Volley #34

Buzz, Continued: Negative Buzz

Some say there is no such thing as bad publicity: people remember the name, but they don’t remember what it was they heard about it. Maybe this principle explains (partially) the Paris Hilton phenomenon, which is inexplicable for any other reason. I don’t think it applies to church buzz, though.

Previously, in Volley Number 26, I suggested that getting a community talking about our congregation, about what is going on there, is a worthy goal, and it is. Many of our congregations have another, flip-side, issue to deal with: negative buzz. It may take the form of comment on the spotty, inaccurate, overwhelmingly negative news reporting we get, especially at the national level. Locally, some of our congregations have bad reputations among some in their area because of sins of their past, even distant past. Small-town memories can last for generations, and the congregation that was too high-falootin’ for Great-Grandma will have to get along without her descendants!
What troubles most, however, is the negative buzz that is self-inflicted. “A” gets feelings hurt at church (or elsewhere) with “B,” and is heard recounting it loudly with “C” and “D” over the meat cooler in the local supermarket. Reverse evangelism! How attractive does that congregation sound? Is Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness foremost there? To hear some people talk-- about their clergy, choir, lay leaders, worship, the congregation’s self-appointed lay pope, you name it-- there is nothing good or holy about the congregation they belong to. So why would anyone from outside want to be part of that? Worst of all is when the new or potential member has to witness an entire church-family altercation, in all its knock-down, drag-out, high-decibel, paint-peeling glory, right on the church property.

We all want our children and grandchildren to follow our example of active church involvement. How likely is that to happen if most of what they hear about the church and its leadership from our lips is carping and criticizing?

Much of our complaining is recreational in nature, and most of it comes from our own sin of self-focus. Something is not going the way we want it to go (starting with the aging and weakening of our own bodies), and we want the world to know, and sympathize. Yet criticism rarely produces a positive effect, while reliably producing several negative ones. We would do well to try to restrict our complaining to the ears of God, and the person we’re piqued at, in that order. In fact, if we begin with the former, we might find that we no longer need to trouble the latter.

P. S.—Yes, I know this is a carping and complaining volley. However, I feel much better now. We’ll be back on more positive turf next week!