause trouble; driving their pastor crazy, becoming undependable, criticizing, gossiping, and much more.