Some Red Flags that Give the RASN Away

3 John 1:9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.

RASNs are not rare. I group these four toxic types together in this RASN acronym (Revilers, abusers, sociopaths, narcissists) because, for instance, narcissists revile (abusive speech), they abuse and some may well be sociopaths. I am not a psychology expert so my terminology here is my own but I write from sad experience of running across these RASNs more often than I could count.

Let me give you some examples of RASNs in action and how their behavior is a clear red flag – “look out for this one! They are trouble.” I may well have shared these examples before, but repetition never hurts and after all, these are examples I have firsthand knowledge of.

Red Flag #1 – A self-appointed authority to control you. When my wife and I bought a house many years ago and we moved out of the church-owned parsonage, one of the church board members said (at a church board meeting in front of everyone), “Pastor, your new house is 15 miles from the church building. You are distancing yourself from your congregation and you will have no accountability there.” Now, what kind of a person says such a thing? I can tell you – a RASN. This guy was angry because he was losing control – he was not going to be able to “watch” the pastor as closely. Of course at the time in my naivete, I chalked this behavior up to this fellow just being a “difficult” person. It was far more than that.

Red Flag #2 – A similar instance happened when I announced that I was going to be preaching a series of sermons on Romans, chapters 1-8. A RASN came up to me and with great energy said, “You should not be doing that! Those chapters are about evangelism and the church needs to be about building up the saints!” Again, what kind of a person says such a thing – who actually tries to dictate the pastor’s sermon series? I can tell you. A RASN.

Red Flag #3 – In an airport, a man and his wife were heading toward the gate of their departing flight when the wife said, “I need to go in the restroom. Here is one right here.” Her husband held onto her hand and said, “No. You have to wait and go later.” What kind of person dictates their spouse’s bathroom breaks? I can tell you. A RASN.

Red Flag #4 – A Sunday school class teacher launched into a harangue against a well-known candidate for political office. Not only was such a subject very inappropriate on a Sunday in a class that was supposed to be studying the Bible, but this man knew very well that most of the people in the class approved of that candidate. His mission actually was to prove to everyone that they were fools and that he was the wise one. What kind of person does such a thing? A RASN.

I could go on and on, but my point is that these kinds of things are not mere yellow “possibility” flags. They are RED flags that identify the RASN. Many times these people worm their way into position and office in the local church where they work to exalt themselves at the expense of others. Each one of the red flags I list in this article are grounds individually to disqualify such a person not only from church leadership, but raise great suspicion regarding their claim to be a Christian. These actions are serious matters and if a church body is wise, they will recognize the gravity of these kinds of behaviors.