Some things that are not of God within churches
1. Shaming people in order to subdue them
2. Guilt trips from leadership to silence critics
3. Appointing oneself to a leadership position, and insisting that you have the final say
4. Leaders refusing to be accountable and transparent, but demanding that people trust them
5. A culture of secrecy
6. Double standards. Unspoken rules for the people. The leadership, however, are above the rules
7. Quote-mining from the Bible to support a church culture that serves the leadership’s interests
8. Only express disagreement with the leadership in private. No open forum allowed
9. Denying liberty of conscience and freedom of expression to people, or prescribing/condoning only very specific ways in which to express a different opinion or question the status quo
10. Smear campaigns against those who question the leadership, in order to turn people against them or earmark them as troublemakers
Does any of the above resemble the way in which Jesus behaves? NO.
greenpaddock 