Review: Ministering to Problem People in Your Church: What
to Do with Well-Intentioned Dragons
Marshall Shelley
Bethany House Publishers
2013
This book covers most of the people issues anyone has
encountered if they have hung around the assembled church folks for any length
of time. Some of us have been on both
sides of this one, regrettably. Not fun
from anybody’s perspective. And that is
the reason that this book needs to read.
By all of us.
What this author describes may be told from the church
perspective, but I think you’d meet the same challenges elsewhere. But since this is for ministers we’ll stay in
that realm.
His list of Dragon Species
(42) is pretty thorough and he will introduce the reader to several of them in
the reading. My favorite, if I can use that term in that way, involves
the charter member’s reaction to a growing church and all the tactics that person
used to stay in control. “Dragons are
best known for what comes out of their months…Dragon’s tongues may be smooth,
but they are usually forked.”(59). Yes, this is book deals with the real world
of ministry. And it does not paint a pretty picture. In fact, I’d recommend reading it on a
bright, sunny spring day. It shows the
difficulties and how some have worked through them. The cost is high in all the case studies related
in this book, and for that reason I found this a very difficult read.
This book is a re-issue of the
1985 version entitled Well-Intentioned Dragons by the same author, for those of
you who may have a copy of that somewhere.
Another look at it might be helpful from time to time. I do not know which material if any may be
new in this version. This is an easy
read that is a tough read. The author’s
parting words may encourage some of his readers. “…it is life among the dragons that develops
the qualities God requires.” (203). Have to think about that a while more,
myself.
Overall, for those that are
considering entry into the ministry or are in the throes of dragon vanquishing
I do recommend this book. In fact, it
needs to be requires reading in that case.
For the laity, read this one and consider whether you are acting as a well-intentioned
dragon or helping limit the damage they create.
This book was provided to me by
the publisher in exchange for this review.
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