Snippet: On Narcicism in the Church
Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.
There’s been a lot of conversations about narcissism in church leadership. It’s a real problem. Probably no one has done more to call attention to this than Mike Cosper in his podcast mega-series “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” Here, on The Bulletin podcast (October 18 Episode), he’s talking about a conversation with Chuck DeGroote in which DeGroote told him…
“Narcissism is a cultural phenomenon. It's not unique to leaders and people in a position of leadership. If we really want to understand the problem of narcissistic leaders in the church, we have to deal with the culture of narcissism that's in the pews.
“There is something about this on-demand economy, this on-demand way of life, an algorithm way of life, where the news you consume is tailored to your browsing. The shopping you do is tailored to you. Everything's on demand.
“Everything's tailored to your preferences. …we have to recognize that that phenomenon conditions us in profound ways.
“Then you show up at a church…”
It’s the air we breathe, so we have to prayerfully root it out in our hearts. Short of rooting it out, we need to be aware and fight the tendency to expect the church to cater to our own desires and preferences.
One of my favorite questions at Pizza with the Pastors is, “What are you all doing in the community?” Couple that with asking ourselves, “What am I doing in the community?” and you have a potent combo of questions to fight our tendencies.