1. Pastors are not the head of the church. Jesus is
The Bible says, in Ephesians 1 "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
Make no mistake, pastoring is an important position, but the pastor is not the head of the church, nor should he seek to be, as that position is already taken. I've seen men strut and preen and swagger and boast about their pastoral authority. I've seen men , under the auspices of 'pastoral authority' order their deacons to stand up or sit down and lift one leg to to show everybody that they, the pastor, are in charge. It has been awkward and embarrassing every time I've seen it.
The truth is, the pastor is a servant. Mr Pastor, the church of Jesus Christ got along just fine before you came along, and the church of Jesus Christ will still be going strong when you are gone. God has placed you in a position of oversight and servitude for a very brief period of time in the big scheme of things. You are expendable. You can be very easily replaced, and if its been a while since anyone has told you that, somebody needs to.
I understand a man taking a certain amount of responsibility for the ministry that he is entrusted with, but when you take it beyond that and grab authority that isn't yours, you are acting out of pride, and you are in the wrong.
2. Pastors aren't the shepherd, Jesus is
In John 10, Jesus says "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."
Not much commentary is necessary here. There is one shepherd, and Jesus identifies this as Himself. And yes, I am aware that the word 'pastor' is derived from the same word as 'shepherd', but Jesus said that there is one shepherd and that He is it. Argue with Jesus if it makes you feel better. Explain to Jesus how you are the 'undershepherd' or 'the shepherd in God's stead'. Let me know how that works out for you.
Once again I appreciate men who take responsibility for the stewardship of a ministry, but I have heard men say things like "Bless God, son, I'm the pastor here and you aren't. I was here before you came and I'll be here after you're gone." The sentiment was clear; I'm the big dog, and you are beneath me.
Mr. Pastor, please remember that Philippians 2 says "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."
3. Pastors aren't the final authority, Jesus is.
In John 5, Jesus says "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man."
Sometimes preachers repeat things they hear other preachers say, and as a consequence, I've heard more than one man make a statement to the effect that if God ever spoke to you audibly, He would sound like your pastor. That is a ridiculous and scripturally indefensible statement. Plus its a little weird. I mean, do you really think God would condescend to sound like you?
Mr. Pastor, your opinions, preferences and convictions are absolutely meaningless in the light of scripture, as are mine. God wrote down how he wants things done, and if you exceed those provisions regardless of your intentions, you are , as the saying goes 'off the reservation'.
Keep in mind that the people sometimes make it very easy for this line to be crossed. when you have a congregation that doesn't read the Bible for themselves, and doesn't pray for themselves, they rely heavily upon you. That's no excuse. The Bible says "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." You sir, are nothing, just like me.
4. Pastors are not above rebuke or correction
"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits." (Romans 12:10-16)
Romans 12 presents the model of a group of people laboring together as equals, under the same head, taking direction from the same Shepherd, fulfilling their role in the body of Christ. Does that sound like your ministry, Mr. Pastor? Or are you above the people, above rebuke, and above correction?
I heard a pastor say once "The sheep don't correct the shepherd". He was referring to himself as the shepherd, obviously. I've heard men say that pastors can only be corrected by other pastors. That's an interesting way to divide up the body of Christ. In fact, it sound like the doctrine of the Nicolaitans to me.
If you are in the wrong, any brother in Christ ought to be able to take a Bible and present you with the scriptures in regards to this matter. They should do so in a scriptural manner. After all, just a bit earlier in Roman 12, Paul writes "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Your office does not put you above anyone else, and it certainly doesn't make you infallible..
5. Pastors have a very specific job description.
"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." 1 Tim 4:12
There is so much in that one verse, and you could delve into all of that for weeks, but the core of it is this; be an example. That is your job. People being what they are, they need a visible physical example in front of them. If you know the Bible says we are all to love the brethren, then you need to be an example of that. If the Bible says we all need to be humble and prefer others above ourselves, then you cannot be an example of that if you strut around telling everybody how much closer to God you are than them. If the Bible says we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel, you are to be an example of that. If the Bible says we are to study to shew ourselves approved unto God, you ought to be the example of that. You are to be an example of what everybody in the body of Christ should be doing all the time anyway.
6. Pastors have less in common with Moses than they think
I wish I had a nickel for every virtually identical sermon I've heard preached out of Exodus 17. It's always presented the same way; I, the pastor have a really hard job, and you, the congregation are supposed to some along and hold up my arms while I labor, lest we lose the battle. I've even seen men bring their deacons or whatnot up on the platform to hold up their arms while they preach with a broomstick or rod in their hand. It's a cute application, and it's a visual way to reinforce people's loyalty to you, but that's not what's going on in that text.
Everybody forgets about Joshua when they read that story. While Aaron and Hur were up on the mountain with Moses, Joshua was down fighting the battle, and the Bible calls Joshua Moses' "minister". If you're anybody in that story, you ought to be Joshua, and Joshua wasn't on the mountain; Joshua was down laboring alongside the common soldier.
The tendency to want to be Moses in the story, I think, has to do with pride. After all, reasons the proud pastor, I go into the presence of God, and bring the word of God down from the mountain and present it to the people. I labor night and day for the people. I intercede on their behalf to God. Well, umm..thanks. But you still don't get to be Moses. The battle has already been won, and we're not counting on you standing there with a broomstick for this to work out. Just a little perspective, Mr. Pastor.
The 'church in the wilderness' was, for the most part, a one-man show, and I understand the parallels because people are still people. But if your New Testament assembly resembles an Old Testament theocracy, then we may have larger problems.
Take a deep breath.
We're all friends here.
7. They arent your people, they are God's people
1 Cor 7 says "For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men."
You would think that, since you're not the head, and you're not the shepherd, that this one would be obvious. But once again, I have seen many a man behind a pulpit proclaim that the people in the crowd are "my sheep" and he sees himself as the man who decides where and on what the sheep will graze. He sees himself as holding the rod of correction. I have seen men be convinced of a certain truth from the scriptures, but decide to withold that truth from "my people' because after all 'they can't handle it'. And who decides that? Why, the shepherd, of course!
8. We are all on the same team.
Paul starts out Ephesians 4 saying "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." This is crucial. We really are all on the same side.
I've been in church a long time, and I know how church folk can be. As the 'face' of the ministry, the pastor and his family can live a life of isolation even among the brethren, but it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, it shouldn't be. That's not normal Christianity.
Another red flag is an 'us vs them' mentality. If you find yourself regarding every difference of opinion as a foe to be conquered, you are drifting out of scriptural waters. If you feel you have to keep your distance from the brethren because after all 'familiarity breeds contempt', then you do not understand the idea of unity of the Spirit of God.
Look at Phillipians 1; "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." See the order? Saints, bishops and deacons, all working and laboring together, and being addressed by the man who wrote most of the New testament who simply calls himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ". Would to God we would all have that attitude!
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