The next set of excuses people give for not being faithful to church are classified, for the purposes of this blog, under the heading The Pastor Is Wrong. What do I mean by this? These are the excuses that people use to blame the pastor for their actions. These excuses are ways of expressing the errors, or perceived errors, of the pastor. These excuses attack everything from the pastor’s personality to the messages he preaches and the positions he takes.
I want to be clear that I am in no way trying to imply that everything that the pastor preaches is 100% right, nor am I saying that pastors handle everything correctly. All too frequently I find myself having to apologize to individuals and the church for my own sinful attitudes which have negatively affected them. I may not be wrong in my beliefs in a certain situation, but that doesn’t mean that I handle things in a biblical way.
Certainly pastors are human too and will make mistakes and, in fact, sin. Congregations and church members need to understand this and offer grace and forgiveness. Pastors need to abandon their pride and confess their sin and lead the flock in the ways God wants them to lead.
Having said all that, there is no excuse, no matter how reasonable it may sound, for blaming the pastor for a lack of faithfulness to the church. We will each be held accountable for our own words (Matthew 12:36-37, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”) and actions (Jeremiah 17:10, “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”) and God will not allow us to blame anyone else.
Let’s take a look at some of these excuses.
1. The pastor doesn’t feed me.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he asked Peter “Do you love me?” three times. After Peter’s responses, which are interesting but not the point of this blog, Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”, “Feed my sheep.” And “Feed my Sheep.” again. Because of this many believe that it is the pastor’s job to feed the church and that they should get their spiritual nutrition from the Sunday morning service. Unfortunately, this attitude reveals a significant and serious misunderstanding of the Scriptures.
If these commandments of Jesus aren’t telling us that we are to get our spiritual nutrition from the services of the church, then what does it mean? Let’s take a look at what Jesus said.
In John 21:15-17 we read this, “15So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” Interestingly, the Greek words translated ‘Feed’ are not the same. The words used in verses 15 and 17 is βόσκω (pronounced – bosco) while the word used in verse 16 is ποιμαίνω (pronounced – Poy-my-no). Both of these words carry different ideas.
The word βόσκω (Strongs 1006) means, “To feed sheep, to pasture or tend while grazing”. It carries the idea of leading or guiding the flock to nice green pastures. Peter is being told to lead the flock where they can get the nutrition necessary for their growth. It should be noted that a shepherd can lead a flock to the pastures that have what they need, but he cannot force the flock to eat, nor will the flock necessarily think that the grass isn’t better somewhere else and continually seek something “better”. The same is true of the church, the pastor can lead the church to “pasture” where the Lord directs him to lead the flock, but the flock won’t necessarily like it or even eat.
The Greek word ποιμαίνω (Strongs 4165) means “shepherd. To shepherd, tend”. Here He is telling Peter to tend to, or shepherd the flock. The command is to care for the needs of the flock. To guard the flock from danger, to discipline the flock when needed (the shepherd would sometimes break the legs of a sheep that continually strayed) and to lead the flock to the fields that had the most necessary nutrition for them at the time.
None of these verses imply that the pastor or the services of the church is to give the members of the congregation all of the food necessary for their spiritual survival. You might say that the Pastor is giving the church an appetizer. The purpose of an appetizer is to stoke the fires of a person’s appetite so that they can enjoy the main course. God never intend the pastor to spoon feed the congregation.
So what is the main course? The main course is your own personal study. It is the study you put in to learn more about God on a personal level. The main course is what made the Bereans more noble than the Thessalonians (Acts 17:10-12). How noble are you?
If you are spiritually malnourished it is your fault, not your pastor's!
If you are spiritually malnourished it is your fault, not your pastor's!
2. I don’t like the pastor.
Frankly, who cares? God didn’t call you or your pastor to the church because you are so much alike, which is often the basis of friendship. He called you to that church because you both have contributions to make to the body of Christ and you both have things to learn from each other. Nowhere in Scripture are we called to like one another; we are to love one another.
The reality is, if you look at the friendships of most spiritual people you will often find that these people have nothing in common, as the world sees it. The one thing they have in common is the Savior. Jesus Christ is the one who gives us our common denominator. The salvation that He has provided for us and that we have received is the fundamental basis for our unity. Some of my best friends would be my biggest enemies if it weren’t for Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit working in us. I love them and as an added bonus we like each other, not because of who we are, but because who Jesus Christ is.
3. I disagree with what the pastor preaches.
What is wrong with what the pastor preaches? Is it heresy? Is it unrelated to his chosen Scripture? Is it “too judgmental”? Is it convicting? Are you looking for comfort? I’m not saying that pastors are always right or that we always present everything in the best possible way, but unless there is error in the message the congregation needs to listen and apply it to themselves by allowing the Holy Spirit to work freely in their lives through the preaching of the Word.
3. I disagree with what the pastor preaches.
What is wrong with what the pastor preaches? Is it heresy? Is it unrelated to his chosen Scripture? Is it “too judgmental”? Is it convicting? Are you looking for comfort? I’m not saying that pastors are always right or that we always present everything in the best possible way, but unless there is error in the message the congregation needs to listen and apply it to themselves by allowing the Holy Spirit to work freely in their lives through the preaching of the Word.
Whether you agree or disagree with the pastor, do as the Bereans did and be known as one who “searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” As a pastor, when someone disagrees with something I preach, a video I show, a standard I hold or something else I am willing to hear them out, but what I expect to hear is a well-reasoned argument from Scripture. As soon as someone tells me something along the lines of “I believe” or “In my opinion” without any biblical evidence, I have to admit, I lose interest in the conversation when they are disputing something that I gave Scriptural evidence for with just an opinion. Do the noble thing, search the Scripture and live accordingly.
4. I think we have the wrong pastor.
So you think the wrong person is the pastor of your church? How do you know that? Is he a heretic? Is he scripturally unqualified? If not then you are wrong. The simple reality is that no matter how, in human terms, a man becomes the pastor of the church, he can only be in that office if God, in His sovereign will allowed it, even if he is disqualified and a heretic.
If he is a heretic or disqualified, perhaps he is part of God’s judgment on your church for having ungodly attitude, values and deeds. We see this quite frequently in the Old Testament where God allowed ungodly men and women to take the throne of Israel and Judah or, when God allowed heathen nations to conquer Israel. Perhaps God is using an unqualified Pastor to bring repentance to your church.
Perhaps you think that the church made a mistake in calling him. This is a denial of God’s sovereignty. The Bible is very clear that the people who are in authority and positions of power are in power because God has put them into those positions. FYI – This applies to all forms and levels of authority and government.
Consider Proverbs 8:13-16, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth." He is your pastor not because people wanted him, though I'm sure they did, but because God put him in that office at that church. Did God make a mistake? No! Did He overlook some crucial factor? Again, NO! God has him there for a reason. Consider these points:
• God has him at that church because it is best for ALL involved. We know this because of Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” He has a purpose for your pastor being your pastor at this time. His purpose is for both the congregation and the pastor.
• The Church called him to lead the church of their own free will. I don't think anyone put a gun to someone's head and said, "Vote for him." When the church votes to call a pastor, they are calling him to not only preach, but to take the church in a new direction, provided it doesn't violate Scripture. Since they did call him, whether each individual personally voted for him or not, they have a responsibility to follow his lead as long as he doesn't violate Scripture. This doesn't mean that you can't have a different opinion and express it, discuss it and even debate it, but what it does mean is that to vote for a leader and then fight him on every, or virtually every, decision he makes is the height of arrogance and pride. If someone else in the church was more suited to be the pastor, they should have called that person. The bottom line is God makes NO mistakes. Because this is the case, work with the leader that God has provided even if you don't agree with him. He deserves the opportunity to succeed, or fail, based on what he is doing, not because the church is fighting against him.
• To fight the pastor when he is trying to do what God has called him to do is to fight God. Romans 13:1-6 tells us, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.” There is a very real danger in resisting our authority when they are not violating Scripture. Certainly it we should obey God rather than man, but if we are claiming to do this, we had better be able to prove it in Scripture or not lead and, indeed, discourage anyone else from following the path we have chosen.
• Fighting against a pastor who is serving as he feels called, when he is not violating any Scripture only promotes schism and chaos. God calls us to be united, to work for His purposes and not our own. I have no doubt that the problems within the church are known in the community and likely not because the pastor is talking about them. Those rumors and gossip are usually the result of the congregation’s indiscretion. What kind of testimony does the church have in the community? Is it one that glorifies, honors and magnifies the Lord or does it bring dishonor and shame to His name?
If you are reading this and have a pattern of blaming the pastor or anyone else for your lack of faithfulness, stop blaming other people for your choices. Repent, get right with God, you pastor and your church and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you to become faithful to His purpose and plan for you and His church.
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