{"id":699503,"date":"2020-02-12T02:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T08:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=696340"},"modified":"2020-05-19T12:57:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:57:27","slug":"10-church-members-who-drive-me-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-church-members-who-drive-me-crazy\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Church Members Who Drive Me Crazy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chuck Lawless<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I <\/span>love<\/span><\/i> the local church.\u00a0 I really do. Deeply. But, almost every church I know has members and attenders that get under the skin of a leader. Here are 10 of those types of people for me:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The \u201cdoom and gloom\u201d member:<\/b> Nothing ever goes right for this member, and it\u2019s never his or her fault. I don\u2019t even like to see this person coming my way.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The \u201con the edge of leaving\u201d member:<\/b> He\u2019s always threatening to leave over something \u2013 so much so that you learn to ignore his threats (and frankly, wish he would leave)<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The \u201camateur theologian\u201d member:<\/b> This member thinks he knows theology, and he\u2019s always debating something. Usually, he has his own theological stance that he fights to defend and promote.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The \u201cDid you know?\u201d member:<\/b> He wants to be \u201cin the know\u201d about everything in the church. In fact, he\u2019s involved in almost all of the church\u2019s gossip and gets angry when he\u2019s out of the loop.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The \u201crecommitment\u201d member:<\/b> She shows up about every six months, recommits her life to Jesus, and then disappears for the next six months.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The \u201cconstitutional lawyer\u201d member:<\/b> Nobody knows the church constitution like this member does, and he brings out the documents any time he doesn\u2019t like something.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. The \u201cinternet sermon troll\u201d member:<\/b> He listens to everybody else\u2019s sermons online, and then critiques my sermons in light of others. Indeed, he listens for errors more than for truth and application for himself.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. The \u201cnostalgia freak\u201d member:<\/b> She knows everything about the church\u2019s history, and she sees her role as protecting the past by fighting against anything new. You just know she\u2019s going to oppose something before you ever bring it up.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. The \u201cunforgiving saint\u201d member:<\/b> He got angry over something years ago, and he refuses to let it go. When confronted about it, he can spiritualize his reasons with the best of them.<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. The \u201con sabbatical\u201d member:<\/b> No matter what you do, this member refuses to serve in the church. \u201cI\u2019ve done my duty in the past,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To be honest, folks like these make pastoral ministry less than fun some days. Here\u2019s my encouragement, though: take time to pray specifically for these members in your church. Maybe God will change a few so they don\u2019t drive you crazy anymore.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Chuck Lawless I love the local church.\u00a0 I really do. Deeply. But, almost every church I know has members and attenders that get under the skin of a leader. Here are 10 of those types of people for me:\u00a0 The \u201cdoom and gloom\u201d member: Nothing ever goes right for this member, and it\u2019s never…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,175,178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-699503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-grow","category-membership-and-assimilation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n10 Church Members Who Drive Me Crazy | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I love the local church. I really do. 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