Author and psychiatrist Scott Peck wrote that one of the ways you can divide the world up is to put everyone in one of two categories: either a "neurotic" or a "personality disorder."

This is the mental health version of the doctrine of total depravity.

Neurotics are prone to think everything is their fault, even when it's not. "Everything" includes dull meetings, failing churches, and the conflict in the Middle East. They may suffer from anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive issues. They generally have an acute need to please other people.

Personality disorders are prone to think nothing is their fault, even when it is. "Nothing" includes angry outbursts, messed-up relationships, and showing up late. Their lives would be okay (they think) if everyone around them just straightened up. They generally have an acute need for other people to please them.

Churches, and church staffs, are no more free of this dynamic than any other organizations. People who try to serve God are as human as ...