--- title: It’s a mean church out there, boys and girls... description: It would be great if Jesus miraculously made Christians nice all the time. Unfortunately, that's just not true. The church can be a pretty mean place at times. image: https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hubfs/Copy%20of%20calling%20all%20regular%20people-2.png --- [Skip to content](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/itsameanchurch#main-content) [![cropped-chemistry_logo_homepage-342x95](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/cropped-chemistry_logo_homepage-342x95.webp?width=342&height=95&name=cropped-chemistry_logo_homepage-342x95.webp "cropped-chemistry_logo_homepage-342x95")](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/) - [How We Help](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/what-we-do/) - [How We Help Candidates](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate/) - [How We Help Churches](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/church/) - [Our Team](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/team/) - [Our Mission & Strategy](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/what-we-do/) - [Churches](https://chemistrystaffing.com/church) - [Hire New Staff](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/2021-churches-new-staff-hiring/) - [Free 30-Minute Church Consult](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) - [Chemistry Solutions – You Don’t Have to Do Ministry Alone](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/solutions/) - [Final Fit Assessment](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/final-fit-assessment/) - [Senior Pastor Succession](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/succession/) - [Job Seekers](https://chemistrystaffing.com/candidate) - [Add My Resume / Profile](https://chemistry.fyi/kwq) - [Current Openings](https://chemistrystaffing.com/jobs) - [Free Resume Assessment](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/free-resume-self-assessment/) - [Step-by-Step Job Search](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/cjb) - [How Chemistry Can Help](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate/) - [Resources](http://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate/) - [Free Playbooks & Downloads](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/resources/) - [Chemistry Blog](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/) - [2024 Youth Pastor Compensation Survey](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/resources/2024-yp-compensation-survey/) - [Contact Us](http://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) - [Candidates](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate-contact-page/) - [Churches](http://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) - [Find a Job](https://chemistrystaffing.com/jobs) - [My Church is Hiring](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) [Leadership](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/tag/leadership) # It’s a mean church out there, boys and girls... It would be great if Jesus miraculously made Christians nice all the time. Unfortunately, that's just not true. The church can be a pretty mean place at times. ![Copy of calling all regular people-2](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hubfs/Copy%20of%20calling%20all%20regular%20people-2.png) # 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**   ![Todd-Signature-2019](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/belch.io/template-assets/Todd-Signature-2019.png?width=124&name=Todd-Signature-2019.png)   [![Schedule A Free Consultation](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/5045578/b77ee3a2-d157-494b-a4fc-d4c3b22d6364.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/5045578/b77ee3a2-d157-494b-a4fc-d4c3b22d6364)   ### [![Todd Rhoades](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/883a0d42581424e9bbe7c77dccfeed6b) Todd Rhoades](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/author/todd-rhoades) Todd has invested over 30 years in serving churches, having served as a worship pastor for over 15 years, a church elder for more than a decade, and in various ministry leadership roles in both the business and non-profit sectors. As the original founder and developer of ChurchStaffing.com, Todd fundamentally changed the way thousands of churches search for pastors and staff on the internet. Todd is a graduate of Cedarville University, and lives in Bryan, OH with his wife, Dawn. [![Facebook Author](https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/8768169/Elements/Theme/icons/social/facebook.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/toddrhoades3) [![Twitter Author](https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/8768169/Elements/Theme/icons/social/twitter.svg)](https://twitter.com/toddrhoades) [![Linkedin Author](https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/8768169/Elements/Theme/icons/social/linkedin.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddrhoades/) [![Website Author](https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/8768169/Elements/Theme/icons/social/web.svg)](http://chemistrystaffing.com/todd-rhoades) ## Latest Resources Browse Articles ![What's Actually Killing Your Church? 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