And if you work on a church staff, you know it.

People are mean.

Church people are mean.

I’m always amazed at some of the things people said to me as a staff person that they would have NEVER said to anyone else outside the church.

Someday I’ll write up a list.  It’s kind of funny now.

But it wasn’t in the moment.

You know what I’m talking about.

Church people love to talk trash.

And the internet has just made it worse.

One actress, Mary-Louise Parker has had enough of all the mean-spiritedness.  Here are a couple of quotes from her:

“The world has gotten too mean for me, it’s just too b*tchy. All the websites and all the blogging and all the people giving their opinion and their hatred … it’s all so mean-spirited, it’s all so critical… It’s sport for people, it’s fun to get on at night and unleash their own self-loathing by attacking someone else who they think has a happier life — or something, I dunno… I don’t know if you can imagine a friend sending you something they thought was funny, that was something mean someone wrote about you and there’s like 50 comments from complete strangers across the world about you — and you can say ‘Oh I let it roll off my back’ and ‘I wouldn’t take it personally’, but you have no idea until it happens to you…It doesn’t feel nice.”

Absolutely.

Truth is, the church has been this way for a long time now, and I think the world may be just catching up.  :)

(That said by someone who’s felt the same wrath as Mary-Louise, only in the confines of a church.)

Am I bitter?

No, I don’t think so.

I’m just amazed at how people who claim the love of Jesus can so easily dish out the vile they do and not think twice about it.

I just heard someone say (again) recently:  ”I would expect to be treated like this in a secular job, but not in the church.”

Many times, that’s the sobering reality, and sad but true.

How do YOU deal with these type of people in your church and ministry?

Todd