The Dangers of Having A Good Pastor
Ex 18:13-23 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses
sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto
the evening. 14 And when Moses' father
in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou
doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand
by thee from morning unto even? 15 And
Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire
of God: 16 When they have a matter, they
come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the
statutes of God, and his laws. 17 And
Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and
this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art
not able to perform it thyself alone. 19
Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with
thee: Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto
God: 20 And thou shalt teach them
ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and
the work that they must do. 21 Moreover
thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of
truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of
thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: 22 And let them judge the people at all
seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee,
but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and
they shall bear the burden with thee. 23
If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able
to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
Eph 4:11-15 And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
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Let me begin this unique
message by stating that I am firmly convinced of two things: 1. To
pastor is the divine call and perfect will of God in my life, and 2. I need to improve and to be a better
pastor. Being a pastor has to be one of
the hardest occupations on earth in any field, because what other job combines
the demanding criteria of dealing with the public, handling crisis, instilling
motivation, constant scholarship and study, a 365 day/24hours a day devotion,
financial director, weekly performance, the toughness to deal with critics and
yet the tenderness to care and combine it with low pay and a sacrificial
lifestyle? It is my personal opinion
that if a person says that they desire to pastor a church, then one of the
following scenarios applies:
1. They are loony and/or possibly insane.
2. They are truly called of God to pastor.
3. They have no earthly idea of what they are
getting themselves into and view it as a glamour position.
History bears out that there
have been relatively few men that were able and willing to pastor
successfully. I would say that of the
five ministries, it ranks in the top two as far as sacrifice and effort
required. An evangelist can preach the
message of the Lord, and then move on to reach new hungry people, all the while
acquiring great skill in the specialized area of "reaching the
lost." Likewise, a teacher can put
forth his material and teach and do so sometimes with little personal
involvement in the lives of his students.
But the pastor is the shepherd, the one who is there -- or should be
there -- day in and day out, highs and lows, and to whom God has left the
everyday care of the people of God.
Let me preach to you this
sermon without reading personal agendas into this message. I'm not fishing for compliments tonight. Words of affirmation mean little if you
request them. That's not my object in
this message. Many of you have told me
that you consider me a good pastor, and I appreciate that. Most saints across the country feel the same
way about the man whom God has placed in their life to be a shepherd. There's nothing wrong with giving the
ministry "double honor" if you feel as if it is warranted, but that's
not the aim of this message.
My disclaimer having been
stated, let me move on to tell you that I am my own worse critic. To me, I am not a great pastor. That's not false humility. I'm trying to grow into becoming a great
pastor, and I'm trying very, very much, but I have not yet reached near
perfection in every area of my life and -- until Jesus comes -- I'll never be a
"great pastor." But I would
consider myself a good pastor, and I say that because I care what kind of
pastor I am and -- God knows -- I'm trying to grow just as you should be in
your place in the kingdom of God. So
I'll say that I am a good pastor -- most of the time! :) and that is because I'm striving to be a
great pastor. There are plenty of good
pastors in the world and in history there are a few great ones. There are also "poor" pastors -- I
hate to use the word "bad" -- but unfortunately there are some men
that fill such positions that care less about their saints and that are not
striving to reach the level of "greatness" as put forth into God's
Word.
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I'm not preaching to me
tonight, though. Sure, I want to share
with you what I've learned about the characteristics of good pastors, but I
want to preach to you the danger that comes with someone exhibiting such
characteristics. God and His Word and
the men of God in my life will work on me on my own time, but here in this
setting, I would like to point out some principles in God's Word that are
rarely -- if ever -- taught from the pulpit.
And I want to take these principle from three good pastors of the
Bible. Well, actually two great, and
then the one greatest!
Without getting into a deep
theological discussion, it should go without saying that Jesus Christ is the
greatest shepherd of them all. He was
the perfect pastor in His time here on earth and He is the "Chief
Shepherd." He is the head of
everything and the chief cornerstone, it would make sense to put Him
first!
Beyond Jesus Christ, let's
choose two more for examples, one from each testament. In the Old Testament, there is no competition
because hands down the greatest pastor was Moses. I read recently that as far as the view of
Bible critics go, that Moses' life is the one that is the hardest to find fault
with. Sure he made mistakes, but as a
whole, he was very consistent. Moses is
in as a fine mortal example of a great pastor.
In the New Testament, we've
got a tougher election with all of the Apostles and such, but I've got to go
with Paul. The greatest theologian that
ever lived was also a great example of a New Testament pastor. For the purposes of this study, Paul is our
third pick. Got it? My top three, in order as far as great
pastors in the Bible are: Jesus, Moses,
and Paul.
This message came out of
studying their lives looking for lessons of what makes a good pastor a good
pastor. But as I began to study that, I
also began to notice that each time, there was a danger associated with having
them for a good pastor. And it's been
true with many of the good pastors that I've known and been acquainted, and so
it follows that if I am trying to change my behavior to be a good pastor, also
then those in my congregation will face the same dangers. Thus, we are preaching on this strange
title! But for each of these dangers,
there is a solution, and so this will be our format: the characteristic of a good pastor, the
danger that accompanies that characteristic, and the solution to resolve the
danger.
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Without any further ado, here
we go. The characteristics of a good
pastor are:
1. He tries to do too much, and He gives and
gives and gives...
Usually it comes from having
the heart of a servant. And it was the
heart of a servant that characterized Jesus, Moses, and Paul. We find this best illustrated by our text in
Exodus. Moses has led the people of
Israel out of Egypt and fasted 40 days twice to get the commandments from
God. The commandments are quite complex
-- there are 613 of them -- and so Moses is spending every day, all day long,
answering questions on small matters. On
top of that, Moses is also having to get the priesthood going, oversee the building
of the tabernacle, check on all the robes and ephod and such that are being
made and make sure that they are matching the specifications set by God. He also must follow the leading of God's
Spirit and decided the course that the people should travel, and somewhere in
this mix, is his own tent to take care of and a wife and some kids. Sounds like Moses was a pastor!
Moses' father-in-law shows
up, takes one look at all that Moses is doing everyday and decides to give him
some "father-in-lawsy" advice which also turned out to be the will of
God because Moses obeyed it and it was recorded in scripture. Jethro said:
Ex 18:18 Thou wilt surely
wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too
heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
The things of God are too
much to for just one man to bear alone!
It matters not how many saints we have or how small or large the
sanctuary is, there must be more than one or two that are willing to help
shoulder the load of building a church and congregation! The past is riddled with men and women who
burnt themselves up trying to do as Moses was doing.
The key to Jethro's advice
was that "it's the small things" that are going to wear you out. Teach your people to help out in the small
things, and then the large things will not be as burdensome. Moses was still to take care of the big
things but his load would be made easier by not having to deal with the
smaller, everyday things. The solution
then was for other people to be appointed to handle the small things. Jethro went on to say:
Ex 18:23 If thou shalt do
this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all
this people shall also go to their place in peace.
We find that Paul had the
same thoughts and struggles. In 2
Corinthians chapter 11, Paul lists a bunch of things that he had faced such as
being beaten, shipwrecks, thrown in jail, and then at the very end, he saves
the thing that has worn him down the most:
2 Cor 11:28 Beside those things that are without, that
which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
In other words, Paul was
saying, all of those things I can stand because they come occasionally, but the
real sacrifice and the real weariness comes from the daily care of the
churches. The small things that I must
do everyday are what I have to overcome.
Paul was a good pastor; Moses
was a good pastor, but the danger of having such a person as your pastor, is
that people get used to the pastor doing all of the little things and begin to
think of it as Paul's church or Moses' church and so "let him do those
things, he's the pastor." The
danger is that such a pastor is easily taken advantage of by people, and
constantly battles weariness and fatigue, not from the big things like Bible
Studies and Marriage counseling and prayer, but because of the repeated little
things that have to be done as well.
Everyone of you needs to be
involved in service one to another. This
is not Pastor Sibley's church, but this is our church. We are the family of God. The upkeep of this place is our
responsibility. I'm going to confess
something to you: I let things go
maintenance wise sometime around here, just to see if anyone notices. Usually I will pick up a piece of trash
that's laying outside or change the light bulb or cut the grass or whatever,
but there have been times that I've not done so just to see is someone else
would do it because I wanted to see what our heart is like. I wanted to see if we have the attitude of
being like Jesus who was "a servant" or if we had the attitude of
"better than that."
Let's think about the big
things that my wife and I must do because of our calling and anointing that you
CAN'T really help me with. Every week I
must fast and pray and get direction for our church. I prepare at least three sermons and two
Bible Studies and deliver them in various settings. It takes me on average about 5-7 hours of
study and preparation time to get ready for a sermon. We must make sure the bills are paid and all
administrative things such as insurance, taxes, utilities, and such are
paid. Every offering has to be counted
and deposited into the bank and the books balanced. Every month, there are electric, water,
dumpster, mortgage, church insurance, phone, ministerial dues, special
offerings, missionaries, and cleaning supplies that must be paid. I'm not talking about my personal bills, I'm
talking about OUR church. I must oversee
all of the departments of our church and try to encourage and promote growth
and revival in all of them. That
includes the Sunday School, Youth, Women's, Bread, and any outreach. I must also plan any revival or special
speaker and take care of them, feeding them and providing lodging and
hospitality. I am also our sectional
youth director and must plan and coordinate and attend about ten youth rallies
a year and the annual youth camp. I am
also our District Music Committee Chairperson, so I also oversee a group of
people that must plan the music for District Conference and our annual Family
Camp Meetings. This year I was also
asked to do the music at the Women's Conferences and ended up playing for the
Men's meeting that was held last weekend.
I also select the songs, write them out, learn them, record them, and
practice them for our weekly songs services.
And because God has given me the ability, I also sell these recording
disks to other churches so that other preachers that cannot play can have good
church. Some of you may not know but
there are over 50 other churches in the country that use the same system that
we use, that I play at every service!
Those are the big things, the things that you can't really help me
with. But really those are not the things
that wear us down and get us distracted.
It's the small things.
It's the things like when we
have to clean all the buildings, mow the grass, trim the hedges, replace the
light bulbs, organize the storage sheds, sweep and mop the floor, wipe the
tables, take out the trash, vacuum the carpet, straighten the toys in the nursery,
replace the toilet paper and towels in the bathrooms, wash the baptismal robes
and towels, organize the tape ministry, jiggle the toilet handles, make sure
the toilets are flushed, dust the pews, pick up all the snotty tissues and
candy wrappers, scrub the baptismal tank, put out tithing and offering
envelopes, weed eat around the buildings, pick up the rocks, pick up the trash
thrown on the ground, unstop the toilets, lock up all the buildings, turn off
all the AC units, buy all the church supplies, fix all the locks and doors,
take care of all plumbing problems, recaulk everything that needs to be fixed,
trim all the trees, landscape the flower beds, replace the trim, straighten the
stuff left on the pews, fill the water glasses, and attractively arrange the
magazines on the back tables. Those are
the things that wear on us. It's the
small things, Moses, the small things.
The danger is to just let the
pastor wear himself out doing all of the small things and then you end up
losing him to burn out. What's the
solution then? Get personally involved
in the day to day responsibilities of the church for which there is no need for
a special call. I am not asking one
person to take on all of these responsibilities and there is probably not one
person in our church that has the time to do all of these things, but you can
do one or two things. Come cut the grass
when you see it needs mowing. Pick up
that trash that you normally walk over on the lawn. Straighten up your pew and throw away your
snot rags before you leave church. Small
things. But if they are all left undone
and put on one person, they turn out to be quite heavy.
You need to "Hold up the
pastor's hands." Maybe you know the
story:
Ex 17:9-12 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out
men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the
hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and
Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up
his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek
prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands were
heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and
Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on
the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
You don't hold up the
pastor's hands by giving him more small things to hold. You don't need to replace him either and
stretch our your hands, but you can hold them up by taking some of the weight
off of them! But to do so means that
you've got to sacrifice some time and effort as well! But the battle will be one, when someone gets
the revelation that we've got to "lighten Moses' load" by helping
with the small things. But to be able to
do so, you've got to notice what needs to be done. Moses didn't ask for help, but Aaron and Hur
noticed what they needed to do.
2. He is personable, close, and
"real" with His saints.
Good pastors are daily
accessible with their saints. That
doesn't mean that I'm going to call you everyday or be your
"buddy." But that means that
if I am to be a good pastor, then I must be "down to earth" and
"real" with you. If I'm having
a bad day, I'll tell you. I don't mind
you coming into my home or cooking for you or beating you at chess! I can talk about other things besides the
Bible but sometimes people are like "whoa, the pastor is talking about a
subject that doesn't involve scripture."
Yes, I'm a real person with a special call of God on my life.
I know a pastor that refuses
to let people into his home. If it's
thirty degrees outside and they need to talk to him, he goes out on the
porch. He says that he "values his
privacy." My parents weren't like
that, neither is my inlaws. He's going
overboard, I think, but the danger of having a pastor that is real, is that
familiarity breeds contempt. The closer
you get to someone, the better you can see their imperfections, their
"warts." And some people drop
their respect and submission when they realize that the pastor is a human
being.
Paul had this problem. He was so real with his saints, that they
began to question his authority as an apostle.
That came from familiarity. Never
forget that it is the office that you respect regardless of the personality or
your personal feelings toward the man.
I'm not talking about sin, here, I'm talking about just getting
comfortable with your pastor, so that you stop respecting him as he
deserves. I'm not your "dude"
or "homey." I don't think you
need to call me by my first name. The
Bible teaches us to "salute" or greet pastors with respect. What are you doing? You are maintaining a level of respect for
the man of God in your life. But at the
same time let me be real. It's okay for
me to talk about other things other than scripture. Really!
Jesus never sinned but He was
so real with His disciples that it took them a while to realize that He was God
in flesh. They knew He was human, but it
took them a while to realize the divineness of His call. It wasn't until He calmed the storm on
Galilee that some of them began to say "what manner of man is this that
even the winds and the waves obey him?"
Some where starting to realize that Jesus was a little more than just
another prophet. Peter grasped it before
anybody else did. Thomas took longer
than anybody else to get it. Nazareth
never received it and Jesus couldn't minister there why? Because they were too familiar with Him and
didn't respect Him. Guard how you speak
to and about you pastor, because you don't want to grow so familiar with him
that you take him for granted! God still
speaks to him, even though he is an ordinary man, it's the call of God that makes
him different, not his humanity!
3. He spurs people to new spiritual heights
and to grow closer to God.
That is a characteristic of a
good pastor. He causes people to move
forward in God and to grow into new territory in the spirit. We can see this in all three of our examples. Moses led the people out of Egypt and more
importantly out of an Egyptian lifestyle.
He led them through a Red Sea and to a mountain where they saw more of
God in action than they ever dreamed that they would. Jesus took ordinary fishermen and tax collectors
and such and equipped them to become preachers of His powerful message. Paul took idolaters and homosexuals and
fornicators and taught them and established them and even mentored them in the
ministry. A good pastor will always
elevate the level of spirituality and walk with God of his people.
So what's the danger? The danger is too often, after the people
move forward, they begin to think that they have advanced so far that they no
longer need their pastor's guidance. We
saw it in Moses' day with Korah. They
wanted to live as they chose. They were
the priests of their homes and they had anointing of God and so they didn't
need Moses and Aaron any more. But they
forgot that Moses and Aaron were the reason they left Egypt in the first place
and where the very ones that had placed them in their position of spiritual
awareness. And so God responded to their
rebellion by allowing the earth to swallow them. The same happened with Jesus in Judas
Iscariot. Jesus had brought him into a
spiritual lifestyle and now all of a sudden he knew better than Jesus how to
spend the money. The same happened with
Paul. He poured his blood, sweat, and
tears into founding the churches in Galatia and Corinth only to have them turn
and listen to some idiot that said "we don't need Paul." You need a pastor to come out of your life of
sin, but you also need a pastor to get you where you want to go. You will never outgrow your need for
spiritual authority in your life. I need
a pastor. Because in our other text, we
find that pastors are for the edification of the ministry, to help us grow up
in Christ! The more mature you get in
God, the smarter your pastor will seem.
Trust me, my pastors from my past now seem like geniuses to me!
4. He prays, sacrifices, and studies
continually so that he ushers saints into the supernatural.
Hopefully you've experienced
this for yourself. Your personal study
and excitement is sort of mellow and you come into a service sort of dragging,
but the pastor has heard from God, and as the anointing of God begins to flow
and the Word of God is preached, all of a sudden inspiration and anointing hit
you and all sorts of things begin to click in your head about the Word of God
and your walk with God. A passion begins
to build in you and before you leave, you are excited to be a Christian
again. What has happened? Your pastor's anointing and sacrifice has
elevated you beyond your normal level temporarily. You have "rode on his coat tails"
for a little while.
I can remember being in
services as a music director and listening to Bro. Wallace preach. When he would get flowing, I would have all
sort of thoughts for sermons and ideas that I'd never considered. After such a service, I'd go home scribbling
all sorts of notes and studies to work on, and then the next morning, when I
went back to it, the inspiration was gone.
And as I read my notes that seemed so great the night before, I'd wonder
what I had meant by what I wrote!
One of the easiest examples
of this happened in Jesus' ministry.
Remember the story of how the disciples all of a sudden couldn't cast
the devil out of the man's son, and Jesus answered them that to cast the devil
out they would have to "pray and fast?" The issue was that they had learned to ride
on Jesus' anointing and Jesus' commitment.
And Jesus was teaching them a lesson, eventually, they were going to
have to learn to sacrifice and pray and fast themselves.
The danger of having a good
pastor that preaches inspiring and anointed messages, is that you gradually get
used to having it and you become a spiritual "junkie." You don't really need to fast and pray to
stay saved anymore, because the service will be good enough to get you through
and renew your faith. And that may work
for a while, but eventually God is going to make sure that you come to a place
where it is your sacrifice and power with God that is being used, and He'll let
you fall flat on your face to show you that you need to pray and fast and read
your Bible and grow spiritually too. You
must learn to feed yourselves in addition to the weekly sermons. If the only time you pray and fast and read
the Word of God is at Bible studies or at church, then you are learning to get
by on the pastor's anointing.
Remember the story of Jesus
praying in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Jesus needed some help there. It
wasn't about Him giving the disciples some spiritual power, but about Him
submitting His flesh to the will of the Spirit.
Three times, Jesus asked the disciples to pray with Him, and three times
they fell asleep. They failed to realize
the importance of the matter, and basically were content to allow Him to do the
sacrifice and just run off until they could glory in the resurrection! It seems that few people won't to help the
pastor pray and fast, but all want a part of the great revival that the prayer
and fasting brings! Enjoy the good
sermons and moves of the Spirit, but remember there is a danger to coasting
along and not developing a personal relationship with God day by day
yourself!
5. He cares more for your eternal destination
than your personal comfort.
A good pastor is in this
thing to get you to heaven and not win a popularity contest, therefore he will
rebuke and correct when it is needed and will speak the truth although
sometimes the truth hurts, and he will not just preach and lead for a response
or applause. Pastors are commanded in
scripture to rebuke and correct and teach the right way to do things:
2 Tim 4:2-5 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of
season; reprove, rebuke , exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; 4 And they shall
turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
1 Tim 4:12-16 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example
of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in
purity. 13 Till I come , give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by
prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself
wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the
doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and
them that hear thee.
What is the danger? The danger is that people who are carnally
minded resent correction and it often makes the pastor very unpopular with such
folks. It is interesting that the Bible
uses attitude toward correction as a test of sonship:
Heb 12:5-11 And you have forgotten the exhortation which
speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the
LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And
scourges every son whom He receives."
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what
son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers,
then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid
them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of
spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for
a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we
may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now
no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless,
afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been
trained by it. NKJV
You're never going to enjoy
correction, but is needed and good for you.
And so you'd better guard against those carnally minded people who talk
bad about the pastor and get disgruntled with him and don't have the guts to
talk to him about it but instead tell you.
Not only are they sinning, but they are proving to you that they are not
true children of God, because the sons of God take the rebuking of God's
authority!
But oh, it seems to make the
pastor so unpopular! I've often wondered
how ya'll would respond if I, like Jesus did, took off my belt and beat you all
out of the house because you weren't really praying before church? I would never do that, but that's pretty much
what Jesus did -- not once, but twice.
It didn't make Him too popular with the carnally minded folks. But Jesus would rather them hate Him for the
moment, and have a chance to hear truth, change, and live with Him forever,
than to just do nothing about what needed to be corrected. I wonder how many of you would make it if
when you expressed to me a carnal attitude I rebuked you in front of everybody
else and called you "Satan?"
Jesus did that to Simon Peter! Or
how about if I did like Moses and came in one night with a group of people and
ripped up my Bible in frustration and begin to point out every sin that I was
aware of in the church and had my friends beat you for it? That's basically what Moses did coming off of
the Mt. Sinai. It sounds rough when we
put in modern terms, doesn't it!? What
I'm trying to get you to see is that the level of rebuking and correction that
I as a pastor have to do today is very pale with some of the extremes that
Jesus, Moses, and Paul had to do. I've
never had to address the whole church because the assitant pastor was living
with and sleeping with his mother-in-law and thinking that it was okay, but
Paul did in 1 Corinthians 5. Thank God
we are under Grace, but you'd better back your pastor and support him when he
does have to correct something, because God will hold you accountable for your
attitude, your obedience, and your speech toward that situation!
The danger is that people can
begin to resent the pastor, but instead you should realize that his correction
is a sign of true love and concern for you and your soul. If he "didn't give a rip" then it
would be easiest to avoid the confrontation and just "let things
slide."
I close by telling you that I
want to improve as a pastor and if I have done things in a wrong way or in a
wrong spirit, I publicly ask this church to forgive me. I've made up in my mind that I'm going to
grow in God and try to move toward being a great pastor. But as I do improve, just as Jesus, Moses,
and Paul had to face the dangers that we have discussed, so will you and I have
to work through them. Never forget the
dangers of having a good pastor, and learn to avoid them in your life! You'll enjoy living for God a whole lot
more!
If you want to avoid all of
these things, of course, you can just find a church with a "poor"
pastor who doesn't care to grow in the things of God. Such "bad" pastors are easy to find
as they:
1. Don't try to do hardly anything church
related and doesn't have a servant's heart.
2. Keeps his distance from his saints and avoids
them at all costs, only seeing them on Sundays and maybe Wednesday nights when
he's in town.
3. He really never spurs people to reach to new
heights but is just satisfied with the group that are there and doesn't want to
"rock the boat."
4. He only prays and studies on Saturday night
or Sunday afternoon and never teaches Bible Studies. His sermons lack depth and are usually just
whatever he heard lately. He's satisfied
preaching a little sermon and not seeing anything change.
5. He cares more for you personal comfort, than
you eternal destination. Doctrine
doesn't matter. Answering your questions
don't matter. He'll overlook your sins
as long as you keep supporting him with offerings.
There are plenty out there to choose from, and some people would rather have that sort of pastor because they think that it vindicates their lifestyle and rebellion. If that's what you want, then so be it, but remember that whomever you submit to, is to whom you are trusting your eternal salvation. As for me, I want a pastor that is a good man of God striving to be a great, even if means that I have learn to avoid a few dangers. And you will have to face these dangers, because I cannot allow myself to be such a "pastor" that I do not care!