The Broken and Beautiful Church: Something isn’t Right
In the classic story The Wizard of Oz, an unlikely band of sojourners travel together toward the Emerald City to see the great wizard over the land—each carrying a longing they believe the wizard could fulfill. The Tin Man wanted a heart. The Lion wanted courage. The Scarecrow wanted a brain. Dorothy wanted to return home. And so they followed the yellow brick road of hope to see “the wonderful wizard of Oz—because of the wonderful things he does.”
When the group finally arrived, they stood awestruck before the wizard. His booming, disembodied voice caused them all to tremble with a mixture of both fear and reverence. That is, until Dorothy’s little dog, Toto, pulled back the curtain and revealed that the great and powerful wizard was a fraud. Dorothy and her friends were understandably disappointed and disillusioned by their new-found knowledge that behind the disembodied, terrifying voice that governed Oz was a small, cowardly man pretending to be something he was not.
"I thought Oz was a great Head," said Dorothy.
"And I thought Oz was a lovely Lady," said the Scarecrow.
"And I thought Oz was a terrible Beast," said the Tin Woodman.
"And I thought Oz was a Ball of Fire," exclaimed the Lion.
"No, you are all wrong," said the little man meekly. "I have been making believe."
"Making believe!" cried Dorothy. "Are you not a Great Wizard?"
"Hush, my dear," he said. "Don't speak so loud, or you will be overheard--and I should be ruined. I'm supposed to be a Great Wizard."
"And aren't you?" she asked.
"Not a bit of it, my dear; I'm just a common man."
"You're more than that," said the Scarecrow, in a grieved tone; "you're a humbug."
"Exactly so!" declared the little man, rubbing his hands together as if it pleased him. "I am a humbug."
"But this is terrible," said the Tin Woodman. "How shall I ever get my heart?"
"Or I my courage?" asked the Lion.
"Or I my brains?" wailed the Scarecrow, wiping the tears from his eyes with his coat sleeve.
"My dear friends," said Oz, "I pray you not to speak of these little things. Think of me and the terrible trouble I'm in at being found out."¹
It is difficult to ignore the parallels to the Western church today. Like Dorothy and her companions who discovered the truth behind the great Wizard of Oz, many Christians today are experiencing a similar moment of disillusionment as they are confronted with the reality that the church is broken. Her leaders are “common” men and women.
I have been a believer for almost twenty years and in ministry for fifteen years. I have seen behind the curtain—things I did not expect to see. I know things I wish I didn’t know. I have witnessed the church’s warts up close, but I have also witnessed her beauty. I have experienced the fruitfulness of her fellowship and the fractures of her failings. I've been both the wounder and the wounded—sometimes governed by leaders behind the curtain, sometimes controlling the dials from behind the curtain myself.
Every day, it feels like another pastor falls, another church scandal or cover-up is exposed, and more members of the body walk away from a church, or even the Church, battered, bruised, and bewildered. Too many church leaders have become drunk on power, platform, and prosperity, forgetting that they are nothing apart from the radical grace of God. The state of the church is indeed disheartening. But we need not despair. Perhaps God is pulling back the curtain, revealing where church leaders have strayed, and calling them to repentance.
Yet, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Throughout history, the Christian Church has harmed people—often in Jesus’ name—through actions like the Crusades, the Inquisition, and its active and passive role in things like slavery, civil rights, and abuse. The Crusades caused violence and forced conversions, while the Inquisition used torture and execution to punish heretics. The Church also justified slavery, dramatically altering portions of the Bible—removing parts such as the Exodus story that could inspire hope for liberation and emphasizing portions that justified and fortified the system of slavery.¹
These events highlight periods of significant moral failure and abuse of power within the church's history. What differs now is our instant access to news worldwide, which inundates us with a steady flood of moral failures and grievous abuses.
All churches are broken even if things look good on the outside, even if they are growing numerically, even if their members are growing spiritually. Churches are made up of broken people ministering to broken people. Even well-meaning shepherds wound God’s sheep. As believers, expecting church leaders to be infallible is unfair and unrealistic.
Pastoring is inherently complex. Work, worship, serving, and community are intertwined. Pastors and leaders must make hard decisions about who or what is needed in an organization, and they cannot and should not please everyone. There are no easy solutions to many of the daily problems pastors face. Ministry leaders have finite time, energy, and resources, yet the legitimate, important needs of the body are endless. Many pastors and shepherds are weary and suffer from compassion fatigue and burnout. They carry heavy loads and do their best to follow Jesus faithfully and love and serve the body of Christ.
Churches are broken because broken people lead them. Shepherds will sin. Shepherds will wound the sheep. It may not be sinister, but it is sin. God has clear expectations for how his shepherds will lead. They are called to a higher standard.
When James and John’s mother requested a special position for her sons, Jesus taught his disciples about a different kind of leadership:
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28, ESV (emphasis mine)
Specifically, Jesus’ words to his disciples remind us that shepherds aren’t to lord power and authority over God’s people but to be among them as servants. Furthermore, Paul teaches that those who lead God’s people should live godly lives and exhibit Christ-like character: above reproach, hospitable, not violent but gentle, self-controlled, not quarrelsome, not slanderers (1 Timothy 3:1-13). And Peter echoes Jesus’ own words:
“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” 1 Peter 5:2-3, ESV
Sometimes, though, the brokenness within the church extends beyond the realities of bumping up against one another to something more destructive. Things like abuse and failure to report abuse are clearly egregious sins. However, subtle forms of organizational unhealth can be harder to spot. You might feel something isn't quite right, but in your desire to assume the best, you dismiss those concerns or blame yourself instead.
So when is it right to extend grace and believe the best, and when is it time to question and challenge? How do you know when to stay and when to leave? How do you discern an imperfect but healthy church from a toxic church? Here are a few characteristics:
1. Leadership and Accountability
Unhealthy:
Lack of leadership accountability.
Leaders aren’t held to the same standards as others.
Focus on performance over character.
Leaders are not vulnerable, refuse responsibility, or avoid accountability.
Unchecked leadership authority and disregard for staff, volunteers, or members’ concerns.
Healthy:
Leaders admit mistakes, take responsibility, and are open to feedback.
Leadership is approachable, humble, and vulnerable.
Regular accountability structures exist, fostering trust and growth.
Leadership adapts to the needs of individuals and promotes development.
2. Respect and Care for Individuals
Unhealthy:
Exhibits favoritism, devaluing individuals, and expecting conformity over diversity.
Treating people as disposable or demeaning others’ roles.
Members who leave are shunned, ostracized, and even erased, and their concerns are dismissed.
Healthy:
Values and welcomes diverse perspectives and leadership styles.
Treats everyone with dignity, kindness, and respect.
Provides care and support for those struggling and maintains positive relationships with those who leave.
Values and exhibits empathy and compassion.
3. Culture and Relationships
Unhealthy:
Toxic, high-control, or authoritarian leadership styles.
Fear, shame, and isolation are used to control or manipulate.
Bullying and silencing dissent while pushing loyalty to leadership above all.
Individuals worry about expressing concerns, frustrations, or different perspectives for fear of being penalized, judged, or having their roles diminished.
Creating narratives about people and situations that are partially true.
A sense of organizational superiority and ignoring feedback from outside.
Healthy:
Cultivates an environment of trust, support, and collaboration.
Emphasizes reconciliation, humility, and growth, both personally and organizationally.
Open to dialogue and sees concerns as opportunities for improvement.
Maintains positive relationships, even when there are disagreements.
Speaks the truth about relational and organizational issues, even when it is not favorable to them.
4. Growth, Development, and Spiritual Health
Unhealthy:
Failure to acknowledge brokenness.
Leaders avoid responsibility and reconciliation.
Overlooking spiritual growth and focusing on performance.
Healthy:
Prioritizes character development and spiritual maturity over performance.
Committed to ongoing personal growth—emotionally and spiritually.
Values organizational health, not just organizational growth or impact.
Focused on fostering a culture of reconciliation.
Looking at this list, I know I have failed abysmally at times. No church leader will do this perfectly. We, as shepherds, have bad days. It’s not always about control, coercion, power, or notoriety. We are all afraid of failure, loss, and rejection. Our motives may not always be impure, but our impact still matters. The choices we make in those moments can wound those in our care.
Lists like this always run the risk of promoting binary thinking. This is not meant to affix a label on someone or some organization, but to diagnose the presence of unhealth and to help us distinguish between the two. Another important thing to note is that the unhealthy characteristics listed above can sound more sinister on paper than they may look in time and space. These leaders can genuinely love Jesus and believe what they are doing is right. Their churches can be doing remarkable things and experiencing growth. Your pastor or church can have positively impacted your life, and they can be profoundly unhealthy. It is crucial to remember that God works in his church, often despite the brokenness of its leaders.
Because all churches are inherently broken, we will notice some of these things in our churches, but that does not mean they are toxic. The church is a living, breathing body, just like our own bodies. Churches are dynamic–constantly moving toward or away from positions of health. Just because you notice some of these characteristics in your church does not mean it is endemic. Not every conflict is indicative of pastoral abuse. Likewise, not all concerns or feedback indicate disrespect of pastoral authority.
The church is built upon Jesus' redemptive and restorative love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Therefore, our attitude toward one another should always be governed by and enacted with love and marked by humility and repentance. We all have different opinions, perspectives, and wisdom that are important to the health of the body. Every believer has the Holy Spirit. As such, we should listen to one another with curiosity, humility, compassion, kindness, and generosity—recognizing that the Spirit may be attempting to teach both sides of the table something important.
If you sense that something isn’t quite right but can’t pinpoint the issue, here are some questions to help you discern the overall health of your church:
1. Leadership and Accountability
Who are the governing bodies over your church leadership or the organization?
How are leadership health and the overall culture regularly evaluated?
What systems exist for staff and volunteers to provide honest feedback and concerns regarding all levels of leadership?
Who outside of the church leadership (pastors, elders, leaders) has been invited to speak into the organization and hold them accountable?
2. Respect and Care for Individuals
How do leaders talk about people who think or lead differently than they do?
Is there a diversity of thought, personality, and experience in leadership?
Who stays in the organization long-term, who leaves, and why?
What kinds of people do leaders surround themselves with or give greater honor to?
How do leaders handle relational ruptures?
3. Culture and Relationships
How does leadership respond when confronted with concerns or issues?
Is there evidence of a culture where diverse perspectives and feedback are welcomed, not punished or dismissed?
How do leaders talk about other churches or organizations (overtly, subtly, sarcastically, publicly, or behind closed doors)?
Who do the leaders and organization learn from outside their immediate circles?
As an organization, who are they allowing to lead them versus always expecting other organizations to follow their lead? As individuals, who are they allowing to lead them?
4. Growth, Development, and Spiritual Health
How do leaders regularly exhibit vulnerability, humility, confession, repentance, and reconciliation – personally and organizationally?
By what values are staff and volunteers evaluated? How is staff and volunteer development focused on growing the fruit of the Spirit?
The church's greatest need is not charismatic leaders, dynamic speakers, or visionaries. She needs leaders whose hearts have first been captured by the love of God and who are compelled to extend that same love to others. She needs pastors and ministers willing to admit their failings, not in false humility, but with genuine grief. She needs shepherds who walk alongside the weak, fragile, and poor in spirit with long-suffering and compassion. She needs leaders who are not content to accept fractures but gather up the scattered and strive for repair and reconciliation. She needs leaders who aren’t just open to questions and concerns but invite and weigh them heavily. The church doesn’t need a great and powerful Oz lording power over the people from behind pulpits and platforms; she needs a Tin-Man with a new heart walking with their brothers and sisters on the journey toward home.
The church is both terribly broken and remarkably beautiful, but she is still God’s plan. It can be hard to hold these two truths together at the same time, especially if your spiritual mentors, fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers have wounded you. This requires willingness and work not to throw the baby out with the bathwater but to test everything and hold on to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We can honor the church and those who labor for her while also being honest about their sins, weaknesses, and failings. We can forgive and make allowance for one another’s faults while also calling for repentance. We can trust what God is doing through his Church, even when skeptical about the organizations representing her. We can acknowledge and be thankful for the fruit we’ve experienced while always recognizing when weeds begin to choke it out. We can love while also choosing to leave.
Admittedly, loving the church is not always easy. I love what she is in her simplicity—a body of broken people united by Jesus’ love—even when I find it hard to like what she has become in her complexity—platforms and powerhouses. Perhaps God is teaching us to love his church for what she will be, and until then, he gives us glimmers of her glory to come. I still believe, as my friend often says, that Jesus uses his church to heal the wounds of his church.
Love you guys,
CC
Note: Next month, we will continue this series with Part 2: A Call to Leaders and conclude with Part 3: Comfort for the Wounded in June.
¹ Museum of the Bible. (n.d.). Slave Bible. Museum of the Bible. Retrieved March 6, 2025, from https://www.museumofthebible.org/exhibits/slave-bible?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiArKW-BhAzEiwAZhWsIExn6oZ7-ipmee4tMhGqKGO4MSSgLHxzY9FMywLI-VOtHCD9R-7aXhoC3EUQAvD_BwE
Additional Resources:
Something’s Not Right, by Wade Mullen
Bully Pulpit, by Michael Kruger
When the Church Harms God’s People, by Diane Langberg
Redeeming Power, by Diane Langberg
A Church Called Tov, by Scot McKnight
* The above book links are Amazon Associate links, which provide a small commission with purchases toward The WholeHearted Project. They do not affect your price in any way.
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