Monday, November 16, 2009

The Fog of Battle





Odd alliances and friendships can form in the course of a church conflict. I have seen a disgruntled person leave the church because of something that someone else in the church was doing. And then, when that someone else also became disgruntled and left, the two immediately sought one another out. Over the years, I have called this kind of thing the Fellowship of the Grievance (FOG). People who are unhappy with a church for various (and sometimes contradictory) reasons will find in the mere fact of their grievance a kinship or a bond with others who are peeved. This is a strange and perverse sort of koinonia—in gripes there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. 

        Douglas Wilson, The Genesis of Church Conflict

1 comment:

AdoptedSon said...

A sad koinonia at that. Could be ok though depending on the situation. But may it never be merely a complaint group.