Support Your Local Pastor

Greetings and welcome to our final entry for 2011. First and foremost I would like the reader to understand that many generalisations will be used in this particular entry; it will be more subjective than what we normally offer. Therefore, We recommend the Bible verses offered here be the focus and everything else be received in a general sense.

The five-fold ministries of Ephesians chapter 4 are the basis of our entry today, well at least the part pertaining to pastors. Lets look at verses 11-13: And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

We see from this verse that the role of a pastor is to equip the saints for the work of the service. Too often in the churches of today it seems that congregations have the expectation that their pastor will do 'all the work' and all they need do is to show up on Sunday. However, as we can see from the Ephesians 4, part of the pastor's duty is to equip the saints for work, not to simply be the only one in the church who plays an active role in the things of God.

We believe every member of the congregation is responsible to evangelise (this simply means reaching others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you don't have to be a World famous Evangelist to do this). Furthermore we are all responsible to minister to the needy, to minister to our families, to our friends, to each other and to assist with the day to day running of the church (the physical building). It is the pastor's role to equip everyone for the above activities. Yes there are different gifts and ministries but we are all called to perform the essential roles of our faith. Plainly put, we should not be pew warmers sitting back expecting the pastor to nourish us with God's word while we do nothing with that spiritual food. We should not expect the pastor to do 'everything'.

Another major Biblical expectation of Pastors that most of us would have, is that pastors are to 'shepherd' their flock, and there is some solid Biblical basis for this. See 1 Peter 5:2, Acts 20:28 & see John 10:1-16 for the role of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. So congregations have the right to expect their pastors to act like a shepherd. It has been my experience that pastors are like any other section of the societies we live in; some are outstanding, some are average and sadly some are not worthy of the title.

Happily I can say most of our pastors have been good ones. We had one less than ideal (who only visited our home to make sure we were tithing and after confirming that, we never had personal contact with him again). We also endured one pastor 'personal empire builder' who was a wolf in sheep's clothing who preached heretical, new age teachings. He majored on these more than he did anything Biblical. However, We have been blessed with a couple of men who were inspiring and their impact echoes in my life and I am grateful for the time they were 'my' pastor. (If you are concerned with my assessments here that you might consider 'judgemental' please see: John 7:24, Romans 16:17, Galatians 1:8-9 and in particular, 1 Corinthians 5:12-13).

The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching 1 Timothy 5:17

If you have ever had a pastor who worked hard at preaching and teaching and they had a positive impact on your life, why not let them know. Yes they have their reward from the Lord but we can also honour them even if we just say thank you. However, it is our contention that we are obliged to do more than that and some of these things we have outlined above. Now if you are being led by a pastor who is not worthy of 1 Timothy 5, perhaps its time to look elsewhere. We've had to do it, so we speak from personal experience. If we stay under the leadership of a non-biblical pastor we risk becoming victims of their abuse and the damage that is done in those situations can be immense.

We also believe those in leadership need to lead by example, like Jesus did; that is they must be servants of all. However, pastors have a specific role and that does not involve being responsible for everything that happens in a church. Don't leave it all to the Pastor and his wife (if he has one, remember I mentioned this entry would be 'generalisation' heavy). Support him so he can get on with his role of equipping and shepherding the flock that he has been entrusted with. In short, support you local pastor.

Note: Unless something important arises this will be our final entry for 2011. Have a safe holiday. See you in 2012!

Do Not Exceed What Is Written

As believers, the Holy Scriptures are our plumb line, they are the 'frame of reference' (for a quick definition click Here) by which we filter our lives, our world. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth (John 16:13), and by the Scriptures we know who that truth is (John 14:6). I have heard it said, I have quoted, and I believe; If you search the Scriptures they will lead you to Jesus, if you follow the Spirit He will lead you to Jesus (as revealed in the Scriptures). I also believe the following: If you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, you will be led to God's Word, and in God's Word you will discover the Holy Spirit. This then is my personal frame of reference (sometimes for me it is only aspirational, as I stumble my way through life so don't please don't think me arrogant).

As believers we need to have a clear understanding of God's Word. In this age of multi-media, multiple sources of information and opposing views, it might be easy to get lost in a sea of confusion. However, we know that our Lord is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), therefore we need to 'tuck under his wing', Bible in hand, and stand our ground firmly rooted in Him and His Word (Ephesians 3:17 & Colossians 2:7).

The Bible is replete with warnings about false teachers, prophets and teachings (see our New Testament survey Here) and as we examine the current state of the church, we can see it has more than enough false teachers and teachings. We (and they) all need to remain within the bounds of Scripture. Who says? Well obviously God Himself and to that end, I would like to offer a few verses (just a few, as I could really 'go to town' here, but this is a blog and not our version of War And Peace). Please take the time to read them in context:

• Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar Proverbs 30:5-6.
• Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other 1 Corinthians 4:6 (emphasis added).
• Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son 2 John 1:9.

Now some have argued against the views outlined here, and they might quote 2 Corinthians 3:6 (here). However, it can be strongly maintained that this verse is talking about the New versus the Old Covenant, and the 'letters' mentioned refer to the Old Covenant (read it in context esp. v7).

So, with all the strange and errant happenings in our churches today I think it is time for "those who have ears to hear" to take a stand before it is too late. Over the centuries, our faith has been through many perturbations, and each time after a struggle (consider the Protestant Reformation), truth and Biblical standards have been found anew. Perhaps that's what is required again. Remember, God is not mocked nor will God abandon His people, for a remnant will always be present until the King returns (Matthew 16:18, 1 John 3:2 & Romans 11 [The whole chapter is relevant but see verse 9 in particular]).

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6:46-49.

And, in a similar vein:

And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” Luke 8:19-21.

So we see we must not go beyond what is written in God's Word, The Bible. Furthermore, from these last two verses we understand that Jesus expects us to put what He says into action. It is my prayer that we all have the strength to take Jesus at His Word, if not, we are just playing church and are simply 'nominal' Christians. Consider that.


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