Silent majority, I know you are kind-hearted people who just want to peacefully worship God and love others. We all want that.
Silent majority, I know you had no idea this was going on in your church. You keep your eyes on the mission, serving faithfully day in and day out through your church in your community. You don’t cause problems for others in your church, except occasionally by accident. You aren’t working an agenda to change the identity or mission of your church, nor do you have a vendetta against your church leadership. You are too busy with the good to waste time on those things.
Mark Tidsworth
But silent majority, we need you now. There are individuals and small pockets of people in most churches who are angry at what life has brought their way. The pandemic with all its fallout is ramping up the divisiveness, hostility and angst that already was present in American culture. Some in churches see church leaders as easy, convenient targets for their anger and angst, sensing they can blast these people with only minor personal repercussions.
Others have lapsed into identity politics, wherein they interpret the gospel through political party lenses rather than vice versa. These people believe it is their mission to align your church with their political party’s worldview. They have baptized political values and cultures, thinking that is being Christian. Their agenda is clear and active, remaking their church into the image of their political parties.
Silent majority, I know this is not you. But silent majority, this directly affects and concerns you. After long-term experience with many churches of various denominations when it comes to internal conflict, I can tell you that the people who could have helped the most often are the last to know. They are busy being and doing church, trusting their spiritual partners in church to be and do the same. The result is that those misguided individuals and small groups who have lost their way gain outsized influence and voice.
Silent majority, there’s no denying what’s happening now. People like you are leaving churches in droves because of those who are making life miserable for the rest. They think they are serving God, while they are actually destroying their churches.
“People like you are leaving churches in droves because of those who are making life miserable for the rest.”
Your pastors and church leaders will stand up to them and take them on. They have been doing that for a long time now — and are weary with the effort. They also are expendable — can be replaced with new pastors, church staff and lay leaders — so those who are attacking them believe. But you are their peers. They can’t mount a charge to fire you. When you find your voice and take a stand, it matters and influences.
Now we need you. We need you to publicly support the identity and mission of your church. We need you to speak up when you hear rumors and outright lies about your church leadership. We need you to be an advocate for the goodness embodied in your church. We need you to help confront those who would destroy your church for their misguided mission.
Silent majority, please earn a new name before it’s too late. Please find your voice, proactively advocating for health, mission advancement and faithfulness to the way of Jesus.
Silent majority, we need you now. If you do nothing, your church will continue to implode, even though you had no idea it was. We need your active voice and participation now. We need you now.
Mark Tidsworth is founder and team leader for Pinnacle Leadership Associates. He has served as a pastor, new church developer, interim pastor, renewal pastor, therapist, nonprofit director, business owner, leadership coach, congregational consultant, leadership trainer and author. Ordained in the Baptist tradition, Mark is an ecumenical Christian minister based in Chapin, S.C.
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