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…pastor John Marshall ran into members of his congregation at Starbucks …pulled out his iPad to show them photos of a recent family vacation. But he forgot he had created a dozen new Facebook lists such as “Ignore,” “Run Screaming” and “Gossip Hound” to categorize everyone in his congregation.

Discussion

Wed, 12/07/11
That a pastor would keep lists like that on Facebook is a little flabbergasting (and fortunately, a spoof).

But that a pastor would keep mental lists like that isn’t surprising, unfortunately.

I’ve heard church members referred to as “high maintenance” and such (not at my church). Inevitably a pastor will recognize someone as an end-times-freak, or needing a lot of work and counsel; that’s just wisdom in dealing with people. But to think in cavalier and condescending categories is totally out of line with 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 and 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12.

Michael Osborne
Philadelphia, PA

Wed, 12/07/11
[M. Osborne]…I’ve heard church members referred to as “high maintenance” and such (not at my church)….
It’s called reality.

Lee

Wed, 12/07/11
[Lee]
[M. Osborne]…I’ve heard church members referred to as “high maintenance” and such (not at my church)….
It’s called reality.
Certainly, it’s reality, and not one simply to be ignored.

What I object to is what happens when a minister gets in the habit of thinking of his people as simply high maintenance (or whatever) to the detriment of his working to move them from Point A to Point B in Christlikeness.

Michael Osborne
Philadelphia, PA

Wed, 12/07/11
My wife has an expression she sometimes uses with her staff :

Think before you speak, but don’t speak all that you think.

Dick Dayton