At a recent church conference I attended, an insurance agent smiled with cheerful expectation as he surveyed a gathering of eager pastors who had signed up to hear his presentation. No doubt this agent was hopeful of the prospect of collecting sizable commissions by selling insurance to the churches whose leaders were sitting before him. The agent represented a company that specialized in providing church liability coverage and he was ready for the opportunity to impress the congregation of ministers with his expertise on the subject. As one would expect, the agent was well-versed in the field of liability coverage.
During the agent's presentation, he explained the reasons why many churches have begun conducting criminal background checks on individuals who work with children in their congregation. The practice helps insure that children they shepherd are protected from known sexual predators or individual with a history of hurting others. Developing policies designed to protect children in church congregations has been a welcomed outgrowth of the string of sexual abuse by clergy scandals that have rocked Christian churches over the past ten years, and those efforts have been welcomed by the insurance industry too. After all, better policies lead to fewer claims and that means greater insurance company profits. It appears as if it's a win-win situation for everybody.
Unfortunately, it's not. The insurance agent I mentioned went on to explain that congregations could limit their exposure to liability, and hopefully lower their insurance premiums, by conducting criminal background checks on all prospective members of their congregation to insure that seedier elements were excluded from membership. From an insurance standpoint, that makes absolute sense. From a Christian standpoint, that's about as far from Christ-like behavior as one can get. It's a perfect example of where religious interests and business interests diverge.
When a Christian church decides to exclude sinners from it's membership, that's the day that church is no longer a Christian congregation.
It makes me want to spit that he would even suggest that a church would background check its potential members. What planet is he living on? What did the pastors in the room have to say about it?
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