Is This the Bride of Christ?

Last weekend I had the regularly scheduled pleasure of talking with my son and his family over Skype. Among other things we had the chance to talk about workplaces that take advantage of employees to such an extent that they exhibit the same symptoms as an abused spouse. The conversation got me reminiscing about my years in church work and how, in every case, my experience was consistent, in some ways, with abused spouse syndrome.

What does that mean. Well, it revolves mostly around the discrepancy between what church leaders say to their workers and what they do when it comes to compensation. A common behavior among abusive spouses is to profess great love for the one they're abusing while regularly destroying their spouse's self-confidence, individuality and humanity. It is widely known...and often joked about...that church work is a low paying profession. This is often justified because the 'reward' for a church worker is in heaven. No one seems to remember that the reward of heaven is for all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Accepting low wages on the supposition that your good work will be rewarded after you die isn't just insulting, it's incredibly bad theology. The fact is the Bible specifically instructs that workers in the church should be well compensated for their labor.

Okay, before you click away because you think this is a rant about paying church workers better, let me explain how the abused spouse syndrome plays into all this. From both personal experience and many conversations with professional church workers, I'm here to tell you that the issue is rarely only the level of compensation. Instead it's about the attitude and behavior of lay leaders in the church. It's the praise heaped on you when you're doing what they want and the attacks that happen when you're not. It's the promise that they will take care of you because you're highly valued then refusing to pay a living wage as they cite any one of a number of reasons...none of which have to do with your actual performance of your assigned duties. This behavior wears away at the humanity of people. Ultimately you begin to accept that you're not that valuable, that your skills aren't necessarily exceptional, that you're just lucky to have a job so why would you jeopardize that by expressing concern about working conditions, unrealistic expectations or compensation. The best is when people question your faithfulness and trust in God because you're not willing to be on call 24/7 for what often amounts to minimum wage.

A friend of mine once confronted this head-on at a church voter's meeting as they considered the need to hire a new janitor. My friend was a teacher in the church's school with several years experience and a masters degree. To his amazement the pay package they were considering for a janitor exceeded his own. When asked how they determined the salary package the response was that they couldn't get a good janitor for less than that amount. My friend promptly rose to offer to take the position as it would mean a salary increase for him. Of course the leadership laughed at his suggestion as they were certain, with his level of education, shoveling snow off school walks and unplugging toilets was beneath him. He then pointed out that, in the absence of a janitor, he was already doing those things in addition to his teaching duties. I think they still missed the point but he got a clear lesson on what the church considered his value to be.

Last week in New Orleans I met a man who began his career as a Christian school teacher working for a church. He told me that he quit and went to the public school system because he couldn't afford to live on the salary he was paid. One of the benefits of moving to the public schools was that he was free, as just a regular church member, to advocate for better teacher pay at the church school. He observed that when you're on staff and bring up fair compensation people think you're just trying to line your pockets. But when you're just a member of the church people will listen.

So how about you? Are you a member of a church? Does your church treat its staff well? Do you advocate for the staff to be fairly compensated, given ample time off, have their professionalism and passion for ministry honored? Do you genuinely respect the staff of your church and communicate it consistently with what you say and what you do? A dysfunctional church system strips the humanity from its workers. It wears them down and crushes their spirits. I encourage you to take a hard look at the systems in your church and how they impact those who serve you week in and week out. If you see evidence that your church is acting like an abusive spouse take a stand to change it. Do it now.