Give me FREEDOM not control

I am constantly amazed by the lack of freedom many people feel within the confines of the church. I’m specifically thinking of an incident that happened some time ago when I was guest speaking at a traditional form of church.

A few minutes before the service, the worship leader, Jack*, approached me with a look of great concern on his face. “I don’t know what’s going on. Pastor Smith is not here and has not called in to let anyone know if he will make it or not. (We later found out that he was very ill and simply could not get anyone so he left a message on the church answering machine.) What should we do?”

Sensing that he was on the verge of a meltdown I decided to see what we could pull together. Within minutes we had developed a backup plan and were recruiting people to facilitate the service.

I asked a board member to see if he could do the announcements and other housekeeping issues then I’d come up and lead a communal prayer of repentance before the worship service began. With the color returning to his face, Jack requested some detailed direction as to how I wanted the worship service to go and when he was suppose to shift gears and do the more contemplative songs.

I got the distinct impression that his Sr. pastor orchestrated everything down to a tee so I decided to ask Jack a simple question. “Do you have some songs ready?”

“Yes I do.” he replied.

“Good! I trust you to hear from God during worship. Feel free to follow the Spirit and do what you think God would have you do in our time of worship as a community.”

After a few moments of chit-chat, Jack's comments seemed to back up my hypothesis. I don’t think he had ever been given the freedom to just go with the flow. Sure some people need guidance when they are new to leading, but the freedom to experiment and follow the Sprit is a must in my book.

Being over-controlling is something that many pastors need to overcome. Pastors with control issues remind me of the doting mother who will not let her child experience the risks in life so they will be safe-and-sound. Sure their children don’t get hurt as often, but they also do not get to experience the dynamic tension of life. Their growth is stunted and they may struggle being self-reliant.

An “over-controlled” church experiences the same thing. There is hardly any life in it! Everything is safe and tame. While this may keep things going, the vibrancy and shear risk of serving God is lost. Often times, churches that are in this situation implode as people leave to find a place where they are freer to experience God and follow him. Those congregations that do not implode will most likely experience stagnation and begin the gradual slide to organizational death.

Exerting too much control in a church is just as destructive as being too laid-back.
(*Names Changed)

Comments

[Stephen]

I have been to churches in the past that are the same way, very scripted.

My old pastor used to start all the services with music. I remember one Sunday when the music was working and folks were really into the singing and the services. We had an entire service of singing and folks just stepping up and pouring out their hearts.

If he were a pastor that defined worship according to a script, this sort of thing would never have happened.

[bobbie]

it's funny, i just blogged about the master pastor my husband used to work for this morning. he is so uptight things are scripted down to 30 seconds. he even made (makes) people submit their testimonies to him so he can edit them!

i'm so glad to be free of that tyranny! i think it comes down to a very poor holy spirit doctrine - no trust that god will lead where god wants things to go. very sad indeed!

[Darren]

Bobbie & Stephen – No doubt! It is rather sad. When I was an “professional pastor,” the temptation to control the service you were facilitating was always there. Over time I discovered that God can minister to His people better than I could. I let the Spirit take the lead and God was always faithful to touch lives. If we do not go to Church to touch and be touched by God ~ why bother?

BTW: we had a great time in worship that day.