When a local church uses an authoritarian teaching method, what impact does it have on reaching people in relation to their personality temperaments?

What difference does it make when local churches use authoritarian teaching methods for sharing their faith?  Does it really matter if they use authoritarian teaching methods vice permissive or authoritative methods?  What are the expected results if you place a pastor in a church environment where he or she must teach in an authoritarian style?  How does a congregation respond to an authoritarian environment?  Likewise, do all people respond the same or are there variations dependent upon a person’s personality temperament or combination thereof?

What exactly is an authoritarian method for teaching people?  The authoritarian method is basically described as complete obedience or subjection to authorities, as opposed to individual freedom.  Another way of looking at it would be “all discipline” and “no love.”  Just look around at a lot of the policies in our school systems and municipalities, you will find the equivalent of the authoritarian method - “zero-tolerance.”      

So when it comes to a church setting, based on the authoritarian method of teaching, we hear many examples of abuse with such scenarios.  In fact ABC’s 20/20 Show just aired a 41-minute episode (Air Date 08APR2011: Victim's Forced Confession; http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55121488/2020-48-victims-forced-confession) about alleged abuse in various independent fundamentalist Baptist churches, which practiced or still practice authoritarianism.  So where do a lot of these problems stem since there are so many commendable pastors within these churches as well as other churches?  On the other hand, many of us have personally struggled with or have heard of a person struggling with a family member, such as a child or sibling, who will not conform.  Often times, these struggles with family members are legitimately based, but then there are some instances where a person just responds differently to a situation due to his or her personality temperament(s).

Below you will find four different examples explaining how a pastor or a church member, in regard to his or her personality temperament (e.g., choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic), would potentially respond to being placed in a church that emphasizes an authoritarian teaching method.  This breakdown helps highlight why certain individuals may gravitate toward the authoritarian environment.  On the other extreme, this may help explain why some people prefer not participate in or completely avoid such authoritarian environments…not necessarily for reasons of nonconformance, but for the purpose of removing him or herself from an environment that may bring out the negative traits of his or her personality temperament(s).    

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Choleric temperament – rational based thinking:  Bad tempered or extremely irritable.
Pros:  Great leaders; high standards.              
Cons:  Controlling; condescending to others.

What happens when you place a person – with a choleric temperament – into a pastoral position of a local church that emphasizes authoritarianism?  For starters, you are either setting yourself up for a potential heartbreak or a potential autocracy.  In simple terms, you may get your heart broken because the individual ends up leaving the leadership position, due to his or her conscientious objections of being placed in a situation where he or she must control people vice lead people.  Or you could be faced with a person running the church like an autocracy mainly because he or she will be doing what his or her personality temperament does best in an authoritarian style atmosphere…control people.

What should you expect when you have church members (or potential church members) placed underneath a pastor with a choleric temperament in an authoritarian-style church.  You may end up with a church full of like-minded members who see nothing wrong with controlling others.  Otherwise, you may end up with a lot of people leaving the church due to abuse.

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Melancholic temperament – emotional-based thinking:  Sensitive; gloomy state of mind
Pros:  Great musicians and artists; perfectionists                     
Cons:  Manipulative; like everything in a box

What should you expect when you place a person – with a melancholic temperament – into a pastoral position of church with an authoritarian environment?  In this case you are either setting yourself up for a good match or a church that has a lot of frustrated people leaving.  On the positive side, this person will provide a lot of sensitivity to the congregation.  On the drawback, this same person has a high potential for putting all of the church’s doctrine into a box, according to his or her doctrinal preferences…thus manipulating people.

What happens when church members (or potential church members) are placed underneath a pastor with a melancholic temperament in an authoritarian-style church?  Many people will love having a pastor who can show his or her emotional side.  Unfortunately, a lot of people will eventually leave the church when their questions go unanswered.     

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Sanguine temperament – impulsive participatory responses:  Cheerful; optimistic
Pros:  Great salespeople; charismatic personality              
Cons:  Too pushy; lack of self-discipline

What should you expect when you place a person – with a sanguine temperament – into the same pastoral position involving an authoritarian environment?  As for a sanguine, you either have people who are drawn into the church by the person’s charisma or pushed away by the very same characteristic.  On the encouraging note, this person tends to be charismatic and remains focused on spreading the message of the church.  On the opposing side, these same traits can also become annoying, since the person may not be able to determine if people are drawn into the church by his or her charisma rather than spiritual matters…due to his or her lack of self-discipline.

Again, what happens when you place church members (or potential church members) underneath a pastor with a sanguine temperament in an authoritarian-style church?  Fortunately, a lot of people may be drawn to the church by the charismatic personality of the pastor.  Then again, if the pastor depends too much on his or her charisma rather than God, people leave when the pastor becomes too pushy.

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Phlegmatic temperament – reluctant participatory response:  Not easily excited to action; sluggish
Pros:  Great behind-the-scenes workers; easy-going               
Cons:  Non-confrontational; reluctant

Finally, what happens when you place a person – with a phlegmatic temperament – into the same pastoral position involving an authoritarian environment?  In this case, you potentially have a relaxed church environment, but it may take a while to get things done.  On the positive side, the person will easily agree to help pastor the church.  However, when it comes to this same person actually teaching people to come out of their comfort zones, he or she may avoid doing so because of his or her preferences for being non-confrontational.

What is the expected result when you place church members (or potential church members) underneath a pastor with a phlegmatic temperament in an authoritarian-style church?  As for a positive, most members will like the gentle atmosphere and probably not even pay attention to the authoritarian structure of the church.  Unfortunately, when the pastor tries to avoid confrontation by not expressing any ideas for the direction of the church, some people will leave due to the pastor’s lack of vision. 

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In summary, we need to contemplate on whether or not an authoritarian teaching method is the Biblical way, or just a way, of sharing our message of faith with others.  Should the church avoid having pastors and/or members with certain personality temperaments, due to some of their potentially negative traits?  The author of Hebrews, presumably the Apostle Paul, stated the following – “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.  They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.” (Hebrews 13:17a NIV)  On the contrary, the Apostle Paul stated – “…each one us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12 NIV)   So as individual believers, are we directly accountable to the leaders in the church, God or both?  If we are accountable to both, what happens when a person has strong religious convictions against a certain practice in a church?  Does that person follow the collective doctrine of the local church or follow his or her religious convictions, at the risk of being labeled as someone who will not conform?