Thursday April 20, 2017

A lot has happened since my last post. My wife and I weathered her breast cancer and I am now the pastor of a small church in Casper, Wyoming. I started out as the interim and 6 months later I was asked to be permanent. It is a very good fellowship and I am glad to be a part, but I do struggle with my age old problem of what has become the norm in our times and that is what I consider to be a twisted view of pastoral leadership.

I remember in my first pastorate that I read where Spurgeon, the English Baptist minister, refused to allow anyone to call him 'Reverend'. His argument was something like this. This title is an adjective describing someone and the only one who can really be called this is Jesus himself. This got me to thinking about some of the unbiblical traditions that have arisen concerning pastoral ministry which I experienced firsthand 4 years ago when I served part-time in a large 1500 member church. I was more or less the visitation pastor and I completely enjoyed it. The older pastor of this church retired and a young man was called to serve in his place. It was apparent immediately that this man was in charge. Huge changes took place within the first 3 months in spite of assurances that change would be slow. He did not hide his view that the church was like a company and he was the CEO although he did not use this title, but rather 'Lead Pastor'. What was important to him was excellence in all that the church did. A dear lady leading the children's ministry was immediately fired without any consultation. The assistant choir leader was almost sacked because the choir did not sound professional enough. It became the same old story that he did the majority of the preaching and woe to those who challenged his teaching. Sunday after Sunday it was the same tedious view from his very limited experience (and to be honest his very limited understanding of scripture). In his first year he was accused of lying by 5 different people but the leadership committee refused to investigate in spite of scripture's clear teaching that an elder must be above reproach (1 Timothy 3.2). It is this churche's policy that they do not publish what his salary is. After the first year, literally hundreds starting leaving the church.

We are stuck in an unbiblical position with our view of pastors and the blame lies with many. Our seminaries/Bible colleges prepare prospective pastors to be the center of the church and in charge of everything. Qualifications for a pastor are not about spiritual character as in Timothy, but rather on their education. Do they have an M.A.? An M.Div.? Or better yet a doctorate? If so, that is all the qualification they need. And what about the so-called people in the pews? We have been brainwashed really or perhaps cowered into not stepping out of line or questioning what is going on. And where did we ever get this view that 'the denomination' controls who leads, who preaches, or who owns the building? I have no serious problems with denominational affiliations, but shouldn't it be the local church who decides these issues?

I am ranting a bit here, but I hope you see my concern. There is simply no room in many churches for Jesus to actually lead because too many look to the pastor to lead, rather than Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Many complain about powerless churches, but we cannot expect any real power until our (unbiblical) pastoral perceptions change.