Senior pastor mistreatment is a contradiction in terms. Church leaders are mandated to love and serve, not wound or damage. However, armed with their own brand of justification, wounding senior pastors devastate lives and place blame for the devastation upon those they wound. When this happens, instead of church being a house of prayer it seems more like a house of madness. Staff associates who work in the church under a senior pastor must keep their eyes open, lest they be overtaken by mistreatment masquerading as ministry. One way to determine whether senior pastors have wounding potential is to examine the gospel they preach.

When the angel announced Christ's birth to the shepherds, he told them that His arrival was "good news" (Lk. 2:10). When Jesus began His ministry, He told the crowds that He was proclaiming the good news of God's Kingdom (Lk. 4:43). The good news Jesus proclaimed was better than anyone could have ever dreamed. He declared the good news of God's love for all people.The good news of the kingdom involves salvation from death and the promise of eternal life. This gift of God is free, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. The gift is not deserved, and it cannot be earned. It can only be received. Indeed, salvation means turning one's life over to Christ, but when Christians give up their lives to Him, He in return shows them how to live. Real life means loving God and serving people.

The good news declares that fear is gone. Every day is lived under the mantle of His grace. The goodness of His table is beyond expectation (Ps. 23:5). He guides steps, conforms people to His image, forgives sins, provides for needs, and so much more. None of this is accomplished through self-effort or works. On the contrary, Christians are instructed to "work hard" to rest (Heb. 4:1-11). The "good news," however, is not the only gospel being preached today. Many well-meaning senior pastors have wounding potential because they proclaim a "bad news" gospel that emphasizes performance, self-effort, and the need to maintain a legalistic religious standard. This gospel does not rest in what God has done for man; it emphasizes what man must do to be accepted by God. Such a gospel wounds people because it requires that they measure up to an unreachable standard. Those who preach a "bad news" gospel are constantly exhorting people to work harder so they can get to a place where God can use them. When failure occurs, individuals are judged as resisting God or branded as "unsavable." When a bad news gospel of performance is preached, church ceases to be a safe place. Instead of a healing center, it becomes a house of horrors.

RuthAnn, a staff intern, eloquently described the anguish of working for such an organization. After high school, she enrolled in a nationally recognized church leadership program. While she was there, she continually felt judged. Leaders made her feel unworthy and unacceptable. She confided, "They kept telling me that I needed to change and become a different person. I felt that if I didn't conform, Jesus and everyone else would be disappointed in me." This was all very frustrating for her until she realized that all she needed to do was trust God to mold her into the person He wanted her to be. "I accepted the fact that I am too weak to be a 'perfect' Christian, and so is everyone else. I was filled with joy when I realized that Jesus loves me just the way I am." It is true that obedience is a requisite part of what it means to cooperate with God. As C.S. Lewis writes, "Now, the demand was simply 'all.'" But it is God's job to conform us to His image and lead us into His will. RuthAnn's story had a happy ending because she had the courage and wisdom to embrace the one true Gospel.