I’ve been in church all my life. Along the way I’ve seen and observed a lot. Almost all the insight I have into church has come by experience. I have observed, for example, paradigms can often shape a church’s culture. A paradigm, in simple terms, is a mindset—a way of thinking. In this case, a collective mindset of the church, often programmed into the church’s culture. If the church is unhealthy, part of the reason could be because it has dangerous church paradigms. In this case, it will almost always need a paradigm shift in order to be a healthier church again.
Recently, I’ve been thinking of some of the paradigms that impact a church. I’ll look at some of the negative in this post, and in another post some of the positive paradigms of the church.
Please understand. I love and believe in the local church. I believe in the ability to impact a community, to provide hope and, of course, in the promise Jesus made about His church. My goal of this post and this blog is to strengthen the local church. Sometimes we do this by exposing the parts that need to improve.
10 Dangerous Church Paradigms
1. This is more my church than yours.
Granted, no one would ever say this one, but a sense of ownership can set in the longer someone has been at a church. They have invested in the church personally and feel, often rightly so, a need to protect and care for it. The negative of this mindset, however, is when people don’t easily welcome new people. They “own” their seats. You better not sit there—no matter how much the church needs to grow. They control programs, committees and traditions. Obviously, the church is not your church or my church. God has not released the deed.
2. We’ve never done it this way before.
And, if this is the “go to” paradigm—they probably never will. People with this mindset resist all change. Even the most positive or needed change. Small change is big change to these people.
3. The pastor needs to do it.
Whatever “it” is—the pastor, or some paid staff, must be involved at some level. This paradigm keeps a church very small. (And doesn’t seem biblical to me.)
4. That’s for the big churches.
Don’t sell yourself short. Some of the greatest people in ministry come from small churches. Maybe your only role, for example, is to raise up the next generation of Kingdom-minded leaders. This would be a great purpose for a church.
