According to the news reports from every direction, perhaps 100,000 residents of the small Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, formerly Burma, were killed by the recent Cyclone Nargis. It pushed into the lowest, most vulnerable section of the country with a storm surge that left only death and devastation in its wake. Over 2 million are said to be homeless. Meanwhile, the military junta ruling the country is blocking aid.

Those who know Myanmar say the ruling army is under the control of a group of poorly educated generals who are dead-set on keeping tight controls on the country lest the nations coming to help end up putting ideas in the minds of the people. Presumably, that would be ideas like liberty and free enterprise. Self-determination. Responsibility. Compassion.

Compassion seems to be in short supply with that bunch. Their only concern appears to be for themselves and their control over this nation that rivals Haiti in our hemisphere for the title of poorest-nation-on-the-planet.

We’re told that so far–this is being written on Friday evening, six days after the cyclone hit–only a tenth of the neediest people have been reached with supplies necessary for life.

I appreciate the patience and perseverance of outside governments and agencies like the Red Cross that are trying to comply with the red tape and regulations being imposed by the generals before being approved to help their people. One wonders if the governments of the world could not simply rise up and say “enough of this foolishness” and land a few hundred planes at once and dare anyone to try to stop them as they fan out into the needy areas with food and supplies.

I mean, do we just let people die because the leaders who stole the country are unfriendly to outside help and unwelcoming to strangers?

On a different scale, every veteran pastor of any denomination knows this frustration. It’s not just us Baptists, although it is most definitely us. It’s a human problem, not just a religious one, although it is that, too.

Someone or a small group of someones have seized control of a church and insist on calling the shots. The fact that their congregation is needy and others want to come in and help matters little to them, particularly if the cost for receiving help is that they would lose control. They turn a cold shoulder to offers of assistance and prefer to let the church struggle and die rather than losing authority.

Religious juntas (note to Ginger: “junta” is a Spanish word, the ‘j’ pronounced as an ‘h;’ it describes a small pack of self-important people united in a common purpose; similar to a “cabal”) as a rule control a church, but may take over an entire denomination or segment thereof.

In Jesus’ day, the Sanhedrin functioned as a junta. This self-perpetuating council of seventy-one (70 members plus the high priest) rose up anytime an upstart seemed to be attracting a following which they had not sanctioned. What? Jesus of Nazareth is healing people? He’s forgiving their sins? But he has not been given authorization from our council, he’s doing this at the wrong time and in the wrong way. He needs to come before us and get a permit and follow instructions.

As you perhaps heard, they condemned Jesus and persuaded the Roman government to crucify him.

After all, we must not lose control of our power over the people.

Within one generation, the Roman general Titus moved into Judea with his army, starved the people into submission, destroyed Jerusalem, and put the nation out of business. The Sanhedrin had lost control for all time in the greatest way possible.

Any pastor going to a new church would do well to ask around and find out how decisions are made in that congregation. If he discovers that certain people unelected by the congregation must pass on weighty matters before anything can be done, he would save himself a lot of grief by saying “thanks, but no thanks” and turn the church down.

My observation is that most church juntas did not come into being as a result of hostile takeovers. There are indeed exceptions to this, little religious Mussolinis such as Diotrephes in III John who have no concern except for their own ego and eminence. But most church bosses I’ve found over the years do not fit that pattern.

Congregational controllers come to power by a variety of ways: they were among the group that started that church and have the strongest personality and deepest bank account; they came to the rescue of the church during a critical time, found they enjoyed sitting in the seat of power, and thus never returned to their innocuous place in the pew; they run businesses and employ church members who automatically defer to them out of a blend of respect and fear; and seniority: they’ve been members longer than anyone else, their parents helped to found the church, or their family patriarch was a pastor of it in the old days.

Bottom line: “We have the welfare of this church at heart. We know what’s best for the congregation.”

We will grant them the benefit of the doubt and admit that religious ayatollahs believe they are doing right and even serving God when they manipulate matters in the church. However, their tactics come across to the congregation as a lack of trust in the Lord, as though the church is their own personal plaything to do with as they please.

I have a suggestion for anyone and everyone who feels the church cannot exist without your money, your say-so, and your wisdom: get out.

Go away. Leave. Go across town and join a big church that is thriving. Do not accept any leadership position for a year. Enroll in spiritual kindergarten. Learn how to sit in church and worship, to pray clear and uncluttered prayers for God’s will, to give without any control over where the money is going. Put yourself under the authority of the church leaders and learn how to submit.

Start back at the beginning and see if you can learn all over again how to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In his book, “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference,” Philip Yancey calls the attention of readers to Psalms 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” He writes, “The Latin imperative for ‘be still’ is ‘vacate.'” What we need to do, he suggests, is “to stop being God for a while, and let him be God.”

Yancey quotes Simon Tugwell: “God is inviting us to take a break, to play truant. We can stop doing all those important things we have to do in our capacity as God, and leave it to him to be God.”

I frequently find myself saying this to pastors, and now direct it to laymen who are convinced that the church would go out of business without their leadership: “Give the church back to Jesus. It’s His and He wants it back.”

Just quit. Go to another church. Sit in the back. Learn to listen. Make your mind be still. Sing the hymns. Pray the prayers. Give your offering. Read the Word. Accept the leadership of others. Learn to love God all over again.

In a matter of weeks several positive things will occur: your blood pressure will start liking you again, your spiritual life will begin to flourish, and in no time you will find yourself actually looking forward to going to church.

That little church that you had been controlling will do just fine without you. In fact, all those protests you heard when you announced you were leaving will turn out to have been just so much talk. The members will feel liberated now that the strait jacket has been removed, and people who have not given offerings or spoken up in years will come out of the woodwork and begin to take part.

A pastor was telling me about a church boss who was giving him fits. “We can’t do without Henry. He employs some of our members, he’s like the wise old uncle in our congregation, and his offerings have kept us afloat.” I said, “Stand up to him. Keep reminding yourself it’s the Lord’s church and God does not need his weight, his wisdom, or his wallet.”

I reminded the young pastor that in nearly 50 years of ministry, I have seen many a heavy contributor get his (or her) feelings hurt and storm out of a church predicting that the congregation would sink without the money they’ve been giving, but I have never seen it happen. In most cases, the budget never misses their gifts.

It’s a God-thing. The Lord takes care of His people, and can do very well without the Diotrephes, thank you very much.

A leader of a small country that is chronically fighting for its survival said recently, “The longer you wait to challenge a bully, the stronger he gets.”

“Oh,” a pastor told me, “I could never stand up to that man. I don’t like confrontation.”

I said, “Then you’re the one to do it. It’s not about your courage or your convictions. It’s about the Lord Jesus Christ and His church.” Then I cautioned him, “Give the matter to the Lord in prayer. Wait on the Lord. When the time comes to take a stand, you will know. When that happens, don’t be afraid. Pay close attention, because life is about to get more exciting than you’ve known it in years!”