Our Allergic Reactions
Some react to churches doing things cheap and sloppy, others to doing things "with excellence." Either way, a bad reaction can be deadly.
Brian McLaren
April 1, 2007
A friend said it well: "You're only as sick as your reactivity." The more things you're reacting against, like allergens, and the stronger your reactions, the more likely that your soul will go sick and your ministry will go sour. I've seen this happen to too many of my friends. I remember one who confided to a group of us, "I'm motivated by competition. I want to have the biggest, most creative church. I'm driven to be significant." Another responded, "That motivation will destroy you someday. You should deal with that." "Yeah, you're probably right," he replied. But he didn't deal with it, because in a way, it's what kept him going. His deep reaction against small, dysfunctional, boring churches drove him to where his personal life deteriorated, ending his ministry. He was a good man, but reactivity got him. Another friend had a strong reaction against legalism. It filled him with righteous indignation. He saw it make the Christian life tense and cramped instead of joyful and free; he saw it make Christian communities mean-spirited instead of grace-filled. So he went out of his way to exhibit his freedom from legalism. Perhaps an occasional four-letter word or beer would have been harmless enough if it weren't linked to his reactivity. Soon he was using sexualized language that crossed all sorts of boundaries and made women feel unsafe and men feel dirty. His credibility was further undermined by excessive drinking. If his over-reaction had destroyed only his own ministry, it would have been bad enough because he is a gifted man, but he also brought down a lot of other good people with him. Other people, sincere people with a lot of wisdom and depth, react against megachurches that they perceive as impersonal and shallow. In ...
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