Do Narcissists attend church gatherings?

I have met many people who have serious narcissistic tendencies who attend church gatherings, however, they act as though God is subject to them.

They change His word to say what they want it to mean rather than humbly seeking Him to learn His heart and mind.

They fight bitterly to defend their sin even when it is proven that they are offending God with their actions and words.

Narcissists love to pretend they love God only to elevate themselves but never to submit to Him or anyone else. God called every believer to submit to every other believer.

Ephesians 5:21-6:4

"21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

When the hierarchy demands that the "pew-sitters" submit to them they are abusing their calling if they were ever called by God in the first place.

1 Peter 5:3

"Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock."

Leaders are to lead by example and teaching, not coercion or intimidation. They have no business demanding things from the other believers and they are subject to evaluation and correction from the gathering. Leading does not mean dominating over, this is abuse. Making extra-Biblical rules that God never commanded is sin and abuse toward those they dominate.

Submission is anathema to the narcissist. They fight and argue to defend the sin they engage in while always pointing their finger at others for not adhering to the legalistic rules that are not in the Bible.

When we run across a narcissist in the gathering we will recognize them by their hypersensitivity to correction or teaching. They must always be the center of attention and they never admit flaws in themselves that need prayer and cleansing.

These people are the gossips of the gathering who seek to turn others against the truth-tellers. They are not content to dislike their target or avoid them, they must influence how others see the ones they despise.

I have heard it said that "if a narcissist cannot control you they will attempt to control how others view you."

Unfortunately, because there are so many narcissists in the church gatherings today the church has become more apostate than authentic believers gathering to worship God.

I used to believe something is wrong with believers who do not attend church, now I am convinced that authentic believers are leaving the apostate church gatherings to worship at home or in much smaller groups other places to be able to follow the Bible in obedience to Christ.

God said not to forsake the gathering of believers however He did say where "two or three" are gathered there He is in the midst. God never commanded us to attend just any gathering in huge crowds in fancy buildings. Two or three gatherings to remember the Lord in the Lord's supper is sufficient to obey this command.

Matthew 18:20

"20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

1 Corinthians 11:25-26 "…25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. "

Notice this? "Whenever" we gather we are to observe the Lord's supper. The first-century believers had worship every day, then they changed to once a week as we do today. At every meeting, they observed the Lord's Supper, which is the time of worship.

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;

7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;

8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."

1 Corinthians 14:26 "What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up."

There is no one-man pastor system mentioned here, all the believers participate with the men leading, each in His turn. The word "pastor" has never been a calling or a position, it is a gift given by God, not ordained by men. Men of God in the gathering will recognize who has the gifts of teaching and encourage them to do so. This gift is not given by seminaries or degrees from any college, it is given by Christ and will be evident by others in the gathering.

Do you see how far from the Word of God we have strayed as believers? Our gatherings look more like Catholic church services with hierarchy rather than the priesthood of all believers each functioning according to the Holy Spirit Who lives in them. God has called every believer to study His Word, hear from the Holy Spirit and perform their gift within the body.

The hierarchy system causes people to be lazy, they are pew-sitters who do not study and pray during the week, they sit there half asleep believing everything the "pulpit person" tells them without evaluating whether or not it is Biblical.

Every born-again believer is called to function in the church, the men leading and the women participating according to their gifts.

When we do things God's way we will not see nearly as much abuse or disobedience, everyone is able to speak the truth, everyone evaluates what is going on and everyone has a gift to be used. Everyone is allowed by God to challenge anyone else to greater holiness or correct to preserve the Word of God without error.

1 Corinthians 12:15-26

15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.

16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

18 But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired.

19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?

20 But now there are many parts, but one body.

21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;

23 and those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor, and our less presentable parts become much more presentable,

24 whereas our more presentable parts have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked,

25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another.

26 And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it."

There is no one in the body more important than others and no one less important than others. We are all there to bring what God has for us and love everyone, appreciating them for what God is using them. No one's gift is more important than another one's gift, they are all from God for His purposes.

When we think this way we are more able to be humble, loving, and appreciative of everyone else's gifts. Also, we need not tell others what their gift is, Christ in them will work and they will function in their gift even if they don't know they have it.

Attempting to identify gifts in each person is often a source of pride. We need not dwell too much on the gifts or we might neglect the worship of the giver of the gifts. Each person will work their gift as God leads them, this way there is no pride about the exercise of their gift.

Some people are exhibiting and working their gift without ever thinking about it, it is a work of God in them, no need to dwell on what it is or how good they are at what they do. We must remember these are gifts given by God, we take no pride in the gift itself. Our joy is in Christ and that He is the One working in everyone.

Yes, I said that......It is possible for a person to have a gift they are obeying through Christ but not be aware they have it. This is the best place to be, obeying Christ and letting Him take all the glory.

Some people like to build up pride in others by trying to figure out who has what gift. This is not right, often our flawed minds tend to think we have a gift we that never came from God, just in our own minds. We like to feel special and more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. This is why we must just obey Christ, without regard to naming our gift.