My wife is Anglican. In the United States they would call her an Episcopalian, I suppose. We often go to the church where she grew up although the worship service is in Spanish. We even got involved somewhat in the church a couple of times, but it wasn’t easy.

I remember being asked to represent our church at the Anglican Synod for a full day on the weekend. It was an eye-opener for sure. Not just the protocol and the talking about everything and anything that had to do with the church (except spirituality), but also because it was the first time that I realized that what held the Anglican church together was not theology or a set of doctrines but rather their liturgy.

You could believe and practice almost anything from homosexuality to charismatic expression and be part of the same group of churches. I come from the opposite background where doctrine is what held you together (or split you apart). A pox on both their houses. I would still choose doctrine over liturgy, but Biblical spirituality is more important than both of them put together. The rest is just politics.

So, what is politics in the church anyways?

Let me try to give you a short definition and then a couple of examples.

Politics is simply a system of values and behaviors that are not godly or spiritual. I suppose you could say that politics is corporate sin rooted in a worldly view of how the church should work. It often protects the status quo as the highest good for the church, second only to the budget and finances that allow the church to pay their bills. Somehow, someway, they have placed things, (the rugs, the sound equipment, the church grounds) as more important than people or ministry. Somehow, someway, they have been distracted from what is important to God and are doing what is important to keep the church running smoothly (as if that is what God wants above all). Some might say that there is such a thing as "godly" politics but, in my view, that is an oxymoron. Just call it "spiritual leadership."

Church politics is a curse and a reflection of a worldly mentality and the religious spirit.

It has the form of godliness but without its power. It often looks like Pharisaism when it comes to morality and relationships and Sadduceeism when it comes to ego and power and how they think the church should be run. Board meetings are boring and useless and frankly a waste of time. The problem is both the structure of the church and the lack of spirituality of those who are chosen to run it. We will get back to both of those things in a bit.

But for now, here are a few more examples.

Thirty years or so ago, maybe a bit more, there was a revival in Argentina and it touched the Anglican church as well. My wife was changed together with a number of others. They wanted to do something about it. They wanted to get involved in their churches and change it for the better. They wanted the revival to spread to those who had not yet experienced it. So they went to the Bishop of all the Anglican Churches in Argentina to offer their services and testimony. He shut them down. Nicely but firmly. Go back to your churches and help out the best way you can under the authority of your priest. Nothing else. No talking about the revival. No sharing of your transformation. The status quo was the name of the game. That is the curse of politics.

My wife and I met in the Anglican Church, and we led the worship every Sunday morning. She played the guitar, and I supported her singing with my own voice. It was nice. I had just gone through a lengthy divorce, learning to walk with God again and healing the past. We were planning to get married in that very church in the next year or so. I had sat down with the Priest of that Parish and explained my situation to him in detail before I started getting involved in worship or anything else. He was happy to have me help out in whatever way that I could. The first six months were great. The people accepted me and there was even some talk about getting more involved with some preaching or small group Bible teaching.

But then one of the ladies in the church heard from her sister who knew my ex-wife who lived 600 kilometers away in a small town in the interior of the country that I was a no-good, scoundrel of a man who didn’t support his kids. Not true of course. I spent every weekend with them, traveling all night on Friday to arrive at 6am in the morning and then waiting until 2pm in the afternoon to see them for two hours (her rules) and then waiting until midnight to take the bus back to Buenos Aires to be on time for Sunday morning worship.

It was true that I couldn't support them financially at the time. I was in a third-world country without a penny to my name and teaching English just to pay for food and rent. But that was her decision. She left Canada illegally with the kids and left me to decide whether to call Interpol to bring them back or just move to Argentina and try to do the best I could in a difficult situation.

But none of that mattered. The people in the church didn’t know my story but the Priest (or Pastor) did – in detail. But instead of supporting me, he benched me. I couldn’t be part of the worship team anymore and everyone immediately believed that the rumors were true. He even went so far as to cancel our wedding and not be our presiding Pastor/Priest. We had to find an alternative place and person to help us. Which we did.

Years later, he apologized for his mistake and told me he was just trying to keep the peace in the church. He even said that it was better to sacrifice one person than take the risk that others would leave. Not exactly the one-for-all and all-for-one attitude that Jesus had with his disciples.

Again, the curse of church politics.

And I am only being polite by not talking about the homosexual priests that were allowed to function, even with the ongoing rumors of their involvement with the young people, especially the boys, at youth retreats where drinking underage was encouraged (among other things). Or the fact that false teaching was allowed and even encouraged from the pulpit on occasion sometimes causing a ruckus and sometimes not but, in every case, the priest was protected. And all of this during a military dictatorship where young people disappeared (some even from the church) who had the wrong connections or political beliefs. This was no time for games.

The curse of church politics is no small matter.

When I first became a Pastor in my own denomination, my first three years were an eye-opener. The Lord was blessing my ministry, and our small church was growing. People were becoming saved, and we even had an adult baptism – the first one our church had ever seen. We didn’t even have a proper baptismal font, only a small one for infant baptism.

But I did the best that I could and when it was time to put the water on the head of this new adult believer, she was a bit too far away from the baptismal font because she was kneeling on the top steps. I had to carry it in my hand and splash it on her forehead, spilling it all the while in every direction. She was nervous and started laughing and then I started laughing as well.

Some people in the church were not amused. I didn’t realize that there was a cultural battle going on between the way things have always been done and these new-fangled ways of the young and inexperienced pastor they had just hired.

It wasn’t long before things came to a head, and I ended up resigning and leaving the pastorate for good. It didn’t help that my first wife claimed to have married a pastor (and not me as a person regardless of my role) and therefore left me when I resigned. Of course, there were other problems in our marriage as well but that was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. And now I couldn't go back. Separation and divorce were non-starters. At least in my denomination.

The curse of church politics.

One more example, just so that you don’t think it only has to do with liberal Anglican churches or conservative reformed churches. We have been a part of an English-speaking, international church here in Buenos Aires for many years. I supported the pastor the best I could whenever she asked for help. I would preach on occasion and handle a funeral for her when she was out of town. I joined the choir and very often led the worship service itself while she would just do the preaching and final prayer.

A time came when she asked me if I wanted to try and become a secondary pastor in the church in a more official capacity. After some prayer and talking with my wife, we saw this as a great solution and proceeded with the process. The board chose someone to do some reference checking on me and talked to various people outside the church, including family members on my wife's side.

The stories about the Anglican church came up and a few other incidents that were just, frankly, misunderstandings. Someone in our church didn’t believe in a woman being the Pastor and they took to calling me the Pastor. I would correct him each and every time, but people overheard him and resented it.

One thing led to another, and I was called in to talk to the Board. I assumed that all was good and that they were going to accept me as a secondary pastor in this independent Methodist church (but broadly non-denominational). Instead of a warm welcome, I got the cold shoulder. There was no discussion, just a curt dismissal of any possibility of a formal position in the church because of some things that had come to light about my background.

Again, the Pastor and I had spoken often about everything in my background, and I do not tend to keep things to myself that need to be brought into the light. She never had a problem before but in the Board meeting she said, basically, that since she works for the Board and the Board had decided by a majority vote not to accept my application, she would accept the Board’s decision. That was it. There was nothing to say. No apologies for false accusations. No discussion. No relationship of trust anymore. Just the curse of church politics at work again.

Is it inevitable? Is it a battle that can ever be won? I don’t know.

All I know is that it must be won.

There are churches who have done it, who have carefully chosen board members, elders and deacons for their spirituality and not just for their availability. There are Pastors, like John McArthur, who quite openly screens every member of his Board over a long period of time to make sure that they are a good fit for the ministry he is leading. Yes, there are exceptions, thank God but the truth is that it is not the rule. Not by a long shot.

It is common now-a-days to hear the phrase that the local church is the solution that the world is looking for. I don’t agree. I would say it differently.

The local church in spiritual unity is the solution that the world is looking for (especially at the leadership level).

“In spiritual unity” are the key words. That can mean all sorts of things, I suppose, but “spirituality” is key. That’s why I said earlier that there are really two problems that face most churches when it comes to church politics at the Board level. The first is the nature of the structure of the Board and the power they wield over the Pastor especially in terms of hiring and firing (which gives them the last word and veto power over any initiative the Pastor might try to make) and the second is the lack of spirituality of the members of the Board.

We already spoke about the lack of spirituality of most Board members (and the majority rules) but now we need to talk about the structure of the Board. You do know, don’t you, that a Board structure isn’t the only way that a church can be organized. In the Anglican church it is more of a top-down, centralized structure. The Bishop is in charge, and he pastors the different priests in the different churches. Great. But what if the Bishop is not very spiritually minded. Exactly.

In the reformed tradition, we believe in elders and deacons and try to follow the Biblical pattern a bit more closely but that doesn’t always work either. Very often, good, well-intentioned people who happen to be available and somewhat willing are drafted into positions on the Board that end up being more administrative than spiritual. And even those that do try to do something spiritual end up making a mess of things because they are simply not prepared for the job.

I remember growing up with a once-a-year visit from our elder when all of us had to wear our Sunday best and sit still on the couch while the grownups talked for half an hour or so about their commitment to the church, financially and otherwise. That was it. Nothing but church politics.

The only bright spot seemed to be in New Church Development, and when I first contemplated leaving the Pastorate, I tried to get a position as a Pastor/Evangelist who would start a new church. That way I could mold my board into a spiritual ministry team right from the start.

But the Pastor of Pastors that came to visit me in the church where I was having trouble, didn’t want to hear about it. Apparently, everything was my fault, and I was not in any spiritual condition to start a new church. Besides, there were no openings at the moment. Not true, I found out later. After all, there are twelve board members and only one pastor. If they were all against you, then you must be in the wrong. Obviously.

So, what is there to say?

Is this “curse” something that you can overcome, or work with, or live with while you do ministry? I’m not sure. I certainly wasn’t prepared for it. Neither in terms of knowledge nor personality. A board structure can certainly protect the church from the whims and sins of a particular pastor, but it can also create a church culture that is deader than a doornail. Getting twelve people to agree to anything is a miracle as it is.

I would rather take my chances with a godly, anointed pastor who has a ministry team in spiritual unity behind him to which he is accountable. Getting there is the hard part. More on that to come.

Jesus hated politics and suffered at their hands. He had his strongest words for the Pharisees, but the Sadducees and Chief Priests got an earful as well. We may have to suffer politics while we make changes in the church as anointed leaders (more to come on that) or we may have to leave the formal church structure and strike out on our own.

It may be too late for me and whatever advice I give you in the next few posts may lack experience but not knowledge. Take what you can use and leave the rest (as always) but somehow, someway you must, with God’s help, break this curse or your ministry will never become effective, and you will fall into the pit of conformity never to be heard from again.

The Desert Warrior