As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. It means that people will spontaneously gather together according to their own preferences, personalities, and other characteristics, thus forming various communities.
Brother Wang Zhenhai (pseudonym), a pastor of a church in a city in North China, told the Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in China, that in his years of service, he found it easy to have his own clique, even among pastors and co-workers. It is very harmful for pastors and co-workers to form cliques.
Brother Wang is a church leader with church management experience. He said that as a pastor, one must have a sense of boundary.
"The last of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. Goodness requires self-control, and integrity also requires self-control."
He explained, "Let's say a person is good; this would have been good. However, if someone takes advantage of it, this kind of goodness will become stale and could have negative effects. For instance, people may steal money from believers in the name of Christianity, and church workers may put their trust in those who have ulterior motives, which eventually caused the church to split. Apart from being cheated of money, what's worse is that some people lose their faith because of it."
"As a church leader, I manage many full-time colleagues. For example, one would be very close to the ones who are more compatible with his or her character and temper and also be closer to them. It's human nature, but other co-workers may think that he or she favors that co-worker on a lot of things," said Brother Wang.
Therefore, Brother Wang believes that as church leaders, it is very important to treat fellow church workers in a fair or equal manner. You can't "hate this person, despise that person, like this person, or value that person" because of your own preferences or other reasons. Of course, there will be personal relationships, but they should not be disclosed publicly because it will affect other church workers.
He said, "As a servant of the Lord, especially a pastor of the church or a co-worker of the church, you must be open-minded."
"In God's family, there is no right or wrong in many matters, and everyone will stand on their own point of view. There is probably something right and reasonable about each of these views. There may be different approaches and methods for different points of view, but the end point is always the same," he added.
Although Brother Wang is a church leader, he said that he does not have the power to "make a decision only by himself" and that all major matters of the church need to be decided collectively through church meetings. As the head of the church, he claims that the only thing the head of the church can do is give a little guidance to his colleagues at some key points. Those who serve must not engage in paternalism and need to have an open mind. Many churches were vibrant and growing very fast, but there may be a conflict of interests between pastors and co-workers. So the pastors may spontaneously begin to look for "teammates," that is, people who share their views. In this way, cliques developed along with cliques of pastoral colleagues, dividing the church.
One pastor said that in 1994, there were a dozen churches in his area that contained more than 4,000 members. By 2009, 15 years later, the number of churches had grown to more than 50, but the number of believers had dropped from more than 4,000 to just 1,000. The number of churches has greatly increased, but the membership has greatly decreased because of divisions within churches. "Therefore, the unity of the pastoral staff is very important, and there can be no cliques within churches," he concluded.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
俗话说，物以类聚，人以群分。意思是人们会根据自己的喜好、性格等特点而自发地聚集在一起，形成各种社群。
北方一城市教会牧者王振海弟兄（化名）告诉中国一网络基督教报纸基督时报说，在多年的服事生涯中发现，人很容易有自己的圈子，即使是教牧同工也是如此。教牧同工如果搞小圈子的话，有着极大的危害性。
王振海弟兄是一名教会领袖，有着治理教会的经验。他说，作为教牧同工，一定要有一个界限。圣灵所结的九种果子，最后一个就是节制。良善需要节制，正直需要节制。“比如说一个人很良善，这个原本很好。但是如果被人利用了，那这样的良善就变味了，最后可能导致严重的后果。比如信徒被打着基督教的名义的人诈骗钱财，教会同工轻信别有用心的人最终导致教会分裂。除了被人骗了钱财，更加糟糕的是还有一些人因此不再信仰。”
“作为一名教会领袖，下面有许多全职同工。比如我和一个人性格、脾气更加合得来，也更加有交情，所以走得很近。这也符合人性，可是其他同工会想在很多事情上你都会偏向那名同工。”王弟兄如此说到。
所以王弟兄认为，作为教会领袖，对待教会同工的时候一碗水端平或者说一视同仁非常重要。不能够因为自己的喜好或者其他的什么原因“恶这个、轻那个，爱这个、重那个”。私交当然会有，但是不能公开暴露，因为会影响到其他教会同工。
他说：作为一名服事者，尤其是教会牧者、教会同工，一定要有一个很宽广的心胸。
在上帝的家里面，很多时候其实是没有对与错的，每一个人都会站在自己的观点上。这些观点有可能都有它们正确的、合理的地方。对于不同的观点，可能只是途径和方式方法不一样，但是终点都是一样的，他说道。
虽然是教会领袖，但是王弟兄说他并没有“一言而决”的权力，教会所有的重大事项都需要通过会议集体商量决定。作为教会负责人，他认为负责人能做的就是在一些关键节点稍微引导一下同工们。服事者一定不能够搞家长制管理，需要具有国度胸怀。许多教会，本来生机勃勃，发展得非常快，可是这时教牧同工之间就会产生利害冲突。于是教牧同工开始自发地寻找“队友”，也就是那些跟自己有着一致的看法的人。就这样一个个的教牧同工小圈子就形成了，但伴随着教牧同工小圈子的，正是教会的分裂。
他提到：有一名牧师说，在1994年的时候，他当地有十来所教会，超过4000名信徒。到15年之后的2009年，教会的数量大幅增长到了50多所，可是信徒的数量却从4000多名大幅下降到了仅仅1000多名。 教会数量大幅增长，可是信徒人数却大幅降低，原因是分裂。所以，教牧同工的合一非常重要，不能够搞小圈子，他总结道。
对话：教牧同工如果搞小圈子，危害性极大
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. It means that people will spontaneously gather together according to their own preferences, personalities, and other characteristics, thus forming various communities.
Brother Wang Zhenhai (pseudonym), a pastor of a church in a city in North China, told the Christian Times, an online Christian newspaper in China, that in his years of service, he found it easy to have his own clique, even among pastors and co-workers. It is very harmful for pastors and co-workers to form cliques.
Brother Wang is a church leader with church management experience. He said that as a pastor, one must have a sense of boundary.
"The last of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. Goodness requires self-control, and integrity also requires self-control."
He explained, "Let's say a person is good; this would have been good. However, if someone takes advantage of it, this kind of goodness will become stale and could have negative effects. For instance, people may steal money from believers in the name of Christianity, and church workers may put their trust in those who have ulterior motives, which eventually caused the church to split. Apart from being cheated of money, what's worse is that some people lose their faith because of it."
"As a church leader, I manage many full-time colleagues. For example, one would be very close to the ones who are more compatible with his or her character and temper and also be closer to them. It's human nature, but other co-workers may think that he or she favors that co-worker on a lot of things," said Brother Wang.
Therefore, Brother Wang believes that as church leaders, it is very important to treat fellow church workers in a fair or equal manner. You can't "hate this person, despise that person, like this person, or value that person" because of your own preferences or other reasons. Of course, there will be personal relationships, but they should not be disclosed publicly because it will affect other church workers.
He said, "As a servant of the Lord, especially a pastor of the church or a co-worker of the church, you must be open-minded."
"In God's family, there is no right or wrong in many matters, and everyone will stand on their own point of view. There is probably something right and reasonable about each of these views. There may be different approaches and methods for different points of view, but the end point is always the same," he added.
Although Brother Wang is a church leader, he said that he does not have the power to "make a decision only by himself" and that all major matters of the church need to be decided collectively through church meetings. As the head of the church, he claims that the only thing the head of the church can do is give a little guidance to his colleagues at some key points. Those who serve must not engage in paternalism and need to have an open mind. Many churches were vibrant and growing very fast, but there may be a conflict of interests between pastors and co-workers. So the pastors may spontaneously begin to look for "teammates," that is, people who share their views. In this way, cliques developed along with cliques of pastoral colleagues, dividing the church.
One pastor said that in 1994, there were a dozen churches in his area that contained more than 4,000 members. By 2009, 15 years later, the number of churches had grown to more than 50, but the number of believers had dropped from more than 4,000 to just 1,000. The number of churches has greatly increased, but the membership has greatly decreased because of divisions within churches. "Therefore, the unity of the pastoral staff is very important, and there can be no cliques within churches," he concluded.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Interview: Cliques Among Pastors Can Be Very Harmful
