The High School Mentality in the Church?​

 

The high school mentality, as I call it, is characterized by cliques that exclude others, a lack of genuine friendliness, and petty partiality based on things like race, clothing, social status, or background.

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Sadly, this mentality can exist within the church. Consider a woman who attended a church women’s retreat hoping to make new friends.

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Being introverted, she reasoned spending the weekend with Christian women would help her connect with others in the congregation. After dinner, she walked alone toward the auditorium while other women enjoyed conversations with friends. Upon arriving, she discovered nearly every chair had been reserved with a Bible. The only available seat was in the back corner of the last row. Although no one intended to exclude her, every Bible on every chair seemed to scream, “You aren’t welcome here. We already have friends, and you aren’t one of them.” It was a memory she never forgot.

 

I haven't seen it often, but it bothers me when I see or sense these attitudes among God's people. I love what Donna Jones said: “Christ’s church is not simply a place for people we deem acceptable; His church is a place where people can be accepted. Church should be the ultimate clique-free zone.” 

 

Jesus modeled how we ought to treat people, while the apostle Paul taught how we ought to treat one another within the church.

 

In a male-dominated society, Jesus spoke openly with women (Lk. 8:1–3), ate with tax collectors and sinners (Matt. 9:10–13), interacted with despised Samaritans (Jn. 4:1–42) and Gentiles (Lk. 7:1–10), and showed compassion to society's outcasts, including the sick and lame (Matt. 15:30–31), the blind (Lk. 18:35–42), and the poor (Lk. 7:22).

 

Paul taught that all believers are one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28) and, as members of one body (1 Cor. 12:12), should demonstrate genuine care for one another. He wrote, “that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:25–26).

 

As members of one another (Rom. 12:5), we owe it to each other to keep our finger on the pulse of the congregation and continually cultivate the behaviors that leave no room for a high school mentality.

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Written by Craig Ressler