Church Dissing Fatigue

I'm suffering from Church Dissing Fatigue.

What is Church Dissing Fatigue? This new disorder, commonly referred to as CDF, is diagnosed when a person grows chronically fatigued from reading blogs which diss and complain repeatedly about the church.

I realize that many local churches are in need of reform in various areas. I also realize that since the church is composed of people, and therefore sinners, there will always be some problems.

I also acknowledge that there are some helpful blogs that not only discuss struggles within the church, but also offer helpful solutions. Blogs like this are usually written in a positive and helpful tone. My friend, Alan, writes a good blog of this sort.

My CDF comes from the multitude of blogs that criticize what may be called traditional churches. The blogs I'm referring to tend to be written from a critical and somewhat sarcastic point of view. The posts often suggest that the writer is the one who has finally figured out what the church is supposed to be and do. The writer rails against the problems that exist in traditional churches and rarely offers helpful solutions.

When I read blogs of this nature, I grow fatigued for one main reason. This reason is the main message that flows from the blog posts: pride. It is prideful for a writer to set himself up as some sort of all-knowing guru, telling everyone else what is wrong with their local church body. Writers like this almost act upset that they are not being consulted for advice on how a church should perform its duties.

This sort of blog writer also often writes in very black-and-white terms. When the traditional church is discussed, the writing suggests that everything is wrong with how the traditional church functions. The blogger usually writes as if he either pities or despises the traditional church.

This is not to say that we cannot know what God wants from His church; He has told us much in the bible. However, He has also given us a good deal of freedom in what the expression of the church looks like. Local bodies in NT times were not all the same; they also weren't all told to look and be the same.

I've decided to take the only remedy I know of for treating CDF: I'm going on a permanent diet from church dissing, negative blogs. They do no good. In fact, all they seem to accomplish is puffing up the writers, while causing dissension in the broader Christian blog world.

Let's build up the church instead of ourselves.