March 05, 2009
Mystery Worshippers
I just read an article which said the Wall Street Journal recently reported on churches employing mystery worshippers – a variation of the mystery shopper – who covertly attend church services and evaluate them (clean bathrooms, friendly folks, etc.). I’ll be honest and tell you that my initial reaction was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ However, the writer of Hebrews did cause me a moment of pause, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Heb 13:2 NIV
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Gail;
-----I think it is difficult to determine the propriety of things and actions because their substance does not rest in what they are, but in why they are. Short of being outright told by the people in control, it takes a lot of observation to determine what purpose they are tying to serve. So we think in generalities and try to go away holding an inadequate conclusion. I believe there are some good questions to help us move from the generalities to the more specific. Is the church leadership unable to distinguish between clean bathrooms and dirty ones, friendly members and young snoots? If they do have that remarkable ability, could they be experiencing some interference from their own biases in monitoring simple church affairs? If so, why are they church leaders? Bias is a subtle antithesis of humility, and humility is necessary for even the most basic wisdom, knowledge of the Lord, and spiritual oversight. We all know what a big deal the Bible makes about humility. Why would men mature enough in the Lord to be leaders still have character issues with something as fundamentally averse to oversight as is bias? Of course, everyone is bias to some degree, but the godly person is able to restrict his bias to the trivia of life. If the leaders have their biases truly under control, yet desire to know the tiny, intricate, nuances about bathrooms and friendliness that fall within the range of their tamed biases, then why are they so involved in minutia? Do they feel such a sense of competition with the church down the street that they must delve into minor subtleties to acquire an edge? Or has their church become so perfect in all ways that the only remaining issues to be corrected are the most minor ones within the influence of their biases?
-----There. Just a few questions to help discern the propriety of a church arrangement with mystery worshippers. You do know they are arranged don’t you? So there is nothing “unawares” about entertaining them. And even if an angel or just one of the ordinary church members were to bring forth an observation regarding bathrooms or friendliness, etc. the leaders would probably tag him as a disgruntled critic and tell him to sit down and be quite. Maybe that is why they must employ outside services.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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