Pecking Orders in Mission
Alain Botton in his book Status Anxiety says that when the US started to work on peace in Iraq, many of the Iraqis were annoyed with the US essentially for status reasons, for not showing respect and for humiliating them. Status anxiety can also severely affect the messages coming from church leadership. Does Status anxiety play out in the church? I have found that a church leader can so want to grow their church (because we think in terms of winners and losers) that we put pressure on our congregations. Our fascination with hierarchy and pecking orders mean we can be subtly comparing ourselves against others. The pressure that then comes from this anxiety transmits itself to the congregation which then inhibits invitation. As a church leader watch this carefully and invite your congregation to invite someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church and take the pressure off them.
